Its first Labour Government. At this election the number of Liberal

MPs was greatly reduced and since then Governments have been formed

by either the Labour or the Conservative party. Usually they have had

clear majorities that is, one party has had more MPs than all the

others combined.

The Conservative Party can broadly be described as the party of the

middle and upper classes although it does receive some working-class

support. Most of its voters live in rural areas, small towns and the suburbs

of large cities. Much of its financial support comes from large industrial

companies. The Labour Party, on the other hand, has always had strong

links with the trade unions and receives financial support from them.

While many Labour voters an middle-class or intellectuals, the

tradition; Labour Party support is still strongest in industrial areas.

In 1981 some mPs left the Labour Party and formed a new left-

of-centre party the Soc Democratic Party (SDP) which they

hoped would win enough support to breal the two-party system of the

previous forty years. They fought the 1983 election in an alliance with

the Liberals, but only a small number of their MPs were elected. In 1988

the majority of SDP and Liberal MPs and party members decided to

form permanent single party, to be called the Social, Democratic and

Liberal Party or the Social and Liberal Democrats. However some SDP

MPs and party members disagreed with the idea, and so the SDP still

exists as a separate parry. They (and other small minority parties in the

House of Commons) would like to change the electoral system; they

want MPs to be elected by proportional representation. Under this

system, the number of MPs from each party would correspond to the

total number of votes each party receives in the election.

32

The Party System.

The British democratic system depends on political parties, and there

has been a party system of some kind since the 17^th century. The political

parties choose candidates in elections (there are sometimes independent

candidates, but they are rarely elected). The party which wins the

majority of seats forms the Government and its leader usually becomes

Prime Minister. The largest minority party becomes the Opposition. In

doing so it accepts the right of the majority party to run the country,

while the majority party accepts the right of the minority party to

criticise it. Without this agreement between the political parties the British

parliamentary system would break down.

The Prime Minister chooses about twenty MPs from his or her

party to become Cabinet Ministers. Each minister is responsible for a

particular area of government and for a Civil Service department. For

example, the Minister of Defence is responsible for defence policy and

the armed forces, the Chancellor of the Exchequer for financial policy,

and the Home Secretary for, among other things, law and order and

Immigration.

Exercise 11

Read, translate the text into Ukrainian.

The United States began as a one-party political system, but gradually

two-party system gained strength in political life. The fact is that

nowadays the percentage of people who do not support either of the two

old parties is the largest in history. Find out whether the following text

contains information about the reason of this phenomenon.

THE MAJOR POLITICAL PARTIES

The popularity of George Washington, who wanted the country to

stay a one-party political system, and the good effects of the Constitution

on trade prevented the organization of opposing parties until the end of

Washingtons second term. Then the question of who should be the new

President began to divide the people into political organizations backing

opposing candidates. Thus the one-party Revolutionary government of

the United States split up into a two-party system.

The present-day Democratic Party was founded in 1828, representing

Southern planters slave owners and part of Northern bourgeoisie, as

well as groups of petty bourgeoisie and farmers. The Republican Party

was founded in 1854. It united industrial and trade bourgeoisie from

North-East, farmers, workers, craftsmen who were interested in

33

destroying the political power of the South. During Lincolns

Administration, Republicans supported the agricultural reforms and the

abolishment of slavery. Yet after the Civil War of 18611865 the party

lost its progressive character and the differences between the two parties

disappeared.

The parties chose their own names. Republican and Democratic, but

not their party emblems. The cartoonist Thomas Nast Invented the

Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey in the early 1870s and

they soon became fixed types. The parties are not divided by any

doctrinal gulf. It is hard to say what the Republican Party view or the

Democratic Party view of any political issue is. Outsiders often complain

that they find it difficult to distinguish between the two major political

parties of the US, which appear to support such similar policies.

The main task of the parties is to win elections. Every four years the

American parties come together as national bodies in Presidential

nominating conventions and make up the party programs. But once a

President is chosen, the parties again become amorphous bodies. This

traditional two-party system is favoured by big business, for it creates

an illusion that voters are free to choose between candidates from two

parties whereas both of them faithfully serve big business interest.

What distinguishes the two parties is not so much opinion as position.