Unit4 Politics,.Class and Race(英国的政治，阶级和种族) 一、本单元重点内容 1.Importance of general elections(大选的重要性) 2 Formation of the government(政府的形成) 3.te of no confidence(不信任授票) 4.Political parties The Conservative party(保守党)，The Labour party(劳工党，Liberal Democra(白由民主党) 5.Recent political trenc达in the UK(英国最近的政治动向) 6.M缸garet Thatcher(玛格丽特·数切尔) 7.cdas易m in the British society(英国社会中的等级制度) &.the hereditary aristocracy(世装贵失) 9.ethnie relations in Britain(英国的民族关系) 二、本单元重、难点辅导 1.the importance of general elections (held every 5 years) General elections are very important in the western democracy.According to the author.they provide opportunities for people to influence future government policies and to replace those incompetent politicall leaders. 2.the formation of the government 651 members of parliament are elected in the general election representing 651 constituencies in the UK.The party which holds a majority of those"seats"in parliament fomms the govermment,with its party leader as the Prime Minister.A government can be in power for 5 years. 3.vote of no confidence(不信任投暴) A statement put forward by an MP-usually a member of an opposition party-for the House of Commons to vote on saying that "This house no longer has confidence in the Govermment".If the government loses a"voce of no confidence"in the House of Commons,that is,if a majority of MPs agree, then it has effectively lst its ability to gowern and is forced to resign and call a generall election.An example of this happened in 1979 with the Labour govermment 4.political parties 1)the Labour party One of the 2 biggest parties in the UK.It is also the newest party.created by the trade union movement at the end of the 19h century.It is a socialist party,believing that a society should be relatively equal in economic terms,and that the government should redistribute the wealth between the rich and the 1
1 Unit 4 Politics, Class and Race (英国的政治,阶级和种族) 一、本单元重点内容 1. Importance of general elections (大选的重要性) 2. Formation of the government (政府的形成) 3. Vote of no confidence (不信任投票) 4. Political parties: The Conservative party（保守党）,The Labour party (劳工党), Liberal Democrats (自由民主党) 5. Recent political trends in the UK (英国最近的政治动向) 6. Margaret Thatcher (玛格丽特·撒切尔) 7. class system in the British society (英国社会中的等级制度) 8. the hereditary aristocracy (世袭贵族) 9. ethnic relations in Britain (英国的民族关系) 二、本单元重、难点辅导 1. the importance of general elections (held every 5 years) General elections are very important in the western democracy. According to the author, they provide opportunities for people to influence future government policies and to replace those incompetent political leaders. 2. the formation of the government 651 members of parliament are elected in the general election representing 651 constituencies in the UK. The party which holds a majority of those “seats” in parliament forms the government, with its party leader as the Prime Minister. A government can be in power for 5 years. 3. vote of no confidence （不信任投票） A statement put forward by an MP — usually a member of an opposition party— for the House of Commons to vote on saying that “ This house no longer has confidence in the Government”. If the government loses a “vote of no confidence” in the House of Commons, that is, if a majority of MPs agree, then it has effectively lost its ability to govern and is forced to resign and call a general election. An example of this happened in 1979 with the Labour government 4. political parties 1) the Labour party One of the 2 biggest parties in the UK. It is also the newest party, created by the trade union movement at the end of the 19th century. It is a socialist party, believing that a society should be relatively equal in economic terms, and that the government should redistribute the wealth between the rich and the
poor.It also thinks that the government should provide a range of publie services for all the people. The Labour government came to power in 1945. In 1948.set up the National Hesth Service to provide high quality health care for all.fee."Trom cradle to grave" provide a range of welfare payments C0 nationalize a wide range of industries heC每ns线vative party One of the 2 biggest parties in the UK.It is basically the party of the individual,protecting the individual's right to acquire wealth and to spend it as ho/she wants It advocates cconomic policies which are fanvourable to businessmen,such as low taves From 1979 to 1997,the Conservative party won 4 consecutive elections and was in power for quite a long period of time 3)the Liberal Democrats The 3 biggest party and often seen as a party of the "middle".occupying the ideological ground between the two major parties.They are comparatively flexible and pragmatic in their balance of the individusl and the social.They emphasize the need to change the Britain's contitutional arrangements to make the government more democratic and accountable 5.Recent political trends The 1970s were a decade of problems in the UK.The gconcmy did badly,with high inflation and low growth Big private companies started to go bankrupt and the nationalized indurstries were seen as inefficient. In 1979.the Labour gowernment faced a yote of no confidence.which t lost,causing a general clection.This was won by the Conservative under their leader Margaret Thatcher.who became the UK's first woman Prime Minister The policies of the Conservative: 1)privatise nationalized industry (successful,companies become efficient and profitable *negative consequences of the policy:1 Unemployment went up Poverty increased Government welfare paryments have become less generous So the society became less oqual.a time of "prrvate们uence and publi长ualc“一部分个人富格起米而大部分百姓的生话却其困化公众福 利制度也处于困境) 2).ca明1 rates (a less re--distributive taxation习em削翳再分配性质的税收制度) Swmu可y时keoe国nd:ke好0k British politics move to the"right",away from the "public"and toward the "private";away from the "social",and toward the "individual" 6.Margaret Thatcher (ruled 1979-1990) She came into power as Britain's first woman Pnme Minister in 1979 when her Conservative party
2 poor. It also thinks that the government should provide a range of public services for all the people. The Labour government came to power in 1945: ① In 1948, set up the National Health Service to provide high quality health care for all, free, “from cradle to grave” ② provide a range of welfare payments ③ nationalize a wide range of industries 2) the Conservative party One of the 2 biggest parties in the UK. It is basically the party of the individual, protecting the individual’ s right to acquire wealth and to spend it as he/she wants. It advocates economic policies which are favourable to businessmen, such as low taxes. From 1979 to 1997, the Conservative party won 4 consecutive elections and was in power for quite a long period of time. 3) the Liberal Democrats The 3rd biggest party and often seen as a party of the “middle”, occupying the ideological ground between the two major parties. They are comparatively flexible and pragmatic in their balance of the individual and the social. They emphasize the need to change the Britain’s constitutional arrangements to make the government more democratic and accountable. 5. Recent political trends The 1970s were a decade of problems in the UK. The economy did badly, with high inflation and low growth. Big private companies started to go bankrupt, and the nationalized industries were seen as inefficient. In 1979, the Labour government faced a vote of no confidence, which it lost, causing a general election. This was won by the Conservative under their leader Margaret Thatcher, who became the UK’s first woman Prime Minister The policies of the Conservative: 1) privatise nationalized industry (successful, companies become efficient and profitable *negative consequences of the policy: ① Unemployment went up ② Poverty increased ③ Government welfare payments have become less generous. So the society became less equal---a time of “private affluence and public squalor”一部分个人富裕起来,而大部分百姓的生活却贫困化, 公众福 利制度也处于困境) 2). cut tax rates (a less re-distributive taxation system 削弱再分配性质的税收制度) Summary of the political trend in the 1980s: British politics move to the “right”, away from the “public” and toward the “private”; away from the “social”, and toward the “individual”. 6. Margaret Thatcher (ruled 1979-1990) She came into power as Britain’s first woman Prime Minister in 1979 when her Conservative party
won the general election.She advocated the idea of small government and free-market ecooomics During her term as the Prime Minister.she carried out policies to privatize the nationalized industry and to cut tax rates As a result,mamy businesses boomed but unemployment rte increase.She was Later replaced by John Major in 1990. 7.Class system in British society Class system is more important in the UK than in other countries About half the British population would claim themselves to be middle-class and half working class However,there are subdivisions those unskilled office-workers and skilled well-paid manual workers are called lower middle-class and doctors and lawyers and so on who have relatively high incomes and high status profession are called upper middClass divisions are not simply economic:they are cultural as well.People of different elasses may differ in the kind of newspaper they read,in the way they speak and in the kind of education they receive.One of the distinctive features about the British class system is that it retains a hereditary aristocracv. 8.The hereditary aristecracy:A distinctive feature of the British class-system.Children from these aristocratic families can inherit aristocratic titles as well as fortune.And the senior tier of the aristocracy also inherit the right to be lords in the House of Lords.(But they do not dominate the UK society because real power in the Parliament rests in the elected House of Commons and the majorty of working"Lords" in the House of Lords上院中的积极分子are no from aristocratic families either,.but hanve been made 1e门世装贵族现在只授予王室成员。白从英国国会在1999年通过新法例以后，受封者不会 再自动成为上议院成员。 Life peers:lords of ther lifetime,but whose children cannot inherit the titles They are made life peers out of recognition for achievement in UK society. *Oxhridge:refers to the two top universities in Britain:Oxford and Cambridge.These two universities not only affer good education,but also offer a network of connections.Graduates from these two universities occupy a high proportion of the top level of many aspects of British socicty. 9.Race 1)majority of recent immigrants:South_Asa-India.Pakistan and Sri Lanka and Caribbean countries-一Jamaica and Trinid山d(特文尼达岛) 2)effects positive:has greatly enriched British culture-food,music,writings religion negative:ethnic relatiens have tensed:the local people view the newcomers as a threat to their way of Irving.and despite much official action to minimize racism.both subtle and overt oppression remains.The immigrant population is not well-off economically.They face problems of unemployment, under-representation in politics and untair treatment by police and justice system
3 won the general election. She advocated the idea of small government and free-market economics. During her term as the Prime Minister, she carried out policies to privatize the nationalized industry and to cut tax rates. As a result, many businesses boomed but unemployment rte increase. She was later replaced by John Major in 1990. 7. Class system in British society Class system is more important in the UK than in other countries. About half the British population would claim themselves to be middle-class and half working class. However, there are subdivisions: those unskilled office-workers and skilled well-paid manual workers are called lower middle-class and doctors and lawyers and so on who have relatively high incomes and high status profession are called upper middle-class. Class divisions are not simply economic; they are cultural as well. People of different classes may differ in the kind of newspaper they read, in the way they speak and in the kind of education they receive. One of the distinctive features about the British class system is that it retains a hereditary aristocracy. 8. The hereditary aristocracy: A distinctive feature of the British class-system. Children from these aristocratic families can inherit aristocratic titles as well as fortune. And the senior tier of the aristocracy also inherit the right to be lords in the House of Lords. (*But they do not dominate the UK society because real power in the Parliament rests in the elected House of Commons and the majority of working “Lords” in the House of Lords 上院中的积极分子 are not from aristocratic families either, but have been made “life peers”) 世袭贵族现在只授予王室成员。自从英国国会在 1999 年通过新法例以后，受封者不会 再自动成为上议院成员。 Life peers: lords of their lifetime, but whose children cannot inherit the titles. They are made life peers out of recognition for achievement in UK society. *Oxbridge: refers to the two top universities in Britain: Oxford and Cambridge. These two universities not only offer good education, but also offer a network of connections. Graduates from these two universities occupy a high proportion of the top level of many aspects of British society. 9. Race 1) majority of recent immigrants: South Asia— India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and Caribbean countries— Jamaica and Trinidad (特立尼达岛) 2) effects positive: has greatly enriched British culture—food, music, writings, religion negative: ethnic relations have tensed: the local people view the newcomers as a threat to their way of living; and despite much official action to minimize racism, both subtle and overt oppression remains. The immigrant population is not well-off economically. They face problems of unemployment, under-representation in politics and unfair treatment by police and justice system