2014英国部分发送2014英国部分发送.doc

Unit 2 The government of the United Kingdom（英国政府） Britain is both a constitutional monarchy (君主立宪制国家) and a representative / parliamentary democracy（代议民主制国家）. -- This means that although the official head of the state is the Queen, the country is actually run by the government. The government at national and local level is elected by the people and governs according to British constitutional principles. The Monarchy is the oldest institution of government in the UK, dating back to the Saxons（萨克逊人）. 1. The “divine right of kings”:（君权神授） It’s an ancient doctrine（教条） which held that the sovereign （君主）derived his authority from God, not from his subjects.While the King in theory had God on his side, in practice even in medieval （中世纪）times it was thought that he should not exercise absolute power. 3. Magna Carta（英国大宪章）: A gang of feudal barons（一群封建贵族） and the Church opposed some of King John’s policies so powerfully that the king finally (in1215) granted them a charter of liberty and political rights, still known by its medieval Latin name of Magna Carta. It placed some limits on the king’s ability to abuse his royal power. This is still regarded as Britain’s key expression of the rights of citizens against the Crown. 4.The role of the monarchy today: (Queen Elizabeth II, is directly descended（继承） from King Egbert, who united England in 829.) 女王所扮演的角色 (1) Primarily： to symbolize the tradition and unity of the UK. non-political (2) Under terms of Constitution： head of the executive, an integral part of the legislature, head of the judiciary, commander in chief of the armed forces “supreme governor” of the Church of England (3) A less well known role ： a confidante to the Prime Minister II The Parliament（国会） 1. parliament： -- first used officially in 1236， to describe the gathering of feudal （封建的）barons（男爵） and representatives from counties and towns which the king occas