Are the British and Canadian Political Systems Similar Why or Why Not - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The international and domestic environment shaped by a country’s political systems has significant influences on the status of the citizens. Political systems helps the government to establish key public institutions and systems like health and education and are responsible for maintaining public order and citizen safety. This is through various agencies that are responsible for formulating, implementing, and enforcing government policies with an aim of achieving specific goals. Britain has a parliamentarian system of government where majoritarian and populism are the widely accepted political philosophy to meet the requirements of the people. History has heavily shaped Britain’s and Canada’s political systems. The political system in Britain and Canada advocate for the formation of governments by political parties that have majority control over the legislative assembly (Montpetit & Foucault, 2010). The constitution of these two countries stipulates that members of parliament should be elected through single -member plurality systems; where the elected individuals represent their constituents in parliament. These individuals must obtain the largest number of votes during elections. The party that garners the largest number of seat in parliament forms the government; with their elected members expected to support the government’s agendas and bills introduced in parliaments. These majority governments are powerful and easily pass their own policy issues irrespective of opposition by political parties outside the ruling party (Klingermann, Hofferbert & Budge, 1994). Argument This paper will argue that Britain and Canada political systems are not similar because of differences in policy making, governance, elections political structure, and parliamentary proceedings influenced by a combination of temporal, cultural, and political factors distinct and different in each country. Britain has a longer political history that has been shaped by struggles between the crown and parliament over personal prerogatives, which defines the current British constitution and executive power set up. The existing democratic leadership has been heavily influenced by civil wars, revolutions, and establishment of a superior parliament over the crown. In the Britain unitary governments, all political power is held by a single national government (Tannahill & Bedichek, 1991). This political system was unsuitable to the local situation in Canada, and they designed a federation where the constitution gave the people the right to have local control over their government (Montpetit & Foucault, 2010). The Canadian federation developed a system where the national government did not have absolute control but allowed for a constitution that would govern the people with their own set of laws. Canada has a much shorter history with the democratic leadership been shaped by continuous struggles between the prime minister and the governor general. The democratic rule in Britain is primarily about political representation that wields executive powers, but the Canadian democratic rule primarily focuses on governance. The Canadian political system was developed according to Westminster parliamentary institutions in the 19th century, and these institutions were retained after independence in 1867 (Hazell et al., 2009). Evidence The United Kingdom constitution has been shaped over a long time, and it consists of written ...Download file to see next pagesRead More