What are the similarities and differences between the political systems in U.K and U.S?
When the U.S. Constitution was being drafted, its writers had the British Parliamentary system to base on. The British system was the system they were used to and had learnt since childhood. However, because the monarchy was one of the main things that the former colonists had rebelled against, any form of monarchy and most forms of concentrated power were avoided.
The most fundamental difference between the political system in the U.K and the U.S is the constitution. The United States has a written constitution which is very difficult to change. The UK does not have a single document called the constitution but instead its constitutional
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The Upper House
The United States has a Senate as the upper house of the legislative branch and the U.K. has the House of Lords. Under the U.S. system, each state, regardless of size, has two senators. Originally, senators were appointed by the governor of the state they represented but they are now elected to serve six-year terms. The House of Lords is very different. Members of the House of Lords are not elected. The 792 members of the House of Lords are members by inheritance, appointment or their rank in the Church of England; they are not elected and cannot be removed by vote. This part of the political system in the U.K is not democratic. Otherwise the House of Lords serve the same purpose as the U.S. Senate. They discuss, debate and vote on legislation passed by the lower house of the legislative branch.
The Lower House
The U.S. House of Representatives and the British House of Commons have a great deal in common. Each house is made up of representatives elected by the people. In both systems control of the lower house goes to the party that has the most seats. Under the U.K. system, the leader of the party with the most seats becomes the Prime Minister and the official head of the government. Under the U.S. system this person would be the Speaker of the House. One other key difference is elections. Under the parliamentary system, the prime minister can go to the crown at any point and ask to dissolve Parliament. If this is done an election
In theory the House of Commons is the dominant chamber as it is elected while the House of Lords plays more of a revising role, issues to be considered include the powers of each chambers, the fact the House of Lords is more independently minded and the impact of the whips. It will ultimately be argued that the House of Commons remains far more effective due to having greater powers in checking the government power.
parliamentary government under a constitutional monarchy, meaning that parliament has a supremacy over the monarchy but the Queen still has certain powers (Jones et al., 2004). Since the 1970’s the traditional constitution has been challenged and had two major changes, which I will talk about later. The US constitution, unlike the UK constitution, is codified. It has a clear written primary source and one could say that its secondary source is the interpretation by the Supreme Court, which can change the meaning of specific phrases written in the primary source (Singh, 2003). A central principle to the constitution is that government should be limited and the powers split up.
In conclusion, the written constitution was created in the United States to help provide a healthy environment. Each government is limited on what they are entitled to do and citizens understand their rights regardless of the situation that they are in. In addition, United Kingdom has unique ways to establish laws because lawmakers are able to create new policies without going through the process as the United
Another field of influence for American Democracy lies in the English .English rule passed the English Bill of Rights in 1689, a similar declaration of which can be found in the American Bill of Rights. The English were also the first superpower to institute rule by Parliament. Parliament is a form of legislature in which power is distributed between two "Houses" (House of Commons and the House of Lords). The American system of Checks and Balances between three separate institutions (Judiciary, Executive and Legislative) owes its existence primarily to the English Parliament. Over the centuries, English influence on American government has been great, and today these influences can still be seen in everyday American life, The Colonial Experiences encountered by early American citizens before the revolution have impacted contemporary United States Government. For example, The Virginia House of Burgesses was the first instance of representative democracy in the New World. It involved a form of Congress, with 2 representative politicians per state. Smaller towns and outposts held town meetings, in which a fairly primitive form of
There were a myriad of differences between Great Britain and her American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but these differences can be divided into three basic categories: economic, social, and political. The original American settlers came to the colonies for varied reasons, but a common trait among these settlers was that they still considered themselves British subjects. However, as time passed, the colonists grew disenfranchised from England. Separated from the king by three thousand miles and living in a primitive environment where obtaining simple necessities was a struggle, pragmatism became the common thread throughout all daily life in the colonies. It was this pragmatism that led the colonists to create
Under the British constitution, parliament is sovereign. This means, amongst other things, that Parliament has a monopoly on making and amending laws. The British constitution, and the three functions of government which operate it often falls short of creating a definitive separation. Separation of powers refers to the idea that the major institutions of government should function independent of each other, in a utopian world there should aim to be a balance between the Crown and Parliament. In practice however, separation between the executive and legislature is near enough non-existent, an example being that government is made up almost entirely of MPs. Contrast this with the USA where no member of Obama’s government is equally a member of congress. However, the USA does have a codified constitution, a constitution written to delegate a clear separation of power. As we are well aware the UK doesn’t have such a constitution, the rules that
The House of Commons, on the other hand, is a democratically elected chamber. The House of Lords and the House of Commons meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster (the Houses of Parliament), in central London.
and congress have in our democracy. The people elect members of the House while members off the senate are chosen by state legislators and how members are the house serve a term of two years while members of the senate have a term of 6 years. How congress have the power to rise and regulate the army and the navy, and declare war while the power of the senate can only ratified treaties, accept or reject presidential nominations. The congress and the house of representatives are significant in our democracy and how they continue to play a significant role in our democracy.
The public, unlike the MPs, do not elect the Lords. The process of appointment of these members is that they are appointed by the Queen herself; however this is done
Sentences 1. The republic of the United States allows the citizens to elect representatives to make laws that satisfy the needs of the people. 2. Before the Constitution was written, the U.S. government had an unicameral legislature; a single law-making body. 3.
The United States at the time was breaking away from mother England and failing to become an independent power. There wasn’t any agreement among the ‘founding fathers’ on how the U.S. should move forward, should they follow the government structure of England and appoint a king and have a monarchy system, or create a whole different form of government. Well we all know how that ended up, but it was a long road to making it a successful government. First, the people in charge like Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson and George Washington made plans of appointing a president and giving this person guidelines and certain responsibilities to follow. As laid out in the Constitution. Each branch of government had/s to abide by these set articles. And with that, the system of checks and balances comes into play which keeps every form of the American government in line. I don’t think that the American government is a perfect system, but I also wouldn’t change anything about
The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK Parliament and is independent to the Commons although it complements the work of the Commons. Members of the Lords play a vital role in scrutiny, there are two main reasons for this, the first being that they are independent to the Commons and in many ways have increased power which they often use to stand up to the Commons by blocking reforms. Lords also have a better balance of parties so no government has a majority. The Government however can override Lords by using Parliament Act; this was used when the fox hunting ban was being put through under Blair’s government as there were too many in opposition of the ban in the House of Lords. The Parliament Acts, although rarely used, provide a way of solving disagreement between the Commons and the Lords. The Parliament Act of 1949 also prevents Lords from delaying bills for more than one year.
The monarch is a figure head and does no decision making. The voters of a parliamentary system elect parliament who then elect the prime minister and the cabinet. The prime minister is normally the leader of the most popular party in parliament. The PM even being the head of government is not as powerful as the head of government in a presidential system. The parliament of the system withholds the most power. They make or break any law. Compared to the separation of powers as in a presidential system there is only a separation of functions. Each part of government has its own function to perform, but there is no system of checks and balances. An example of the overlapping of powers is the need of a vote of confidence. A vote of confidence is proposed by a party and needs backing from the other part of government. With no system of sorts there is more likely of upheaval and change of rule. There is not as much stability in a parliamentary system as there is in a presidential. Lastly there is no judicial rule as there is in a presidential system. A parliamentary system has had success in the past but still is seen as not as successful as a presidential system.
the chief executive and the head of state. The President is elected independently of the
Statute is an Act of Parliament that is created by Parliament, which is made up of three parts; the Monarch, The House of Lords and The House of Commons. Parliament is sovereign, which mean that Parliament has the power to create or dismiss any law it chooses and all the courts must implement them. It makes Parliament the supreme legal authority in the UK. The House of Commons is the democratically chosen legislative body of Parliament; 646 Members of Parliament are elected by the public in the general elections by vote. The House of Lords currently has 780 members who are known as Lords or Peers. The people, who are members of the House of Lords unlike the House of Commons, are not elected. There are three types of members in the House of Lords; Life Peers, Bishops and Hereditary Peers.