Modern Britain

Government and institutions

The constitution:

  • Forfatning/grundlov
  • Unwritten and flexible
  • Different sources

 

Constitutional Monarchy

  • Queen Elizabeth II
  • The Queen reigns(regerer) but she does not rule(styre)
  • At the top of society, but has no real power(informal power)
  • Her formal roles are:
    • Sign the laws
    • Appoint(udnævne) ministers
    • Open and close the parliament
    • Give a speech on behalf of the Prime Minister
  • Head of the executive(police), the judiciary(judges), the legislature(politicians), (svarer til den lovgivende-, den dømmende- og den udøvende magt)
  • Commander-in-chief of the armed forces, head of the army
  • Head of the church of England

 

Konstitutionelt monarki: styreform hvor en monarks magt er kraftigt indskrænket af forfatningen

 

Parliament

  • Bi-cameral, two houses
    • House of Commons
      • 646 members, democratically elected by the people
      • Pass/make laws
      • Control the state finances
      • Scrutinize government(holder øje med regeringen)
    • House of Lords
      • 725 members called peers, unelected
      • Debate current issues
      • Gives advices to house of commons, gives ideas for new laws and so on
      • Scrutinize bills from the house of commons
      • Pass legislation(can only delay, but not veto, a bill)
      • How do you get a seat: You can inherit a seat(the nobility), be a bishop, be a judge

 

The electoral system

  • You are elected for five years
  • 646 constituencies(valgkredse)
  • First-past-the-post system/winner-take-it-all system, only the person who wins/with the most votes, goes into the parliament(so all votes cast on the losers are lost, unlike in Denmark), makes it difficult for small parties to get in to the Parliament

 

Government and cabinet

  • 20-22 ministries
    • Each has a senior minister and a number of junior ministers
  • Head of government = Prime Minister
    • Lives in Downing Street No 10

 

Political parties

  • Two main parties
    • The Conservative Party/the Tory Party
      • Right-of-centre
      • A bit like Venstre
    • The Labour Party
      • Left-of-centre
      • A bit like Socialdemokratiet

 

The British School system

The state system

  • Free, you don’t have to pay

The private system

  • You have to pay
  • Also called public school(although it is not public but private)
  • Often boarding schools
  • Examples: Harrow School, Eton School

 

Grammar school

Faith School

 

Secondary School

Primary School

 

 

 

The Skinhead Movement – Text: Under the skin

 

Typical skinhead clothes:

  • Knittet shirt with v-neck, Ben Sherman Shirt
  • Knee-high boots
  • Flying jackets
  • Severely shaved head
  • Skinny trousers

 

Skinheads

  • Aggressive attitude
  • Working class
  • To be a skinhead is like a religion

 

This is England

Shaun

  • Main character
  • Mother
  • Father(dead)

 

The group:

Woody

Milky(black)

Lol, Woody’s girlfriend

Gadget

Smell(Michelle)

Puke

 

 

The other group:

Combo

Banjo(Combos friend from prison)

 

 

Mindmap

Queen Elizabeth in America

  • Became queen when she was very young
  • When the Queen was young, she liked power, likes being queen
    • Likes power = like champaign
  • The Queen and Churchill spend a lot of time talking to each other, liked talking to each other
  • Most former Prime Ministers say they like talking to her
  • Only informal power
  • Great personality

Government and Institutions

  • Queen Elizabeth II, reigns but does not rule
    • Head of the executive
    • Commander-in-chief of the armed forces
    • Head of the church of England
  • Constitutional monarchy
  • Parliament, two houses, bicameral
    • House of commons, 646 members
    • House of lords, 725
  • Two main parties
    • The conservative party
    • The labour party
  • You are elected for five years
  • 646 constituencies(valgkredse)
  • Vote system = winner takes it all
  • 20-22 ministries
  • Head of government = Prime Minister
    • Lives in Downing Street No 10

The uniform approach work

  • State schools, low academic standards
  • School uniforms as a social leveller
  • Competitive sport important as well
  • House system, school divided into different houses
  • Needed more financial freedom

British public schools top world lists

  • Public school = private school
  • You pay to go to school, expensive
  • Often boarding schools
  • High academic standards
  • Better teachers that in the state schools
  • Best in the world
  • 7%
  • Big gap between private schools and state schools

Under the skin

  • Skinheads
    • Aggressive attitude
    • Working class
    • To be a skinhead is like a religion
    • Paki Basher
    • Some of them are racist
    • Music, Jamaican ska
    • Influenced the history
    • Influenced the fashion
      • Today their style is adopted by some gay as an extreme form of masculinitymen
  • Typical skinhead clothes:
    • Knittet shirt with v-neck, Ben Sherman Shirt
    • Knee-high boots
    • Flying jackets
    • Severely shaved head
    • Skinny trousers

This is England

Shaun

  • Main character
  • Mother
  • Father died in the Falklands(war)

Themes

  • Brotherhood, friendship
  • Nationalism
  • Crime and violence
  • Identity, growing up

The group:

  • Woody
  • Milky(black)
  • Lol, Woody’s girlfriend
  • Gadget
  • Smell(Michelle)
  • Puke

The other group:

  • Combo
  • Banjo(Combos friend from prison)

Plot

  • In the beginning Shaun is a lonely boy
  • Becomes a part of the Skinhead culture
  • Develops