英美概况专有名词

1.The Anglo-Saxons

They were two groups of Germanic peoples who settled down in England from the 5th century. They were regarded as the ancestors of the English and the founders of England

2.Constitutional Monarchy

It’s a political system that has been practiced in Britain since the Glorious Revolution of

1688.According to this system; the Constitution is superior to the Monarch. In law, the Monarch has many supreme powers, but in practice, the real power of monarchy has been greatly reduced and today the Queen acts solely on the advice of her ministers. She reigns but doesn’t rule. The real power lies in the Parliament, or to be exact in the House of Commons.

3.The Troubles

The Troubles was an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland during the late 20th century. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as a \"guerrilla war\" or a \"low-level war\". The conflict began in the late 1960s and it is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles primarily took place in Northern Ireland, at times the violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe.

The conflict was primarily political and nationalistic, fueled by historical events. It also had an ethnic or sectarian dimension, although it was not a religious conflict. A key issue was the

constitutional status of Northern Ireland. Unionists/loyalists, who are mostly Protestants, want Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom. Irish nationalists/republicans, who are mostly Catholics, want Northern Ireland to leave the United Kingdom and join a united Ireland.

4.The Good Friday Agreement

The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s. Northern Ireland's present devolved system of government is based on the agreement. The agreement also created a number of institutions between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. The agreement is made up of two inter-related documents, both agreed in Belfast on Good Friday. Issues relating to sovereignty, civil and cultural rights, decommissioning of weapons, justice and policing were central to the agreement.

5.General Election in the UK

A general election is an opportunity for people in every part of the UK to choose their MP - the person who will represent their local area (constituency) in the House of Commons for up to five years.

There is normally a choice of several candidates in each constituency, some of which are the local candidates for national political parties. People can only vote for one of the candidates and the candidate that receives most votes becomes their MP.

6.Oxbridge

Oxbridge is a blend word of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collectively in contrast to other British universities and more broadly to describe characteristics reminiscent /ˌrɛmɪ'nɪsnt/ of them, often

with implications of superior social or intellectual status.

7.American federal system

The United States is exactly that--a Union of states. Each state has its own individual powers. However, that does not mean that the states have power to legislate on all matters. The Constitution of the United States spells out the powers of the federal government and of the \"several states.\" The Union government (known as the federal government) has its own fields of legislation, and if federal legislation conflicts with the state laws, the federal legislation prevails. If this occurs, the state must defer to the federal government. The alternative, that any state may at any time leave the Union and thus be free from Union interference in the state's internal affairs, was tried during the American Civil War.

8.Check and Balance

The United states has three separate branches of government: the legislative, executive, and judicial. Each branch has a portion of constitutional authority and can check or block the actions of the other branches. The three branches are thus in balance. This is a system of checks and balances

9.the Civil Rights Movement

The civil rights movement, also known as the American civil rights movement and other names, is a term that encompasses the strategies, groups, and social movements which accomplished its goal of ending legalized racial segregation and discrimination laws in the United States and secured the legal recognition and federal protection of the citizenship rights enumerated in the United States Constitution and federal law.

10.WASP

White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. An American whose family was originally from northern Europe and who is therefore considered to be part of the most powerful group in society.