Country & Culture week 3

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 4

No. 10 Downing Street is the official residence of the Prime Minister (PM). The cabinet meets and works here. The PM lives 'above the shop' on the top floor. In the media 'Downing Street' is used to refer to the PM, the cabinet office and other close advisors of the PM. The Chancellor of the Exchequer lives next door at No. 11 and Government Chier Whip lives at No. 12. When a government loses an election, all three ministers have to wait for the removal vans to turn up, just like anybody else moving house. 

While 'the Law' as a concept is respected, the British are quite unenthusiastic about making new laws. The traditional feeling is that, while you have to have laws sometimes, wherever possible it is best to do without them. 

Labour was formed at the beginning of the twentieth century from an alliance of trade unionists and intellectuals. They are left of centre. Their traditional outlook was: stand for equality, for the weaker people in society and more government involvement in the economy. Since 1979 they put an emphasis on community ethics and equality of opportunity rather than equal distribution of wealth. Their traditional voters are working class and a small middle-class intelligentsia. 

Liberal Democrats (or Lib-dem) were formed in the late 1980's from a union of Liberals and Social Democrats. They are regarded as centre or slightly left of centre. They are in favour of greater unification with the EU and more emphasis on the environment than other parties. They were against Brexit. Their traditional voters come from all classes but more from the middle class. 

Conservatives was developed from a group of MP's known as the Tories in the early nineteenth century. They are still called Tories, mostly in the newspapers because it takes up less space. Conservatives Party is right of centre. Their traditional outlook included hierarchical authority and minimal government interference in the economy. Since 1979 they aimed for an aggressive reform of education, welfare and housing. Their traditional voters are the richer sections of society, plus a large minority of the working classes. 

Britain is known as a 'two party system', but which two parties?

1. Labour & Liberal Democrats
2. Liberal Democrats & Conservatives
3. Labour & Conservatives

Watch this video from the UK Parliament website on the House of Commons

Watch this video from the UK Parliament website on who is in the House of Lords. 

The House of Lords has no real power and only limited influence. Its role is a consultative one. In the House of Lords, bills can be discussed in more detail that the busy Commons has time for. In this way irregularities or inconsistencies in these proposals can be avoided before they become a law. The Lords can also act as a forum for discussion, and can bring matters to the attention that the Commons have been ignoring. 

Read the following chapters from this 'How it Works' booklet on the british government: 

1. Democracy
2. Elections & Voting
3. The Constitution of the UK
4. The House of Commons
5. The House of Lords
6. Legislation

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Do you remember who these founding fathers are? if not you might want to take another look at the history lesson from week 2. 

In addition to separating powers among the branches, the Framers gave each branch the power to check, or stop, the actions of the other two branches in meaningful ways. For example, the president has the power to veto, or reject, laws made by Congress. But Congress can balance out that power in its turn by overriding the president’s veto with a two-thirds vote. This is called checks and balances.

Here you can find a visualization of checks and balances 

Which of the following is the best definition for separation of powers?

1. State governments and the federal government each have their own exclusive yet coinciding powers
2. Parts of government act independently from each other and have different responsibilities
3. The ability of the president to veto legislation and the judicial branch to declare laws unconstitutional

Look at this infographic on how a bill becomes a law

When president John F. Kennedy was assassinated his vice president Lyndon B. Johnson took over. Another instance where a vice president took the presidential seat was when president Richard Nixon resigned when he was faced with possible impeachment. Gerald Ford took his spot. 

U.S. citizens over 18 years old may be called to jury duty, one of the most important ways individual citizens become involved with the Federal Court. 

Here you can find an overview of the differences between federal and state courts

Here you can view an infographic on the Supreme Court

Compare the British/Dutch government with the U.S. government.
In your personal opinion, what are the advantages and disadvantages of a presidential government?

Watch this video on how the Electoral College works during the elections. 

This map of the United States show the amount of Electors each state possesses. Notice how some states have significantly more Electors? This is due to population density. A state with a higher population will get more Electors. 

Look at this infographic on how to become the president of the United States

The electoral college means that each state is given a certain number of votes in presidential elections. How is the number of votes determined? and do you think each state is given its fair share of votes based on this system? Why or why not?

A few times in American history the president did not win the popular vote but did win the electoral vote, and was therefore elected. Some recent examples are George W. Bush vs. Al Gore in 2000 and Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton in 2016. Do you think these choices for president accurately represented the will of the people? if so, how? if not, why not?

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