Cabinet responsibility system. The basic situation of the British cabinet Britain implements the responsibility cabinet system, but the government and the cabinet are two concepts. The government is the general name of all ministers, ministers of state, ministers of state, supervisors of the ruling party and royal officials. The cabinet is only a part of the government, but it is the core institution of the British government. 1, evolution The British Cabinet developed from the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Privy Council. /kloc-At the beginning of the 7th century, due to the large number of members of the Privy Council, the King of England often called some cronies of the Foreign Affairs Committee to discuss and decide major issues in the inner room of the palace. /kloc-In the late 7th century, the Foreign Affairs Committee, nicknamed "Cabinet", gradually replaced the Privy Council as the actual highest administrative organ. It is presided over by the king of England and is responsible for it. 1688 after the "glorious revolution", during the William III period, the cabinet was changed to be composed of the majority party in the lower house and began to be responsible to the parliament. 17 14 hanover, Germany elected George I to succeed to the British throne. He doesn't know English, so he stopped attending cabinet meetings after 17 18 and appointed R. walpole, the leader of the majority party in the house of commons, as the chairman. Since then, the king has not attended the cabinet meeting, and it has become a practice for the majority leader of the House of Commons to preside over the cabinet. 1742 when the Whig Party broke out, walpole's cabinet resigned due to the loss of parliamentary support, which set a precedent that the party forming the cabinet must have a majority in the parliament and be collectively responsible. 1783, conservative W. Pitt (Jr.) became prime minister. The next year, because he could not get the support of the House of Commons, he asked the king to dissolve the House of Commons and hold an early general election. In the election, the Conservative Party won and continued to form a cabinet. This practice has also become a practice. By the middle of19th century, the responsible cabinet system in Britain was gradually improved and finally formed through the accumulation of constitutional practices in constitutional practice. 2. Composition According to the usual practice, after the parliamentary election, the British king summoned the leader of the majority party, appointed him as Prime Minister, and authorized him to form a cabinet. After consulting with other members of the party, the leader of the party put forward a list of cabinet members from the members of the party and asked the king to appoint them. According to 1937, ministers are divided into cabinet ministers and non-cabinet ministers. The ministers in the cabinet are only some ministers in the government. The number of cabinet members is decided by the Prime Minister, and the number of cabinet members often changes. Before 1939, basically all ministers participated in the cabinet. After World War II, the number of cabinet members was generally around 20. In addition to the prime minister, there are usually ministers of foreign affairs, national defense, finance, internal affairs and other important departments. The Chief Justice, the President of the Privy Council and ministers responsible for regional affairs, Scottish ministers, Welsh ministers and Northern Ireland ministers are not responsible for the heads of specific departments. Before a cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister sometimes calls several ministers with close ties to discuss important policies, which is called a small cabinet or cabinet. 3. The functions and powers mainly include: making final decisions on policies submitted to the Parliament; Exercising the highest administrative power in accordance with the policies stipulated by Parliament; Coordinate and determine the functions and powers of government ministries. In addition, when the country is in a state of emergency, it has the right to take urgent action. The functions and powers of the cabinet are mainly exercised in accordance with the usual practice and have a wide range. All important domestic and foreign policies are formulated and implemented by it, and the military, police, prisons and other state organs are directly commanded and controlled by it, and the parliament and the king of England are also manipulated and dominated by it. 4. There are various standing committees and temporary committees under the organization and activities. Except for individual committees, their composition and terms of reference are confidential and shall not be disclosed during their term of office. The office has an office, which is responsible for arranging the schedule, communicating with the cabinet and government ministries and other important internal administrative affairs. Cabinet meetings are called by the Prime Minister at any time, usually once a week during the parliamentary session 1 ~ 2 times. The content of the meeting is confidential, the discussion at the meeting is not recorded, and there has never been a vote. Finally, the prime minister summed up his opinions according to his own views and made a decision. Cabinet members are jointly and severally responsible for government policies and actions. No matter whether there are differences of opinion among cabinet members, they must be consistent. However, since the 1970s, on the European Community and other issues, the two conventions of "keeping secrets strictly" and "keeping consistency" have been broken, and their binding force has obviously weakened. Second, the characteristics of the responsibility cabinet system 1, the cabinet and the lower house contain each other, compete with each other and supervise each other. (1) Questioning (2) Debating (3) Approving legislation (4) Dissolving the House of Commons is the most powerful means for the Cabinet to control Parliament. Once a decision is made, the House of Commons must obey and cannot refuse. 2. Decision-making power is centralized and decentralized. 3. The combination of collective responsibility system and individual responsibility system. 4. Pay attention to coordination and mediation in policy and finance. Iii. the role of cabinet 1. Decision role 2. Legislative function 3. Supervise government policies. As the leader of a political party, Section 4: Stable two-party system 1. An overview of the British two-party system The two-party system originated in Britain. Long before the Glorious Revolution of 1688, there were two political factions in the British Parliament, namely Whigs and Tories. 1694, the Whig Party's first political party cabinet was implemented. Whigs were in power before 65438+1960s, and Tories were in power after 1960s. /kloc-In the first half of the 8th century, the system of political parties forming a cabinet with a majority of seats in the lower house of parliament was gradually formed. After the industrial revolution, the Whig Party evolved into a liberal party and the Tories evolved into a conservative party. 1832 after the promulgation of the British parliamentary reform election law, the system of two major political parties taking turns to govern was formally established. The two major bourgeois political parties competed for the ruling position through parliamentary elections, and the party that won the majority of seats in the parliamentary elections formed a cabinet and became the ruling party; However, the party that won the second largest number of seats in parliament became a legitimate opposition party, which played a certain role in supervising and containing the government. After each parliamentary election, if the seats of the two major political parties in the parliament change in the opposite direction, the ruling party and the opposition party will exchange positions. In this way, the pattern of one-party dominance in North Korea and one party in opposition taking turns to govern has been formed. After the 20th century, the Labour Party rose, replacing the Liberal Party and forming two major political parties with the Conservative Party. Second, the reasons for the long-term stability of the two-party system 1. The important influence of conservatism. 2. The historical tradition of the two-party system excludes the two-party coalition government or multi-party cooperation. 3. The current electoral system is conducive to the two-party system. The current system in Britain is a simple majority system. 4. Both the left and right forces in Britain recognize the legitimacy of the two major party governments. Iii. Characteristics of the two-party system 1. The two-party system has led to a stable and effective government. 2. Central power is highly centralized. 3. The two-party system has its obvious class foundation. 4. The convergence of policies and legislation is another remarkable feature of the British two-party system. 5. Continuity of political party activities. 6. The policy of consensus between the two parties after the war has a certain political basis, which is a unique phenomenon in British society. Iv. the role of the opposition party 1. It is an effective check and balance and supervision of government power. When the voters ask for a change of policy, the opposition party can take over the responsibility of the government. 3. Cooperate with the government on some practical matters in the House of Commons. 4. The existence of the opposition party itself illustrates the principle of freedom in the British Constitution.