Reading Log

Reading Log Topic Readings Summries Government & Economy UK:unit 4.5.6 U.S.:unit 5.6.7.8 The U.K today is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy. This system has been formed bu 8 centuries of evolutionary development. In the process, the seat of power has slowly passed from the non-demostratic Crown to the aristocratic Lords and to its final resting place in the House of Commons with a powerful Prime Minister. UK constitution:The constitution of the United Kingdom is the set of laws and principles under which the United Kingdom is governed. Monarchy: The British Monarchy is the longest reiging monarchy in the world, claiming a history of a thousand years. The monarchy of the United Kingdom (commonly referred to as the British monarchy) is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories.Parliament: UK's parliament is consist of 2 Houses: House of Commons and House of Lords and the Crown. The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly referred to as the British Parliament, the Westminster Parliament or, formerly, the Imperial Parliament) is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. Parliament alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories. General Election :For electoral purpose, the U.K is divided into 659 constitutions,constituency boundaries are adjusted to ensure fair representation and to reflect population \movement. British citizens provide that they are aged 18 or over and are not disqualified. Economy:The economy of U.K was once at the forefront in the world during the 19th-century Industrial Revolution. Contemporary UK, a member of the European Union and the G8,still owns one of the most developed economies,having the second largest economy an Europe and the fifth largest gross domestic product in the world. The capital,London ,is , along with New York city, one of the two largest financial centuries in the world. US constitution:six principles:federalism,the need for a vigorous executive,supreme national court,checks and balances,limited government ,mixed government.Federalism:Federalism in the United States is the evolving relationship between U.S. state governments and the federal government of the United States. Since the founding of the country, and particularly with the end of the American Civil War, power shifted away from the states and towards the national government.[1] Congress:The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.Presidency:The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States armed forcesJudiciary:The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary is a standing committee of the United States Senate, of the United States CongressGeneral Election:In election law within the United States, a general election is an election held pursuant to a periodic schedule, in which a candidate for the office that the election concerns will become the scheduled successor to that office. Social Service UK:Unit 7 of part 1 US:Unit 6 of part 2 UK social services: The Department for Work and Pensions is the largest government department in the United Kingdom, created on June 8, 2001 from the merger of the employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security and headed by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, a Cabinet position. NHS Scotland is the publicly funded healthcare system of Scotland. Domestic housing in the United Kingdom presents a possible opportunity for achieving the 20% overall cut in UK carbon dioxide emissions targeted by the Government for 2010. However, the process of achieving that drop is proving problematic given the very wide range of age and condition of the UK housing stock.US social services: In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program. The original Social Security Act(1935) and the current version of the Act, as amendedencompass several social welfare and social insurance programs. The larger and better known programs are: Health care in the United States is provided by many separate legal entities. Health care facilities are largely owned and operated by the private sector. Health insurance is primarily provided by the private sector, with the exception of programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, the Children's Health Insurance Program and the Veterans Health Administration. The United States housing bubble is an economic bubble affecting many parts of the United States housing market.Housing prices peaked in early 2005, started to decline in 2006 and 2007, and may not yet have hit bottom. On December 30, 2008 the Case-Shiller home price index reported its largest price drop in its history.Increased foreclosure rates in 2006–2007 among U.S. homeowners led to a crisis in August 2008 for the subprime, Alt-A, collateralized debt obligation (CDO), mortgage, credit, hedge fund, and foreign bank markets. In October 2007, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury called the bursting housing bubble "the most significant risk to our economy."       段洋  200905140804.