election

UNITFOUR

POLITICS,CLASSANDRACE

Ⅰ.Generalelections

theyimportant?

electionsoccur?

standforelectionasanMP?

ppensinanelection?

ionofgovernment

Ⅱ.ThepoliticalParties

ourparty

rvationParty

eralDemocrats

Ⅲ.Class

-divisions

aldifferences

nctivefeatureofBritishclass-system

Ⅳ.Race

racialnation

ncesofimmigration

Ⅰ.Generalelections

theyimportant?

(1)Theyprovideopportunitiesforpeopletoinfluencefuturegovernmentpolicies.

(2)Theyarealsoenasopportunitiestoreplaceincompetentpoliticalleaders.

Therighttovotehasbeenstruggledforoverthepast200years,andnotuntil1928

didtheadultpopulationallowedtovotereachitscurrentlevelofabout99%.

electionsoccur?

(1)Everyfiveyears

Ingeneral,everyfiveyears,thegovernmenthastoresignandholda―general

election‖.

(2)Delayedelections

Onlyexceptionalcircumstancesallowagovernmenttostandmorethanfive

years,suchastheWorldWars.

(3)Earlyelections

Inthefollowingcircumstances,thePrimeMinistercancallanelectionsoonerthan

fiveyears:

Thegovernmentlosa―voteofnoconfidence‖intheHouofCommons.

―voteofnoconfidence‖isastatementputforwardbyanMP(usuallyamemberof

anoppositionparty)fortheMPstovoteonsayingthat―Thishounolongerhas

confidenceintheGovernment‖.IfamajorityofMPsagree,thenthegovernment

haffectivelylostitsabilitytogovernandisforcedtoresignandcallageneral

election.

Anexampleofthishappenedin1979withtheLaborParty.

ThePrimeMinisterdecidesthatthegovernmentiscurrentlyverypopular.

Inthiscircumstance,anearlyelectionbringsthePrimeMinistergreaterhopeto

winanotherfiveyearsthantowaitthefullperiodandriskbecomingunpopular

andthenlotheelection.

standforelectionasanMP?

(1)Anyonewhoiligibletovotewith500poundsasdeposit

(2)Joiningoneofthebigpartiesandapplytobechonastheircandidateinone

oftheconstituenciesprovideagreaterchancetowin.

ppeninanelection?

(1)Deliveringvotingcard

①Oncetheelectiondateist,citizensareresponsibletocheekiftheyareon

the‖electoralregister‖(alistofcitizenligibletovote).

○2Iftheydo,theywillreceiveavotingcardinthemailwithdetailofwhenand

wheretovote.

(2)Theelectoralcampaigns

○1Thepoliticalpartieswouldstarttheirelectoralcampaignbeforeageneralelectionto

maketheirideologiesandpoliciesknowntothepublic.

○2Thecampaigninvolvesadvertimentsinnewspapers,door-to-door

campaigning,postaldeliveriesofleafletsand‖partyelectoralbroadcasts‖onthe

television.

○3Theysometimescriticizetheopponents‘policies,makingthecampaigns

aggressiveandcritical.

(3)”Opinionpolls”

Themediawillhold”opinionpollswhomaybethesuccessor.

(4)Electionday

○1Voting

yisanimportantpartofthe

process

○2Counting

Underclosupervision,teamsofvolunteerscheckthevotingcardsineach

constituency.

ionofgovernment

(1)651membersofparliamentareelectedintheelectionreprenting651

constituenciesintheUK.

(2)Thepartywhichholdsamajorityoftho‖ats‖inparliament,thatisatleast326

ats,formsthegovernment,withitspartyleaderasthePrimeMinister.

Ⅱ.Thepoliticalparties

ourparty

（1）Status

①Foundedin1900bythetradeunions,itisalsoBritain‘

overthestatusoftheLiberalDemocraticpartyin1922andbecameoneofthetwo

biggestpoliticalpartyinBritainsincethen.

②IttakesturntoholdofficewiththeConrvativePartysince1924when

McDonaldbecamethefirstPrimeMinisterfromtheLabourparty.

③Activitiesarelargelyfoundedbythetradeunions.

（2）Politicalviews

①tosaytheybelieveasociety

shouldberelativelyequalineconomicterms.

②Governmentsshouldplayaredistributiverole:transferringwealthfrom

richertopoorerbymeansoftaxingthericherpartofsocietyand

providingsupporttothepoorerpart.

③Governmentsshouldbetherightbodytoprovidearangeofpublic

rvicesavailabletoall,suchashealth,educationandpublictransport.

（3）Policiesinthe20thcentury

①SettinguptheNationalHealthServicetoprovidehighqualityhealthcarefor

all,free,―fromcradletogive‖.

Providingarangeofwelfarepayments.

③Nationalizeawiderangeofindustries.

（4）Effects

①MakingtheUKintoamixedeconomywithbothprivateandalarge

state-ownedctorformorethanthreedecades.

②Makingitlfknownasapartyofhightaxationlevels.

rvativeParty

(1)Status

OneoftwobiggestpoliticalpartiesinBritain

Spendingmosttimeinpower(from1979to1997,itwin4electionsinarow)

Partyfundingarelargelyfrombigcompanies.

(2)Politicalviews

Itwasenapartyoftheindividual.

Protectingtheindividual‘srighttoacquirewealthandtospendithowtheychoo.

Onceholdinga‖fatherly‖nofobligationtothelessfortunate.

ThedifferencewiththeLabourpartyisoneofdegree,notabsolute.

(3)Policiesinthe20thcentury(mainlythoofMargaretThatcher)

Privatizingnationalizedindustry

Cuttingtaxrates(alessre-distributivetaxationsystem)

(4)Effects(mainlythoofMargaretThatcher’spolicies)

Companiesbecomeefficientandprofitable.

Unemploymentwentup

Povertyincread

Thesocietybecamelesqual—atimeof―privateaffluenceandpublicsqualor‖.

Britishpoliticsmovetothe‗right‘,awayfrom‗public‘,andtowardthe‗private‘,awayfrom

the‗social‘,andthe‗individual.‘

eralDemocrats

(1)Status

ThethirdbiggestpoliticalpartyinBritain.

Notpowerfulenoughtoformagovernment,butenoughtohaveabigimpactonwhichof

theformertwopartiesdoesso.

(2)Politicalviews

Apartyofthemiddle,occupyingtheideologicalgroundbetweenthetwomain

parties.

Comparativelyflexibleandpragmaticintheirbalanceoftheindividualandthe

social.

EmphasizingtheneedforchangeinBritain‘sconstitutionalarrangementsto

makegovernmentmoredemocraticandaccountable.

CLASS

-divisions

Employmentisthemainguideofthedivisions:

(1)Middle-class:officeworkers

(2)Working-class:manualworkers

Sub-divisions:

(1)Upper-middleclass:havingrelativelyhighincomesandhighstatus

professions,suchasdoctorandlayers.

(2)Lower–middleclass:unskilledofficeworkersorskilledwell-paidmanualwokers.

Culturedifferences

(1)Readingdifferencenewspaper

AuniversityteacherwouldprobablyreadanewspaperlikeTheGuardianwhilea

manualworkwouldprobablyreadTheSun.

(2)Speakingindifferenceaccent

Regionalaccentstendtobestrongeramongtheworkingclass.

(3)Education

Childrenofmiddleorupperclasshavegreatchancetoprivateschoolwhilemorethan

halfoftheOxbridgestudentsarefromprivateschool.

3AdistinctivefeatureofBritishclass-system

Itretainshereditaryaristocracy

(1)childrenfromthearistocracyfamiliescaninheritaristocratictitlesaswellasfortune.

(2)Theniortireofthearistocracyinherittherighttobelordsinthehouoflords.

(3)Theirsignificanceshouldnotbeovertaken.

Thoughstillinfluential,theydonotdominatesUKsociety.

Manyoftheveryricharenotaristocrats,butbusinessmenandentrepreneurs.

ThemajorityoftheworkinglordsintheHouofLordsarenotaristocracybut―lifepeers‖

2influencesofimmigration

（1）Positive

ThecomingofimmigrantshasgreatlyenrichedBritishcultureincuisine,music,literature

andreligion.

（2）Negative

Ethnicrelationsaretend:thelocalpeopleviewthenewcomersasathreattotheir

wayofliving.

despitemuchofficialactiontominimizeracism,bothsubtleandovertoppressionremain.

thesituationoftheimmigrantpopulationisunpleasant:Theyfaceproblemsof

unemployment,under-reprentationinpoliticsandunfairtreatmentbypoliceandjustice

system.

Explaintheitems.

1.―first-past-the-post‖electionsystem

TheBritishelectoralsystemisbadonthe―First-Past-The-Post‖

electoraldistrictorriding,thecandidatewiththemostnumberofvotesinanelectionwins

derofthepartywiththehighestnumberorats,

ratherthanthepartywiththehighestpercentageoftheoverallvote,isaskedtoformthe

government.

Cabinet(北外2009研)

Shadowe

ShadowCabinet‘sresponsibilitytopasscriticismonthecurrentgovernmentandits

respectivelegislation,sprentitlfasan

rshadowcabinetwouldbe

badonmemberlectedbytheparliamentaryLabourParty,whilstaConrvative

shadowcabinetisappointedbythepartyleader.

Answerthequestions.

ethemainfeaturesofBritishelectoralsystem?(北外2004研)

ThemainfeaturesofBritishelectoralsystemareasfollow:

(1)IntheUK,ionisdivided

intoabout650constituencies,eachofwhichreturnsaMemberofParliament.

Everyoneagedeighteenorover,exceptforlunatics,criminalsandmembersofthe

Houoflords,whogetsthemostvotesina

derofthepartywiththe

largestnumberofmembersreturnedtotheHouofCommonsbecomesPrime

Minister.

(2)TheBritishelectoralsystemismainlydominatedbythetwomajorparties,i.e.,the

ConrvativePartyandtheLaborParty.

(3)Asaresult,,itisunfairfortheotherparties

s,Labor

electioncommitteesareinclinedtoexcludethemajorityoftheworkersformbeing

candidatesandtochoomiddleclasscandidatesbecautheythinkthatthe

candidateswillappealtoawiderrangeofvotersandwillthusbemorelikelytowin.

Furthermore,individualopinionsandinitiativewillbediscouraged,sinceonehasto

voteforthecandidateschonbytheparty.