Electoral system

GENDER

Many women would argue that there is a different half of the nation which gets less than its share of power, freedom and wealth: the female sex. In spite of the considerable change in social attitudes since 1945, and particularly since the feminist revolution which began in the 1960s, women are still significantly disadvantaged. The men continue to control the positions of power and wealth and are slow to share these with women. In spite of having a female monarch, and having had a female Prime Minister for over a decade only 6,2 per cent of seats in the Commons are held by women. The Commons «300 group* is an all party national organization working towards a minimum of 300 women MPs. In local government, women hold 20 per cent of available seats. As to the senior positions of power in the country none are held by women: no women among judges forming the highest court of appeal, out of 304 permanent.

Secretaries between 1900 and 1990, only two have been women, no woman has ever been appointed as a police Chief Constable. Fewer than 3 per cent of university professors are women, only 2 per cent of surgeons are women and there are only few successful women in business and industry. Women sense that a «glass ceiling* exists which prevents them reaching the top.

Women are also paid less than men. On average women earn between two thirds and three quarters of man's pay. Although the Equal Opportunities Act, requiring equal pay and conditions for women, came into effect in 1975, little has changed since then.

In the 1980s the conservative government encouraged young mothers to stay at homes with their children, but this was largely ignored.

WORKING MOTHERS

In 1931 less than 10 per cent of married women were in employment: over the last thirty years the proportion of married women working has increased from 21 per cent to 49 per cent. About a quarter of women with children under the age of five and about two-thirds of women with school-age children go out to work.

Women generally are spending a larger proportion of their lives in paid employment. It is now normal for a woman to be in full-time work until the birth of the first child, and an increasingly high proportion of women return to work after having a child, although this may be to a part-time job. Women are also returning to work more quickly after having a child. Britain has a high percentage of working mothers compared to some other countries (for example Italy, Ireland and Japan) but provisions for maternity leave and child care are amongst the lowest in Europe.

YOUNG PEOPLE

Despite media reports, not all young people in Britain are punks or football hooligans. There is a wide cross-section of youth from Young Conservatives to Rastafarians, from skinheads to pupils at expensive private schools.

Nineteenth-century, Victorian attitudes about how children should be brought up have largely disappeared and for many children family life has become more relaxed and less strict. Many young people in Britain have a considerable amount of freedom and the things they are interested in reflect this: music, television, sex, fashion and money predominate. Being independent and free to choose are priorities. Attitudes towards religion and marriage have changed. Ever since the media discovered the world of the teenager, films, videos, TV programmes and magazines have all been marketed towards the young.

There are a number of social problems associated with being young: some schools have problems with discipline and motivation; crime and drug-taking in some areas have reached serious levels. During the 1980s unemployment among school-leavers was a particular problem, with many facing a bleak future with little hope of finding a reasonable job.

For many young people leaving home is a route to independence, although for some this may be financially impossible. Most young couples hope to be able to have their own house or flat: in modem Britain financial pressures are much more likely to restrict this than family pressure.

QUESTIONS

1). How many state churches in the UK?

2). What is the difference between the Church of England and the Church of Scotland?

3). What is the official religion in the UK?

4). What other Christian churches do you know?

5). What other religions are represented in the UK?

6). How can you explain the phrase that the UK is a class-conscious society?

Lecture 7.

Electoral System in the UK.

Political Parties.

Political system in the UK.

The British people have always prided themselves on their electoral system believing it to be one of the most democratic. It is known as a majority system, now often called «first-past-the-post» one. The foun­dation of the British electoral system is the single-member constituency. The United Kingdom is divid­ed into 650 parliamentary constituencies, each one of which elects a Member of Parliament (MP) to sit in the House of Commons. Each MP represents 66000 electors. A person may represent a constituency even if he does not live there.

Any number of candidates can stand for election in each constituency. The winner is the candidate who gets more votes than any other single candidate, even if the difference is only one vote. This «first-past-the-post» system is simple, clear and familiar, but it means that sometimes the elected candidate represents only the third of those who voted and the candidate who comes second, even very close to the winner, gets nothing.

The weakness of the electoral system was revealed in the 1980s when the conservatives enjoyed a large majority in the commons although at the elections of 1979, 1983 and 1987 more people voted against the Conservative Party than for it. In 1987 the Liberal/ SDP Alliance received 23.1 per cent of the total vote but won only 22 seats (3,5 per cent) in Parliament.

General Elections in Britain are held every 5 years, as every Parliament (and Government accordingly) is elected for this term. The Prime Minister chooses the date of the next General Elections, but does not have to wait until the end of the five years. A time is chosen which will give as much advantage as possible to the political party in power.

About a month before the election the Prime Min­ister meets a small group of close advisers to discuss the date, which would best suit the party. The date is announced to the Cabinet. The Prime Minister asks the Queen to dissolve the Parliament. Once Parlia­ment is dissolved, all MPs are unemployed.

Party manifestos are published and campaigning be­gins throughout the country lasting for about three weeks with large-scale press, radio and television coverage.

Voting takes place on Polling Day (usually a Thurs­day). MPs are elected by direct and secret ballot. Cit­izens of 18 and over have the right to vote (except prisoners, lords and the mentally ill). Voting is not compulsory and about 75 per cent of the electorate take part in general elections. On election day, the voters go to the polling-station and record their votes by placing a cross against their candidate's name on the list and place the paper in a ballot-box. Some peo­ple may vote by proxy¹. The election officials count up the number of votes and the Returning Officer announces the elected candidate. The candidate in a constituency who gains most votes is returned as Member to the Commons.

If an MP resigns, dies or is made a peer during the lifetime of a Parliament, a by-election must be held in the constituency (which he represented) to elect a new member.

No candidate requires the backing of a political party in order to stand for election, but today no independent candidates succeed in being elected. MPs are chosen by the constituency branch of the party from a list of suitable candidates issued by the party headquarters.

The two party dominance has existed since the 18^th century and both dominating parties have constant supporters. About 1/3 of the people vote for Labour party candidates all the time, another third for the Conservatives. The first-past-the post electoral sys­tem in Britain promotes and maintains the dominance of the leading parties at the expense of the smaller ones.

The Liberal Democrats, a center party, are against the current first-past-the post electoral system. This is because, though they come second in many constit­uencies, they can not win many seats in parliament. They campaign for a system of proportional represen­tation (PR), in which the number of MPs is based on the number of people who vote for a party in the whole country.

Дата добавления: 2015-05-26