英国essay格式范文-英国政府程序、参与者和结构。本文是一篇英国留学生essay写作格式范文,主要内容是讲述英国政府以议会主权为基础,这是议会是英国最高立法机构的学说。本篇essay将试图解释和评估组成英国政府的过程、关键参与者和结构,以及民主是否真正反映在社会中。以下就是这篇英国essay格式范文的具体内容,供参考。
Introduction 引言
The United Kingdom (UK) Government runs on parliamentary sovereignty, which is the doctrine that Parliament is the supreme law-making body in the United Kingdom (Jones and Norton 2014, p.252). This essay will seek to explain and evaluate the process, key actors and the structure which forms the UK Government, and if democracy is truly reflected in society.
Parties and Their Roles 缔约方及其作用
According to Ware (1996, p.5), a political party is an institution that seeks to influence a state. For the UK, this is done by participating in an election, whereby winning, would secure a seat in a government.
根据Ware的观点,政党是一种试图影响国家的机构。对英国来说,这是通过参加选举来实现的,通过选举获胜将确保在政府中的席位。
Elections and Their Roles 选举及其作用
Elections allow citizens in the UK to participate directly in politics (Jones and Norton, 2014, p.121) through voting for their preferred parties by area. In doing so, they select the leaders of their constituency who wins a ‘seat’ in the House of Commons (Education Team, Houses of Parliament, 2018).
选举允许英国公民通过按地区投票给他们喜欢的政党,直接参与政治。在这样做的过程中,他们选择在下议院赢得“席位”的选区领导人。
The Parliament and Their Role 议会及其作用
The Parliament is the supreme governing body of the country and is made up of three parts – the House of Commons, House of Lords and the Monarch (Silk and Walters, 2002).
议会是国家的最高管理机构,由下议院、上议院和君主三部分组成。
House of Commons 下议院
The House of Commons is the elected chamber in parliament. They debates issues of at all levels of interest – local, national and international, they also propose, amend laws and challenges the governments’ work (Kelso, 2016).
下议院是议会中选举产生的议院。他们辩论地方、国家和国际各级利益相关的问题,还提出、修改法律并挑战政府的工作。
House of Lords 上议院
The House of Lords is the second chamber in parliament. Though unelected, they are made of mostly life peers and play a significant role in making and shaping laws and policies (Russell, 2013).
上议院是议会的第二议院。尽管未经选举,但他们大多由同龄人组成,在制定和制定法律和政策方面发挥着重要作用。
The Prime Minister and His Role 首相及其作用
The leader of the party that has the most Members of Parliament (MPs) elected becomes Prime Minister, the supreme decision maker of the country (Kelso, Bennister and Larkin, 2016). He is the First Lord of Treasury and heads the UK government (Hennessy, 2001, p.156). His main powers include but are not limited to, appointing ministers, chairing the cabinet, controlling the Whitehall and advising the Monarch (Jones and Norton, 2014, p.376).
当选议员最多的政党的领导人成为总理,成为国家的最高决策者。他是第一财政大臣,领导英国政府。他的主要权力包括但不限于任命大臣、主持内阁、控制白厅和为君主提供建议。
The Cabinet and Their Role 内阁及其作用
The Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet which is made of 20 senior ministers, they are collectively responsible for every decision the government makes (James, 2002, p.6). They are in charge of approving policies, resolving disputes, restricting the powers of the Prime Minister and unifying both the government and the parliamentary party (Jones and Norton, 2014, p.381).
首相选择由20名高级部长组成的内阁,他们共同负责政府做出的每一项决定。他们负责批准政策、解决争端、限制首相的权力以及统一政府和议会党。
The Monarch and Their Role 君主及其角色
The British Monarchy is known as a Constitutional Monarchy, which means that while a king or queen is Head of State, legislative power still lies within the elected parliament (The Royal Household, 2018). The Sovereign has largely ceremonial duties, which includes appointing the Prime Minister, acting on his/her advice and formally approving laws (The Cabinet Office, 2011, p.6). However, the monarch also has a symbolic role of representing the UK, maintaining British traditions, uniting the people and of course, the pledged allegiance of armed forces (Jones and Norton, 2014, p.278).
英国君主政体被称为立宪君主政体,这意味着尽管国王或王后是国家元首,但立法权仍然属于民选议会。君主主要履行礼仪职责,包括任命首相、根据其建议行事和正式批准法律。然而,君主也具有代表英国、维护英国传统、团结人民的象征性作用,当然还有武装部队的宣誓效忠。
Strengths and Weaknesses of the UK Governmental Structure 英国政府结构的优势和劣势
Run by the Parliament which consists of three parts, we will assess and evaluate the UK governmental structure through analysing the strengths and weaknesses of the House of Commons, House of Lords and the Monarch.
议会由三部分组成,我们将通过分析下议院、上议院和君主的优势和劣势来评估和评估英国政府结构。
House of Commons 下议院
Running on parliamentary democracy, the House of Commons can be considered representative of the people. The House of Commons has 650 members, with one MP for every 98,615 people (Silk and Walters, 2002, p.18). This means that MPs have to work hard to win the votes of the electorate, and to do so, they have to listen to the needs and wants of the people. This increases the MP’s focus in a constituency and thus, there is a higher chance of getting an MP’s attention for different issues, which is better for the people (Silk and Walters, 2002, p.19).
在议会民主的基础上,下议院可以被视为人民的代表。下议院有650名议员,每98615人中就有一名议员。这意味着议员们必须努力赢得选民的选票,而要做到这一点,他们必须倾听人民的需求和愿望。这增加了议员在选区中的关注度,因此,有更高的机会获得议员对不同问题的关注,这对人民更好。
However, the sheer size can be a downside for individual members of the House of Commons. Due to limited time shared among a greater number of people, members have to compete with colleagues to ask questions and raise issues for debate (Silk and Walters, 2002, p.19). This means that an individual’s share of influence is lower, which might cause certain important issues raised to be dismissed or postponed.
然而,对于下议院的个别议员来说,庞大的规模可能是不利的。由于更多人共享的时间有限,成员必须与同事竞争提问和提出问题进行辩论。这意味着个人的影响力份额较低,这可能会导致提出的某些重要问题被驳回或推迟。
Overall, seeing that the House of Commons serves to serve the people, its strength greatly outweighs its weakness, and it is the most important house in parliament to represent the people of the UK.
总的来说,下议院是为人民服务的,它的力量远远超过了它的弱点,它是议会中代表英国人民最重要的议院。
House of Lords 上议院
On the other hand, the House of Lords has never been representative. The Lords were originally people who were rich and powerful, who could aid the King (Silk and Walters, 2002, p.32) and their status could only be passed down via hereditary peerage (Silk and Walters, 2002, p.35). In 1958, the Life Peerages Act allowed for members to be appointed from a wider range of backgrounds to facilitate greater diversity (Silk and Walters, 2002, p.33). Despite these attempts at reform, mostly politicians and their advisors were nominated. Furthermore, as the Lords are part-time, they do not always attend to their duties, with attendance increasing only from 51% in 2000 to 64% in 2014 (Silk and Walters, 2002, p.36). Thus, the House of Lords can be seen to be a weakness in the UK Governmental structure, as it is seen to be less representative of the people, and often wielded as a political tool by those who are rich and powerful.
另一方面,上议院从来没有代表性。贵族最初是富有和有权势的人,他们可以帮助国王,他们的地位只能通过世袭贵族身份传承。1958年,《终身贵族法》允许从更广泛的背景任命成员,以促进更大的多样性。尽管进行了这些改革尝试,但大多数政治家及其顾问都获得了提名。此外,由于上议院是兼职的,他们并不总是履行职责,出席率仅从2000年的51%增加到2014年的64%。因此,上议院可以被视为英国政府结构中的一个弱点,因为它被视为不太能代表人民,并且经常被那些有钱有势的人用作政治工具。
Monarch 君主
The unique strength of the Monarch is that The Sovereign is seen to be someone who is above politics, and stands at political neutrality (Silk and Walters, 2002, p.39). This means that regardless of who rises to power as the Prime Minister, he/she is able to consult someone who has no inclinations to any party or ideology and therefore fair and impartial, and also consult someone of immense political experience (Silk and Walters, 2002, p.41). This benefits society as a whole, as the Queen would be able to identify and represent anyone with any ideology or political inclination.
君主的独特优势在于,君主被视为凌驾于政治之上,并保持政治中立。这意味着,无论谁升任首相,他/她都可以咨询不倾向于任何政党或意识形态的人,因此是公平公正的,并咨询具有丰富政治经验的人。这有利于整个社会,因为女王能够识别和代表任何具有任何意识形态或政治倾向的人。
However, this very strength may also be a weakness, especially in the case of a hung parliament. To have to decide who will be the Prime Minister, or finding common ground for the possible formation of a coalition government would go against the symbolism of being politically neutral (Silk and Walters, 2002, p.40).
然而,这种优势也可能是一个弱点,尤其是在无党派议会的情况下。必须决定谁将担任总理,或者为可能组建的联合政府寻找共同点,将违背政治中立的象征意义。
Overall, the Monarch is key to the UK’s identity as a nation and serves as a symbol to unite the people regardless of their political stand, and that in itself, is a great strength.
总的来说,君主是英国国家身份的关键,也是团结人民的象征,无论他们的政治立场如何,这本身就是一种巨大的力量。
Democracy reflected through UK Government compared to Other Countries 与其他国家相比,英国政府体现的民主
UK 英国
After the passing of the Representation of the People Acts in 1918 and 1928, allowing both women and men to vote (Rossiter, Johnston and Pattie, 2009, p.62), Britain has been considered a democracy. Through the years, democracy and the special nature of British parliament structure have created a stable political environment, which has in turn enhanced economic growth in UK (Jones and Kavanagh, 2003, p.27). Even after the Brexit Referendum which incited some political instability, the UK still has a relatively high political stability index at 0.38 (ranging from -2.5 to 2.5) in 2016 (The Global Economy, 2018), and in terms of political rights, the UK has had an extremely consistent index at 1.0 (strong) since 1972 (The Global Economy, 2018). Over the years, however, the UK has seen a fall in voters turn out, and there are trends in terms of age and income which could contribute to electoral inequality (Birch, Gottfried and Lodge, 2013) and in turn affect democracy in UK.
1918年和1928年通过了《人民代表法》,允许女性和男性都有投票权,英国被视为民主国家。多年来,民主和英国议会结构的特殊性创造了一个稳定的政治环境,这反过来又促进了英国的经济增长。即使在英国脱欧公投引发了一些政治不稳定之后,2016年英国的政治稳定指数仍然相对较高,为0.38(从-2.5到2.5不等),在政治权利方面,自1972年以来,英国的政治稳定性指数一直非常稳定,为1.0(强劲)。然而,多年来,英国的选民人数有所下降,年龄和收入方面的趋势可能会导致选举不平等,进而影响英国的民主。
Singapore 新加坡
Infused with Asian values, yet with its roots in the Westminster Model, Singapore too operates on a parliamentary democracy (Berna, 2013, p.24). Ironically, since the beginning of its independence in 1965 till date, the People’s Action Party (PAP) has dominated Singapore’s political scene despite many viewing the PAP as having a socialist, even authoritarian ideology (Berna, 2013, p.25). Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong himself said that there are risks to democratic system (Channel News Asia, 2011). Despite all these, the PAP has proven able successfully delivers public goods to the population and has much support from the Singaporean population (Barr, 2012, p.31). With voting being compulsory in Singapore (Elections Department of Singapore, 2018), this could be a consideration for the UK government to look into. As voter participation has been falling in the UK (Knight, 2015), making voting compulsory by law might produce results that are more representative of the electorate, in turn enhancing democracy.
新加坡充满了亚洲价值观,但又植根于西敏寺模式,因此也实行议会民主。具有讽刺意味的是,自1965年独立以来,尽管许多人认为人民行动党具有社会主义甚至威权主义意识形态,但人民行动党一直主导着新加坡的政治舞台。新加坡总理李显龙本人也表示,民主制度存在风险。尽管如此,人民行动党已被证明能够成功地为民众提供公共产品,并得到新加坡民众的大力支持。由于投票在新加坡是强制性的,本篇essay认为这可能是英国政府的一个考虑因素。由于英国的选民参与率一直在下降,通过法律强制投票可能会产生更能代表选民的结果,从而增强民主。
More or Less Referenda to Improve Process 或多或少地参考以改进流程
To improve the process of formation of the UK Government would mean that, the selection process would be both more efficient and effective in reflecting the needs and wants of the people in a democracy. To say whether having more or less referenda would improve the process of forming the government would be too sweeping. It is ultimately dependent on the issue in question and the parliament’s stand on the issue.
改善英国政府的组建过程意味着,选举过程将更高效、更有效地反映民主国家人民的需求和愿望。如果说举行更多或更少的公民投票是否会改善政府的组建过程,那就太笼统了。它最终取决于所讨论的问题以及议会在这个问题上的立场。
Having more referendum can be said to enhance democracy as it enables individual citizens to be directly involved in decision making, and is more reflective of society as a whole rather than solely the political class (Caramani, 2017, p.175). This is especially so when the parliament is split on an issue strongly concerning the people and there is a need to call for a referendum to get the people’s opinion. Though having more referenda might would compromise on efficiency, but it might be more effective in terms of gathering people’s opinion on issues, where the parliament is unable to decide. For example, on 18 September 2014, a referendum on whether Scotland should become an independent country was called. The electorate voted 55% to 45% in favour of Scotland remaining within the UK (Education Team, Houses of Parliament, 2018). In this case, a referendum was needed in order to ensure that the parliament is certain of what the people want.
本篇essay认为举行更多的公民投票可以说是加强了民主,因为它使公民个人能够直接参与决策,更能反映整个社会,而不仅仅是政治阶层。尤其是当议会在一个与人民息息相关的问题上存在分歧,需要呼吁举行全民公投以获得人民的意见时。尽管举行更多的公投可能会在效率上妥协,但在议会无法做出决定的问题上,它可能更有效地收集人们的意见。例如,2014年9月18日,就苏格兰是否应该成为一个独立国家举行了全民公投。55%对45%的选民投票支持苏格兰留在英国。在这种情况下,需要举行公民投票,以确保议会确定人民的愿望。
However, there are arguments against referendum, where elected politicians are considered to have much greater expertise and understanding of the political situation and impact to make decisions compared to the common man (Caramani, 2017, p.175). For example in the 2016 Brexit referendum, the citizens of the UK are still split on whether a referendum should have been called for and if a second referendum should be called. Many felt that a significant number of citizens who voted were not sufficiently well-informed about the issue and the impact it would have on the UK (Richards, Heath and Carl, 2018). According to the Post-Election Wave 6, 53% of Britons expressed a degree of uncertainty ranging from ‘Somewhat Certain’, ‘Not At All Certain’ and ‘Don’t Know’ (Vasilopoulou, 2016). In the case of controversial issues, it is still difficult to decide whether referendums should be called.
然而,本篇essay提出也有人反对公投,因为与普通人相比,民选政治家被认为对政治形势和决策影响有更大的专业知识和理解。例如,在2016年英国脱欧公投中,英国公民在是否应该举行公投以及是否应该举行第二次公投的问题上仍存在分歧。许多人认为,大量投票的公民对这一问题及其对英国的影响知之甚少。根据选举后浪潮6,53%的英国人表达了一定程度的不确定性,包括“有点确定”、“完全不确定”和“不知道”。在有争议的问题上,仍然很难决定是否应该举行全民投票。
Generally, as long as the parliament is united on an issue that clearly reflects the people’s needs and wants, fewer referenda would improve the process of the formation of the UK government, in terms of efficiency and effectiveness.
一般来说,只要议会在一个明确反映人民需求和愿望的问题上团结一致,就效率和效力而言,减少公投将改善英国政府的组建过程。
Conclusion 结论
In conclusion, the UK government has had a long standing history of over 900 years following the Westminster model (Education Team, Houses of Parliament, 2018) and is one of the most highly respected democracy with many of Britain’s ex-overseas territories in Southeast Asia, such as India and Singapore, modelling after the UK (Kumarasingham, 2016). Though there are reforms that can be undertaken, the many traditions that are withheld in the system are considered key to the identity of the UK and its citizens, who are proud to identify themselves as UK citizens.
总之,本篇essay总结了英国政府遵循威斯敏斯特模式已有900多年的悠久历史,是最受尊敬的民主国家之一,英国在东南亚的许多前海外领土,如印度和新加坡,都效仿英国。尽管可以进行改革,但体制中保留的许多传统被认为是英国及其公民身份的关键,他们以自己是英国公民而自豪。本站提供各国各专业留学生essay格式范文,essay代写以及essay写作指导,如有需要可咨询本平台。
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