This document provides an overview of UK politics, including: - The UK is made up of four nations: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. - It has a constitutional monarchy and limited federalism, with some nations having their own assemblies. - Parliament consists of the House of Lords and House of Commons. The House of Lords reviews legislation and includes hereditary peers, bishops, and non-partisan crossbenchers.

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
The Political System of the
United Kingdom
An introduction to the politics and parties
of Great Britain
Microteaching
Tuesday February 23rd, 2016
Christopher R. Marsicano

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
Link to today’s slides, activities
http://j.mp/UKPolitics

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
The United Kingdom
• One country, made up of four nations
• England
• Scotland
• Wales
• Northern Ireland

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
The United Kingdom
• One country, made up of four nations
• England
• Scotland
• Wales
• Northern Ireland

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
The United Kingdom
• One country, made up of four nations
• England
• Scotland
• Wales
• Northern Ireland

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
The United Kingdom
• One country, made up of four nations
• England
• Scotland
• Wales
• Northern Ireland

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
The United Kingdom
• One country, made up of four nations
• England
• Scotland
• Wales
• Northern Ireland

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
The United Kingdom
• One country, made up of four nations
• England
• Scotland
• Wales
• Northern Ireland

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
The United Kingdom
• One country, made up of four nations
• England
• Scotland
• Wales
• Northern Ireland
• Constitutional monarchy - with limited federalism
• Some of the nations have their own national assemblies

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
The United Kingdom
• One country, made up of four nations
• England
• Scotland
• Wales
• Northern Ireland
• Constitutional monarchy - with limited federalism
• Some of the nations have their own national assemblies
• Parliament handles matters that pertain to England or whole
UK

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
Parliament
• Began in 1215 with the signing of the Magna Carta
• Continued by Simon De Montfort in 1265
• Included commoners for the first time
• Commoners and lords held separate advisory roles

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
Parliament
• Began in 1215 with the signing of the Magna Carta
• Continued by Simon De Montfort in 1265
• Included commoners for the first time
• Commoners and lords held separate advisory roles
• Three parts of Parliament
1. The Regent (Queen Elizabeth II)
2. The House of Lords
3. The House of Commons

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
Parliament
• Began in 1215 with the signing of the Magna Carta
• Continued by Simon De Montfort in 1265
• Included commoners for the first time
• Commoners and lords held separate advisory roles
• Three parts of Parliament
1. The Regent (Queen Elizabeth II)
2. The House of Lords
3. The House of Commons

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
Parliament
• Began in 1215 with the signing of the Magna Carta
• Continued by Simon De Montfort in 1265
• Included commoners for the first time
• Commoners and lords held separate advisory roles
• Three parts of Parliament
1. The Regent (Queen Elizabeth II)
2. The House of Lords
3. The House of Commons

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
Parliament
• Began in 1215 with the signing of the Magna Carta
• Continued by Simon De Montfort in 1265
• Included commoners for the first time
• Commoners and lords held separate advisory roles
• Three parts of Parliament
1. The Regent (Queen Elizabeth II)
2. The House of Lords
3. The House of Commons

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
The Regent
• Descendant of the Kings of medieval England
• Through royal prerogative:
• Signs all legislation
• Is the sole person who can declare War or Peace
• Calls on majority party in the House of Commons to form a
government in his or her name.

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Lords
• Successors of the Barons, Earls, Dukes, and
Marquesses of medieval England and Scotland
• Members are called “Peers”
• Appointed for life by the regent with consent of
the House of Commons

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Lords
• Successors of the Barons, Earls, Dukes, and
Marquesses of medieval England and Scotland
• Members are called “Peers”
• Appointed for life by the regent with consent of
the House of Commons
• There are four types of Lords:
• Political Peers
• Hereditary Peers
• Anglican Bishops
• “Crossbenchers”

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Lords
• Successors of the Barons, Earls, Dukes, and
Marquesses of medieval England and Scotland
• Members are called “Peers”
• Appointed for life by the regent with consent of
the House of Commons
• There are four types of Lords:
• Political Peers – Peers appointed for service to government
• Hereditary Peers
• Anglican Bishops
• “Crossbenchers”

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Lords
• Successors of the Barons, Earls, Dukes, and
Marquesses of medieval England and Scotland
• Members are called “Peers”
• Appointed for life by the regent with consent of
the House of Commons
• There are four types of Lords:
• Political Peers
• Hereditary Peers – Descendants of medieval peers
• Anglican Bishops
• “Crossbenchers”

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Lords
• Successors of the Barons, Earls, Dukes, and
Marquesses of medieval England and Scotland
• Members are called “Peers”
• Appointed for life by the regent with consent of
the House of Commons
• There are four types of Lords:
• Political Peers
• Hereditary Peers
• Anglican Bishops – Leaders in the Church of England
• “Crossbenchers”

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Lords
• Successors of the Barons, Earls, Dukes, and
Marquesses of medieval England and Scotland
• Members are called “Peers”
• Appointed for life by the regent with consent of
the House of Commons
• There are four types of Lords:
• Political Peers
• Hereditary Peers
• Anglican Bishops
• “Crossbenchers” – Non-partisan policy experts

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Lords
• Why “Crossbenchers?”
• House of Lords has 3 rows of benches

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Lords
• Why “Crossbenchers?”
• House of Lords has 3 rows of benches
• Partisan members sit on benches facing each other

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Lords
• Why “Crossbenchers?”
• House of Lords has 3 rows of benches
• Partisan members sit on benches facing each other
• Non-partisan members sit in the center aisle

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Lords
• Why “Crossbenchers?”
• House of Lords has 3 rows of benches
• Partisan members sit on benches facing each other
• Non-partisan members sit in the center aisle
• Three main roles of the House of Lords:
1. Question and challenge the work of the government
2. Work with the House of Commons to shape laws
3. Investigate issues through committees and debates

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Lords
• Why “Crossbenchers?”
• House of Lords has 3 rows of benches
• Partisan members sit on benches facing each other
• Non-partisan members sit in the center aisle
• Three main roles of the House of Lords:
1. Question and challenge the work of the government
2. Work with the House of Commons to shape laws
3. Investigate issues through committees and debates
• What about the judiciary?
• The House of Lords used to serve as the equivalent of the US
Supreme Court – effectively serving as the chief judiciary body.

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Lords
• Why “Crossbenchers?”
• House of Lords has 3 rows of benches
• Partisan members sit on benches facing each other
• Non-partisan members sit in the center aisle
• Three main roles of the House of Lords:
1. Question and challenge the work of the government
2. Work with the House of Commons to shape laws
3. Investigate issues through committees and debates
• What about the judiciary?
• The House of Lords used to serve as the equivalent of the US
Supreme Court – effectively serving as the chief judiciary body.
• Since 2009, that responsibility has fallen to the Supreme Court of the
United Kingdom, which is not a part of Parliament

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Commons
• Elected Representatives of the People of the UK
• Elected through a “First past the post” electoral
system – the person with the most votes wins…
even if he or she does not have a majority.
• Responsible for day-to-day legislation and
governance
• 650 constituencies with around 70,000 people in
each constituency
• The majority party, or coalition of minority parties equivalent to
a majority in number has the responsibility for governing.
• This party is said to be “in government”

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Commons
• The leader of the government is known as the
Prime Minister

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Commons
• The leader of the government is known as the
Prime Minister
• Since 2010, David Cameron has served as Prime
Minister
• The Prime Minister has the power to appoint cabinet
ministers with each responsible for a set of political issues known as a
“brief.”

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Commons
• The leader of the government is known as the
Prime Minister
• Since 2010, David Cameron has served as Prime
Minister
• The Prime Minister has the power to appoint cabinet
ministers with each responsible for a set of political issues known as a
“brief.”
• Maintaining a government can be difficult
• In 2010, no party had an overall majority of the seats in the House of
Commons
• The Center-Right Conservatives and Centrist Liberal Democrats
joined together to form a coalition government
• In 2015, the Conservative Party won an outright majority.

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Commons
• Those parties that do not have a majority are
known as the loyal opposition.

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Commons
• Those parties that do not have a majority are
known as the loyal opposition.
• The current opposition is led by Jeremy Corbyn of
the Labour Party
• The leader of the opposition appoints a “Shadow Cabinet” to cover
the same briefs as the government

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Commons
• Those parties that do not have a majority are
known as the loyal opposition.
• The current opposition is led by Jeremy Corbyn of
the Labour Party
• The leader of the opposition appoints a “Shadow Cabinet” to cover
the same briefs as the government
• The Loyal Opposition gets the opportunity to ask questions of
the Prime Minister every week on important policy issues.
• It can become raucous and exciting.
• CHECK PMQS LINK ON WEBSITE

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Commons
• The Benches… again?
• Like the House of Lords there are benches in the House of
Commons
• Leaders of government and opposition sit on the front of the
benches, facing each other
• Party members who are not in the leadership sit in the back benches
• Frontbenchers vs. Backbenchers

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Commons
• The Benches… again?
• Like the House of Lords there are benches in the House of
Commons
• Leaders of government and opposition sit on the front of the
benches, facing each other
• Party members who are not in the leadership sit in the back benches
• Frontbenchers vs. Backbenchers

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Commons
• The Benches… again?
• Like the House of Lords there are benches in the House of
Commons
• Leaders of government and opposition sit on the front of the
benches, facing each other
• Party members who are not in the leadership sit in the back benches
• Frontbenchers vs. Backbenchers

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
House of Commons
• The Benches… again?
• Like the House of Lords there are benches in the House of
Commons
• Leaders of government and opposition sit on the front of the
benches, facing each other
• Party members who are not in the leadership sit in the back benches
• Frontbenchers vs. Backbenchers

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
Activity: Political Parties
http://bit.ly/WhichParty

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Microteaching – UK Politics Christopher R. Marsicano
Wrapping Up
http://bit.ly/learnUK