UK and US Political Vocabulary and Political Systems

UK and US political vocabulary and political systems

Are the things below about the UK/ USA/ both? (Most are only about one of those countries)

• Backbenches/ Backbenchers
• Buck House
• Buckingham Palace
• Cabinet
• Camp David
• Chancellor (of the Exchequer)
• Chequers
• Coalition government
• Confirmation hearings
• Congress
• Cross-bench
• Downing Street
• Filibustering
• Foreign Secretary
• Governor
• Heir to the throne
• His Majesty’s Government
• Home Secretary
• House of Commons
• House of Lords
• House of Representatives
• Houses of Parliament
• Independent candidates
• Labour (= The Labour Party)
• Leader of the House
• Leader of the Opposition
• Mayor
• Member of Parliament
• Monarch
• MP
• Number 10
• Number 11
• Peers
• PM
• President
• Primaries
• Prime Minister
• Senate
• Speaker
• Supreme Court
• Term limits
• The Conservatives (= The Conservative Party)
• The Constitution
• The Democrats (= The Democratic Party)
• The GOP
• The Palace of Westminster
• The King’s Speech
• The Republicans (= The Republican Party)
• The right to bear arms
• The First Amendment
• The Tories
• The White House
• Two-party system
• Westminster
• Whips
• Whitehall

 

Which things above are different words for the same thing?

 

Which things in the two different systems are more or less equivalent?

 

These things have different meanings in the two countries. What are they?

• Red
• Blue
• Conservative
• Liberal

 

Which country’s system seems more similar to your country’s? What are the similarities and differences?

 

Try to explain your own country’s political system.

 

Explain what you know about recent political stories, using vocabulary from above if you can.

 

Answer key

• Backbenches/ Backbenchers – UK
• Buck House/ Buckingham Palace – UK
• Cabinet – Both (though only the UK has a real cabinet system)
• Camp David – US equivalent to Chequers – UK
• Chancellor (of the Exchequer) – UK
• Coalition government – UK
• Confirmation hearings – US
• Cross-bench – UK
• Downing Street/ Number 10 – UK equivalent to White House - US
• Filibustering – both (though only formally part of the debates in the US)
• Foreign Secretary – UK
• Governor – US (though most British overseas territories and Commonwealth countries still have governors)
• Heir to the throne – UK
• Her Majesty’s Government – UK
• Home Secretary – UK
• House of Commons – UK equivalent to House of Representatives – US
• House of Lords – UK equivalent to Senate – US
• Houses of Parliament/ Westminster/ The Palace of Westminster – UK equivalent to Congress – US
• Independent candidates – both
• Labour (= The Labour Party) equivalent to the Democrats – US
• Leader of the House – US
• Leader of the Opposition – UK
• Mayor – both
• Member of Parliament/ MP – UK
• Monarch – UK
• Number 11 – UK
• Peers – UK
• PM/ Prime Minister – UK
• President – US
• Primaries – US
• Speaker – both
• Supreme Court – both
• Term limits – US
• The Conservatives (= The Conservative Party)/ The Tories – UK equivalent to Republicans/ GOP – US
• The Constitution – US
• The King’s Speech – UK
• The right to bear arms – US
• The First Amendment – US
• Two-party system – US (though the UK system usually works out that way)
• Whips – UK
• Whitehall – UK