The origins of the English Parliament
英国议会的起源
The Great Council is know to be the prototype of the current British Parliament. In 1265, Simon de Montfort summoned the Great Council, together with two knights from each country and two citizens from each town. It later developed into the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Its main role was to offer advice. There were no elections or parties. And the most important part of Parliament was the House of Lords.
大议会是当今议会的原型。1265年，西门?德?孟福尔召开大议会，各县有两名骑士，各镇有两名居民参加。大议会发展到后来演变成议会，分为上议院和下议院。其作用是咨询而非决定；也没有选举和政党。议会的最重要的部分是上议院。
1. The United Kingdom is a unitary, not a federal state. Parliament consists of the Sovereign, the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
英国是中央集权国家，而不是联邦制国家。议会由君主、上议院和下议院组成。
2. The House of Lords is made up of the Lords Spiritual and the Lords Temporal. The main function of the House of Lords is to bring the wide experience of its members into the process of lawmaking. In other words, the non elected House is to act as a chamber of revision, complementing but not rivaling the elected House.
上议院（贵族院）由神职贵族和世俗贵族组成。它的主要作用是用议员的丰富经验帮助立法。换言之，非选举的上议院是修正议院，补充而非反对由选举产生的下议院。
3. The House of Commons is elected by universal adult suffrage and consists of 651 Members of Parliament (MPs). It is in the House of Commons that the ultimate authority lies.
下议院（平民院）由成人普选产生，由651名议员组成。下议院拥有最终立法权。
4. Britain has a number of parties, but there are only two major parties. These two parties are the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. Since 1945, either the Conservative Party or the Labour Party has held power. The party which wins sufficient seats at a General Election commands a majority of Government. The leader of the majority party is appointed Prime Minister. The party which wins the second largest number of seats becomes the Official Opposition, with its own leader and “shadow cabinet”. The rule of Opposition is to help the formulation of policy, criticize the Government and debate with the Government.
英国有很多政党，但有两个主要的政党——保守党和工党。从1945年以来，两党一直轮流执政，在大选中获多数议席因而在下议院拥有多数支持者的政党组建政府，多数政党领袖由君主任命为首相。获得第二多数议席的政党则正式成为“反对党”，有自己的领袖和影子内阁。反对党的目的是帮助制定政策，它可以经常给政府提出批评性的建议和修正议案。
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