Executives and Legislatures Structures and Processes - Essay Example

The US is a federal republic type of government while the Britain is a constitutional monarchy, but both of them are classified as parliamentary. In a parliamentary system, the government power is vested to three separate branches namely the executive, legislative, and judicial bodies. Executive Branch of the Government: US vs. Britain Under Britain’s uncodified constitution, the Monarch has the ultimate executive authority, who also acted as the head of state. Hence, Queen Elizabeth II is vested with the executive power; however, the executive functions are carried out by Her Majesty’s government headed by the Prime Minister (PM). Mr. David Cameron is the current PM, and as the head of government, along with cabinet ministers, he will assume the Queen’s real executive power.

The PM is from the lower house and is appointed by the Monarch, which in turn would appoint his own ministers that would act as Secretaries of State. However, in the US federal republic type of government, the executive power is vested in the President, and the real power is not separated because he or she stands as the head of state and head of government. . Britain The legislative or the law-making power in the US and Britain are vested in a bicameral parliament. The US parliament, known as the Congress, is composed of 2 branches: “the House of Representatives (Lower house) and the Senate (Upper house)” (Moss, 2012).

Members of Congress are directly elected by citizens from 50 US states. The House of Representatives has a fixed term of 2-years with fixed members of “no more than 435” based on the 50 states demographic (United States House of Representatives, n.d.). In addition, the Senators are elected every 6 years and each of the 50 states is represented by 2 senators (United States Senate, n.d.). On the contrary, Britain’s legislative power is vested to 2 parliamentary chambers: the House of Commons (lower house) and House of Lords (upper house) (“UK Parliament,” 2010).

However, the institution has a third element called the Crown (hereditary monarch). Members of Parliament (MPs) are fully elected through a district election across Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland. Currently, there are 650 MPs and 765 Lords. The House of Lords is an appointed legislative body, which is divided into two: the Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal. The Lords Temporal is composed of life, and hereditary peers and the Lords Spiritual are represented by archbishops and bishops from the Church of England (“UK Parliament,” 2010).

Also, the MPs are publicly elected during the dissolution of the parliament, which is every 5 years (UK Parliament, n.d.). However, the MPs are given a provision to call for an early formation of a new administration provided that the total casted votes are two-thirds of the districts. In this regard, the agents of socialization such as peers, church,