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Scotland and its political, social and cultural role as the constituent part of the U.K



As one of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom, the head of state in Scotland is the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II (since 1952). Constitutionally the United Kingdom is a unitary statewith one sovereign parliament and government. Under a system of devolution (or home rule) adopted after Scottish and Welsh referendums on devolution proposals in 1997, most of the constituent countries within the United Kingdom were given limited self-government, (except England). The British Parliament in Westminster retains the ability to amend, change, broaden or abolish the devolved governmental systems at will. As such the Scottish Parliament is not sovereign. However, it is thought unlikely that any British parliament would unilaterally abolish a home rule parliament and government without consultation via a referendum with the voters of the constituent country.

Executive power in the United Kingdom is vested in the Queen-in-Council, while legislative power is vested in the Queen-in-Parliament (the Crown and the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster inLondon

). Under devolution executive and legislative powers in certain areas have been constitutionally delegated to the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood in Edinburgh respectively. The United Kingdom Parliament retains active power over Scotland's taxes, social security system, the military, international relations, broadcasting, and some other areas explicitly specified in the Scotland Act 1998 as reserved matters. The Scottish Parliament has legislative authority for all other areas relating to Scotland, and has limited power to vary income tax, but has never exercised this power. The Scottish Parliament can refer devolved matters back to Westminster to be considered as part of United Kingdom-wide legislation under the Sewel motion system if United Kingdom-wide legislation is considered to be more appropriate for certain issues. The programmes of legislation enacted by the Scottish Parliament have seen a divergence in the provision of public services compared to the rest of the United Kingdom. For instance, the costs of a university education, and care services for the elderly are free at point of use in Scotland, while fees are paid in the rest of the UK. Scotland is the first country in the UK to ban smoking in public places.[5]

The Scottish Parliament is a unicameral legislature comprised of 129 Members, 73 of whom represent individual constituencies and are elected on a first past the post system; 56 are elected in eight different electoral regions by the additional member system. The Queen appoints one of the members of the Parliament, on the nomination of the Parliament, to be First Minister. Other Ministers are also appointed by the Queen on the nomination of the Parliament and together with the First Minister they make up Scottish Executive, the executive arm of government. The current (since 2001) First Minister is Jack McConnellof the Labour Party, who forms the government on a coalition basis with the Liberal Democrats. The main opposition party is the Scottish National Party, which campaigns for Scottish independence. Other parties include the Conservative and Unionist Party, the Scottish Green Party and the Scottish Socialist Party.

Scotland is represented in the British House of Commons by 59 MPs elected from territory-based Scottish constituencies. The Scotland Office, a

department of the United Kingdom government led by The Secretary of State for Scotland, is responsible for reserved matters. The Secretary of State for Scotland sits in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom and prior to devolution headed the system of government in Scotland. The current Secretary of State for Scotland is Douglas Alexander. Until 1999, Scottish peers were entitled to sit in the House of Lords.

The main political debate in Scotland revolves around the constitution and this dominated the Scottish political scene in the latter half of the 20th century. Under the pressure of growing support for Scottish independence all three UK-wide parties advocated a policy of devolution to some degree during their history (although Labour and the Conservatives have also at times opposed it). Now that devolution has occurred, debate continues over whether the Scottish Parliament should accrue additional powers (for example over fiscal policy), or seek to obtain full independence with full sovereign powers (either through independence, a federal United Kingdom or a confederal arrangement). It remains to be seen whether the current devolution system satisfies Scottish demands for self-government or strengthen demands for full-blown independence.



 




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