Chapter 12 Ireland Today
I. Political Structure 政治体制
Ireland is a parliamentary republic and a unitary统一的 state under the 1937 Constitution. The Constitution is theoretically 理论上applicable 适用于to the whole of Ireland. Citizens of Northern Ireland are also considered citizens and can run for office 竞选in the South. The Republic of Ireland consists of 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland.
根据1937年的宪法，爱尔兰是议会制共和国是中央集权国家。理论上讲，此宪法适用于整个爱尔兰岛，北爱尔兰公民也被视为共和国公民，能够竞选南方的职位。爱尔兰共和国由爱尔兰岛的32个郡中的26个郡组成。
1. Executive power 行政权
The head of state is the president, elected by direct suffrage 直接投票for a term of seven years. 任期七年He sommons or dissolves the Oireachtas议会 (Parliament); signs and promulgates 颁布laws; appoints judges, the prime minister and other members of the cabinet; 内阁 and heads the defence forces. 武装部队 In addition, he has the right to refer提交 certain bills to the Supreme Court for a decision on their constitutionality符合宪法 and refer certain bills to the people by referendum. 全民公决The president is advised and assisted in his duties by the Council of State. 国家委员会
国家元首是总统，通过直接投票选举产生，任期七年。他召集或解散议会；签署和颁布法律；任命法官、首相和其他内阁成员；统率武装部队。此外，他有权提交一些议案给最高法院裁决是否符合宪法，也有权提交一些议案给人民进行全民公决。国家委员会给总统提供建议，并帮助总统履行职责。
Article条款 13 of the Constitution provides that the president shall appoint the prime minister (taoiseach总理) on the nomination提名 of the House of Representatives众议院 (Dail) and that he shall appoint the other members of the government on the nomination of the prime minister with the previous approval of the Dail. Up to the legal limit of the life of the Oireachtas, the prime minister holds office either until he chooses to resign 辞职or until he loses the support of the majority in the Dail. The Dail' s constitutional job of appointing the prime minister is a purely纯粹的 formal one. Every new Dail nominates the leader of the majority party or group to be prime minister. Then it usually adjourns休会 while the leader calls upon 要求the president to be formally appointed the taoiseach. He then returns to the Dail to put forward the names of his government, who are approved en bloc, then appointed by the president and assigned their departments by the prime minister. 宪法第13项条款规定，总统应在众议院提名下任命首相；其他政府成员由众议院事先批准，首相提名任命。在议会的合法届期内，
首相一直担任其职，直到他自己辞职或是失去众议院的多数支持。完法赋予众议院任命首相的工作相当正式。每届新众议院提名多数党或多数团体领袖为首相。当要求总统正式任命多数党领袖为首相时，众议院通常要休会。然后多数党领袖再到众议院提出其他政府成员名单，这些名单一起被批准后由总统任命，并由首相分配他们所负责的部门。
The government's responsibility to the Dail is collective集体的, and it is required to meet and act as a collective authority. Collective responsibility requires the government to present a united front统一战线 to the public and to the Dail. This feature特点 of Irish parliamentary life is due to party solidarity 政党团结and loyalty. Historically, 从历史上看political loyalty政党忠诚 was and remains a notable public virtue公共美德, and a strong sense of allegiance 忠诚to\ persisted. 坚持至今 In politics as in religion, turncoats变节者 are despised.轻视 Members vote consistently 一致地as they are bidden吩咐 by their leaders. In addition to除之外 being collectively共同地 responsible, ministers 部长are also individually 单独地responsible for the performance执行 of their respective 各自地ministries.
政府向众议院集体负责，它应该作为一个集体权力部门聚集和行动。集体负责制要求政府对公众和众议院以统一战线的面目出现。爱尔兰议会活动的这一特点归功于政党团结和忠诚。从历史上看，政
党忠诚一直是著名的公共美德，对领袖强烈的忠诚一直坚持至今。像宗教信仰一样，政治上的变节者受人鄙视。因其领袖的要求，政党成员总是全体投票一致。除集体负责外，部长们也对其各自部门的工作个人负责。
Over the years, the office of the taoiseach总理 has grown in power and authority权威 in comparison with that of the president. As the head of government the taoiseach is answerable应负责的 only to the Dail. 众议院He is required only to keep the president \informed on matters of domestic and international policy\ In the past he was kept \informed\through regular visits from the prime minister. Since the 1970s, these visits have become far from完全不 regular经常地.
多年来，与总统职位相比，首相职位的权力在增加。作为政府首脑，首相只对众议院负责。他仅需要让总统对“国内和国际事务的方针有总体了解”。而在过去，他要通过与总统的经常会晤，使总统有“总体了解”。自从20世纪70 年代以来，这些会晤日益减少。
2. Legislative power 立法权
All the legislative powers are vested归属 in the national parliament. The national parliament (Oireachtas) has two Houses. They are the House of Representatives众议院 (Dail Eireann) and the Senate 参议院(Seanad). Under the Constitution, the Oireachtas has the sole power of making laws. The only exception 例外is with regard to 关于laws passed by the European Parliament that apply to适用于 Ireland. The Dail currently 目前has 166 members, called in Irish
teachtai dala (T. D. 's). The country is divided into 41 constituencies. 选区 In 1987 a total of 13 constituencies returned three members each, 13 returned four members and the remainder returned five members each. The Seanad 参议院has 60 members, 11 nominated directly by the taoiseach, 43 elected by five panels小组 of candidates候选小组-the Cultural and Educational Panel, the Labour Panel, the Industrial and Commercial Panel, the Agricultural Panel and the Administrative Panel-and the remaining six by the universities. TDs 众议院议员and Senators 参议院议员are elected for five-year terms. 所有立法权都赋予了国家议会。国家议会分为两院：众议院和参议院。根据宪法，只有议会拥有制定法律的权力，惟一的例外是由欧洲议会通过的有关适用于爱尔兰的法律。目前众议院有166个议员，称为爱尔兰共和国众议院议员。全国划分为41个选区。1987年，13个选区中每个选区有三个议席，另13个选区中每个选区有四个议席，其余选区中每个选区中有五个议席。参议院有60位议员，儿位由首相直接提名；43位由五个候选小组选举产生——文化和教育组，劳动组，工商业组，农业组和行政组；剩下的六位议员则由大学产生。