ComparisonbetweenBritishandAmericanpoliticalsystem.doc

The comparison between British and American political systemThe UK is a unitary and constitutional monarchy democracy country. Its government system or so-called the Westminster system has directly influenced the political system of many other countries. The main characteristic is the doctrine of Parliamentary supremacy 、the core of the power is the cabinet、clearance monarch and Organized political party. Doctrine of Parliamentary supremacy is legislative powers is in the core status. The first set of western capitalist political systems created by Britain is praised as a source and model of the western political system. The United States is a federal state. The organizational form of regime is presidential government. The United States carries out the combination of political system and political party system of the two-party system about the separation of powers and check and balance. It is a perfect system. The two big political party systems respectively represent two big different political philosophies. The Democrats stands for liberalism and the Republican stands for conservative. Britain and America both belong to the western civilization system and the political systems of the two countries is an important part of civilization, which have influence in the construction of the countries all over the world. The following are some main comparisons between British and American political system.The first comparison is the Constitution. Up until now, t the Britain does not have a single document called the Constitution but its constitutional provisions are scattered over various Acts of Parliament. The British constitution is the product of a long-term historical evolution process. It is the sum total of the common law over the years. The first was traced back to the Magna Charta. The basic principle of the British Constitution is fuzzy. Britains decentralization is not obvious. However, the United States has a written constitution which is very difficult to change. The United States Constitution is the fundamental law of America, which establishes the legal basis for the American political system. The US Constitution as an essential law is the first written constitution in the world. The US Constitution has four major principles: separation of powers, federal system, doctrine of constitutional supremacy and equality. The two purposes of the United States constitution are limiting the power of the government and protecting peoples freedom.The second comparison is the political party system .Political party in the western political system has a special position. It is closely related with electoral system, Parliamentary system and Cabinet system. Political party is the product of the class struggle. Political party in the American and British political life also plays an important role. The main political parties in the UK are Labor Party, Conservative Party and Liberal Party. Britain appears the earliest bourgeois party in the world and it is the first country to establish and implement two-party system. Two-party system combined with the British cabinet system. The cabinet consists of the political party which gains the majority at a general election. The largest opposition party is the House of Commons which can establish a shadow cabinet. The organization of British Party is strict and there are many party members. Britains two political parties are two different political factions in the parliament at first. On the contrary, the internal organization of American political party is very loose. It is a voting machine in principle and it has no function at ordinary time. The ruling party masters executive power, but doesnt master the legislative power. Americans two political parties aim at supporting and opposing federalism. The partys main activity is the presidential campaign. The two-party system is stable. This kind of system will cause the United States parties which are in the middle of the internal organization is very weak.The third comparison is the legal system. American and British legislative systems have the same principles in general, such as natural rights, popular sovereignty etc. Parliament is the center of the British political stage and is Britains top legislative branch. The government is elected from the parliament and it should be responsible for the parliament. Parliament is a bicameral legislature. The House of Commons and the House of Lords constitute the British Parliament. In the meantime, the U.S. congress is the highest legislative branch, which consists of the senate and the House of Representatives. The main powers of congress are legislative power, supervisory power of judicial administration, examination and approval authority and amending power. In addition, congress can pass the resolution which does not need the president to sign.The fourth comparison is the administrative system. In the modern western political system, whether to carry out a presidential system or a parliamentary system has no big difference due to the expansion of administrative power. The government is in the core status in the current political system. The president holds a position without the authority. Britain executes dual administrative system. The dual parliamentary system of administrative system is the result of the long-term evolution. Conversely, the United States carries out a typical of the centralized administrative system. The president is the head of state and government as well as commander-in-chief of the army. The President is elected by the universal suffrage for a term of 5 years. The president holds important veto powers.The fifth comparison is the judicial system. In Britain, judiciary contains civil court and criminal court. British justice has three different kinds of legal systems. England and Wales carry out common law. The Scotland carries out civil law system. Northern Ireland and England have a similar law system. The main characteristics of American judicial system are implementing the principle of separation of powers, judicial independence. The court divided into the federal and local organization system. The Supreme Court has the right to enjoy special judicial review.The sixth comparison is the electoral system. The electoral