CAE Monday,: part 7/ KLV: Politics

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5

Thursday, March 6th

Programme

- 10 minutes of silent reading

- Kennis van Land en Volk: Politics

- C1 Advanced practice exam:

* Speaking

* Reading and Use of English parts 

1 - 4

Read your novel

Politics

The United Kingdom

First, take a look at the following clip.

Afterwards, we'll talk about the different parts of British Parliament.

3 parts

In Britain there is no written constitution. (-> Magna Carta)

Political power lies with Parliament, which consists of
1. House of Commons    (NL 2e kamer)
2. House of Lords             (NL 1e kamer)
3. Sovereign                        (Koning)

House of Commons

- Dutch: Tweede Kamer

- 640 elected members

- Members are called Members of Parliament (MP)

- They represent a constituency

- The House of Commons is the main law-making body of Parliament.

House of Lords

- Dutch: Eerste Kamer

- Around 800 members

- Consists of:

   - Life peers (awarded by the King)

   - Hereditary peers (inherit)

   - (Arch)Bishops

   -  Senior judges (Law Lords)

- Review bills, can decide to delay a bill for 6 months.

Sovereign

- Monarch

- King Charles III (76 years old)

- Symbolic power only

- Speech from the Throne

- The eldest son of the monarch is called the Prince of Wales

(now Prince William)

Elections

- takes place at least every 5 years

- Winner takes all and forms government

- That party's leader is Prime Minister (PM), now Keir Starmer (Labour party)

- Members of other parties form the opposition

Westminster/ Whitehall - "Den Haag"

Political parties

Only three political parties play a significant role in Parliament:

1. The Conservative Party (or Tories), right-wing, Dutch VVD. 
   
2. The Labour Party, left-wing, Dutch PvdA, currently in power.
   
3. The Liberal Democrates (or Lib Dems), center, Dutch D'66.
   

What to call them

Great Britain: England, Scotland and Wales

The United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (= Ulster)

The British Isles: United Kingdom ánd the Republic of Ireland (= Eire), the Channel Islands, the Orkneys and the Shetlands.

The Commonwealth

an association of 54 states; all members were at one time part of the British Empire.

Most have become independent states (e.g. Cyprus, Zimbabwe), some others still recognise the British monarch as Head of State (e.g. Canada and New Zealand).

The United States

Now, let's switch to the United States of America.

Here's another clip to introduce the subject.

Federation of states

Each state (50) has its own governor, independent court system and can make its own laws.

The White House, Supreme court and Congress are all located in Washington D.C. (= District of Columbia)

Checks and balances

To ensure a separation of powers, the U.S. Federal Government is made up of three branches:

- legislative

- executive

- judicial

The three different branches and their tasks

Political parties

The two leading political parties are:

The Democrats: left-of-centre/ liberal, Dutch PvdA.

The Republicans: right-wing, Dutch VVD, currently in power: Donald Trump.

However, the Representatives and Senators are not bound to their party programme (voters' interests).

C1 Advanced exam practice:

Speaking and Reading & Use of English parts 1 - 4

Monday

- Bring your SB and device to class

- Make sure you’ve finished C1 Advanced practice exam Reading and Use of English parts 1 - 4

- Study exam words: Basiswoorden

- Remember to hand in writing part 2. Deadline = tomorrow!