Compare and contrast between the structure of Thailand's Government and US's - Research Paper Example

“Thailand is governed by a system of centralization”, (Royal Thai Consulate, 2002) and they hold their Constitution as the highest law of the land. The Thai Government is broken down into three main components, which are legislative, Judicial and Executive powers. The Legislative power is devoted to the Parliament, and it works through a divided National Assembly that consists of their House of Representatives and the Senate. The people of Thailand elect the National Assembly. The Parliament has to approve all of the legislation that the House of Representatives and the Senate wants to pass.

If they get Parliamentary approval, then the Parliament takes it to the King who has to sign it before it can become law (Chaninat & Leeds, 2011). Thailand’s Judicial Power works through the Court of Law with three different levels, which are: the Court of First Instance, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court. The Court of First Instance deals with juvenile and family issues, but they have the authority to try criminal cases as well which are in the general courts, which are: Civil, Criminal, Provincial and Kwaeng Courts.

Civil Courts are for property issues; Criminal Courts are for people that have been arrested for a crime they may have committed; Provincial Courts are for all general civil and criminal problems that happen in their own province, and; Kwaeng Courts are for special criminal cases. The Court of Appeal handles all of the appeals cases that come before them against a judgment that has already been made in the Civil and Criminal Courts. The Supreme Court is the last court of appeal for all of the law cases in the entire Kingdom (The Judiciary of Thailand, 2011).

Finally, Thailand’s Executive power works through the Cabinet, which the Prime Minister controls. The Prime Minister has a Council of Ministers, which control 15 different ministries. Those ministries are: Office of the Prime Minister Ministry of Finance Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Defense Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives Ministry of Education Ministry of Transport and Communications Ministry of Commerce Ministry of Public Health Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment Ministry of University Affairs Ministry of Justice Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare Ministry of Industry Ministry of the Interior This entire system is kept in the middle of Thailand, but it is divided into different regional and provincial governments.

Bangkok has its own administrative people and elects its own governor. The other provinces of Thailand have their governors appointed for them (The Judiciary of Thailand, 2011). The United States of America is a democratic type of government, currently headed by President Barack Obama, who has the highest political power of the people of the United States. They have one Constitution, and The President has a second in command to him, which is the Vice President of the United States. There are three branches of the U.S. government, which carry out their own functions and have their own powers.

The three branches are Legislative, Judicial and Executive. The Legislative branch of the U.S. government is the part of the law that makes up the Senate, the House of Representatives and other people that support the Congress. If the Senate and the Congress want a bill passed, they have to have it signed by the President once they have approved