与1997年新工党执政后推出一系列宪法改革措施相比,英国战后首届联合政府面对内忧外患以及联合执政伙伴的掣肘,在宪法改革方面迈出的步伐要谨慎得多。相关讨论主要集中在英国议会改革、地方权力下放和有关欧盟的立法等领域。在固定任期议会、欧盟立法和地方权力下放方面通过了相关法律,但在改革简单多数选举制和上院改革等问题上则未能取得突破。2010年大选中各主要政党提出的向人民下放权力的新政治进展有限。此外,围绕苏格兰独立公决引发的争论对英国宪法体制和联合王国的未来产生了深刻影响。
<<The New Labour introduced a series of constitutional reforms since taking office in 1997. In contrast,the Coalition Government,which is faced with the challenges from within and without and,particulary from its internal divide,is more cautious in major constitutional reforms. The ongoing debates focus on parliamentary reform,devolution and the EU legislation. New legislations on fixed term parliament,the European Union and devolution have been adopted;however,no breakthrough is observed in the reform of first-past-the-post(FPTP)voting system,nor in the reform of the House of Lords. There has also been limited progress on the devolution of the power from Westminster to the people,which was manifested by major parties in the 2010 General Election. In addition,the debates about the Scottish independence referendum have profoundly impacted on the British constitutional system and the future of the United Kingdom.
<<Keywords: | Coalition GovernmentConstitutional ReformParliamentary ReformDevolutionScottish Referendum |