Comparison of Exeutive and Legslative Power of Australia and the USA - Essay Example

Who is the Head of state? The head of state can be termed as literally as the top of system of government. In United States and South Africa the head of state will be leading the government and in countries like Australia, the head of state will be separate. It can be said as Australia will be having non executive head of state and an executive head will have power that can be used independently. The president of USA can be said as an example of an executive that has power. Queen Elizabeth has been the head of state in Australia. The executive power has been vested on the queen and will be ruled by the governor general as the queen representative and this has been the practices for long time. The Australian head of state powers The Australian head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, will be represented by the Governor-General. The powers that will be included will be like approving the legislation that has been passed by the two Houses of Parliament. This can be termed as the Act of parliament. By this what is meant is a decree proclaiming the law, passed by the legislature and given royal assent by the crown.( Butterworths Concise Australian Legal Dictionary, 3rd ed (2004) [Law - Books KL40 B988.C.3]) The other powers will include commanding the naval and military forces, make power of the Commonwealth that can be termed as general executive. The Head of state of Australia will be ruling based on the advice that has been taken by government and there are certain cases in which the head of state will be able to take some powers and that powers are called the reserve powers. The governor general has been given certain powers by the constitution and that can be termed as like to have the power to adjourn and dissolve the House of Representatives by using section 5 and section 28.The governor general has the power to issue write that will be used for general elections under the section 32.The governor general under section 57 has the power to dissolve the both the houses of commonwealth parliament and there will be additional powers like appointing ministers that will include prime minister under the section 64.The governor general will be given powers to appoint judge under section 72.The governor general will be given powers to submit the constitution alteration bills under the section 128 and that will be done to referendum. The powers of governor general can be done by the advice of the government only and this will be done using a committee called Federal executive council. The federal executive council will be also termed as executive council also. The executive council will be meeting as a formality only and it will be usually attended by two to three ministers and there will be junior parliamentary secartieries.The advice will be then given to governor general. The head of the state will be acting on the advice of the elected government and the exception can be said for reserved powers. WHAT ARE THE ‘RESERVE POWERS’? There are certain situations under which the head of the state can act without the advice and that can be termed as reserve powers. The independent situations under which the governor general can act as when there is occasion of hung parliament and that can mean there has to be a condition of selecting or finding a leader to form a government and this situation can arise after an election. This situation will be caused when no individual parties that has participated in the election is having a majority. The governor general can agree to the proposal of dissolution that has been made by the prime minister and the prime minister would have lost the majority. Before agreeing for dissolution of parliament and taking steps for next election, the governor general should be satisfied that no other party can form the government or is having the majority to form the government. That means the governor general should have no choice. The governor general has the power of refusing the double dissolution of the house of representative and the senate and this can happen when a proposed law can be deadlocked in both the houses and the prime minister may not have given the governor general the advice about the importance of the proposed law and how it is said to be affecting the working of the parliament. The governor general can dismiss the prime minister who has not got the approval for vital spending bills on the parliament and there is chance for dismissal if the governor general is satisfied that the prime minister has been acting unlawfully and the election can be called straight away. The governor general has the power to approve a bill that has been passed by both the houses of parliament and even if the government advices that the approval should not be given. These types of cases will be happening when the prime minister will not be having the majority member’s support in the House of Representatives. IS THE HEAD OF STATE MAINLY A RUBBER STAMP IN AUSTRALIA? The head of state in Australia is supposed to have formal powers only but can influence the government in many ways. The executive council or the Federal executive council will be set up to advice the governor general and these type of formalities can be ensured by the governor general that the decisions are not taken hastily. The governor general is expected to accept the formal advice from the government and the governor general is expected to be consulted and encouraged and to be warned. There are varieties to the situations in which it is done. There are cases when the governor general can influence the decision of the government. THE HEAD OF STATE SHOULD BE ABOVE POLITICS The head of the state is a role that should be representing the country as a whole. There has to be a decision making process that has to be done by keeping in mind the whole country as a whole. The role of the Queen would be to strengthen the democratic state and to sanction the authority that can be legitimate. In Australia, the head of the state will not be able to represent the nation if he or she is still involved in politics and cannot become independent of party politics. It can be said as of a case of political neutral state. The governor general should be able to sense or give a feeling of whole community .The office of the governor general should be considered as the highest expression in the Australian government structure and this should be considered as an responsible job. SUMMARY The head of state in Australia can be said to be having large formal powers and this will be including the approval of legislation, choosing the prime minister or premier to lead the government. The head of the state should be acting on the recommendation or on the advice of the government in all cases and there are certain powers that will be giving the head of state to act independently and these powers are called the reserved powers. The powers that can determine the head of the state to act independently are not given in the constitution and it will be arising out of constitutional practices or convention. The head of the state will be having the power to influence the decision that has or will be taken by the government by giving advice and receiving advice and the head of the state are given the right to be consulted, encouraged and warned. The most important role that the head of the state will be playing will be the role of representing the country as a whole. The head of state in Australia should be above party politics. The head of state in USA The head of state in USA is the president and the roles can be said as follows. The president or the head of state of USA will be considered as the symbolic leader of the country and will be performing many ceremonial duties. The president of USA is expected to entertain foreign leaders with formal dinners and will be promoting worthy causes like the March of Dimes poster child. The head of state of USA is expected to give recognition to citizens who had the ability to make outstanding contributions to the nation as a whole or to a particular community.The head of state should be recognizing citizens by giving medals to military heroes and is expected to throw the first pitch at baseball games .The famous White house Easter egg roll has to be done by the President. The President or the head of state will be the given the power of chief executive of the United States. The head of the state or the president of USA will be the one who actually who will be running the government. The head of the state should ensure that the laws are being enforced and will be appointing important officials and will be granting pardons and issuing executive orders and will be coordinating the efforts of various departments and agencies .The president will be assisted by the cabinet, department heads and the executive staff of the White house. The head of the state of USA will be the head of the military forces and will be the main force responsible for training, supervision and raising of defense forces. The troops will be reviewed and will be the given the chance for awarding service medals and the President has the duty to meet the military officers and civilian national security advisors. The head of state of USA will be the leader, initator and the main policy maker when it comes to foreign affairs. The head of the state has the power to consult with leaders of foreign countries and will be performing ceremonial duties with foreign leaders and will be making decision for our country that will be affecting foreign countries. The head of the state has the power to appoint the Ambassador to the United Nations and the role of the Ambassador will be to speak for the United States. The head of the state will be negotiating treaty and agreement with other countries and will be travelling to other countries so that the position of America in respect of main issues. The head of the state will be also explaining the ideas on foreign affairs also. The head of the state of America will be also a legislative leader and they can advise and guide the congress in its law making activities. The head of state as the legislative leader is expected to address in January every year, the joint session of the congress. The speech would be covering the country’s domestic and foreign position and the aim that the president would be trying to accomplish in the next year. The legislation which has passed the bill in both houses of the congress and the bill will not become a law until the President signs it. The president will be the leader of the political party as long as he or she is the President of the nation. The party would be keeping the President informed about the needs of the nation and the reactions of the people to various programs. The head of the state should be willing to endorse the campaign needs of the party members running for their office. The head of the state is expected to take strong action against unemployment, high prices, taxes, business profits, outsourcing issues and bring a general prosperity to the country and the President is expected to run the economy smoothly. The head of the state of Australia can be termed as weak while the head of USA can be termed as strong and that has to be understood in detail. Conclusion Comparison Australia USA The legislative power of the Commonwealth shall be vested in a Federal Parliament, which have Queen, a Senate, and a House of Representatives, and it will be called "The Parliament," or "The Parliament of the Commonwealth." The executive power of USA will be vested in a President of the United States of America. The office term will be for four years, and can hold the office for two successive terms. There will e an election to vice president that will be done at the same time. The Governor-General will be appointed by the Queen and it shall be the Majesty’s representative in the Commonwealth. The election will be done in such a way that each state will be appointing, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress. There are at least 50 states in the USA. The executive power of the Commonwealth will be vested in the Queen and will be exercisable by the Governor-General and the governor general will be the Queen’s representative, and will be extending to the execution and maintenance of the Constitution of Australia, and of the laws of the Commonwealth. This will be coming under the section 61 To become the President of USA, the person should be a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, and should have attained age of thirty five years, and should have been resident within the United States for fourteen years. There should be Federal Executive Council or executive council to advise the Governor- General in the government of the Commonwealth, The members of the Council will be taken and participated by the Governor-General and will be taking oath as Executive Councilors, and will be holding office during the satisfaction of Governor general. Before ending the article will be gone through that has the title “”Australian PM confirms aim to remove Queen as head of state” Australia's prime minister had confirmed his commitment to have the Queen removed as head of state and making Australia a republic, and also added that it was not a major priority. The same subject was put up by Australia as a referendum with the subject of having to remove the Queen as its head of state in 1999. The opinion polls had showed that showing 70% of Australians wanted to elect their own head of state, and the referendum failed as voters were not happy with the offered replacement. The replacement that was offered was a politician's president that has to be chosen by the Canberra parliament. The case in America will differ in the sense that the President can be removed from the office, or by death or by resignation and it can be due to the inability to discharge powers and duties of the office and the power will be then shifted to the vice president. The congress by law will be providing for the acting of president if no vice president is available to take over the role. As Cook et al (2009) has stated that “Twenty first century is no time for parochialism in an information based profession like law” Reference Alexis de Tocqueville, Arthur Goldhammer, 2004,"federal constitution”, Democracy in America, pp.126-195. Barbara A. Bardes, Mack C. Shelley, Steffen W. Schmidt, 2008,"How are elections held”, American Government and Politics Today: The Essentials American Government & Politics Today: The Essentials, pp.308-316. Butterworths Concise Australian Legal Dictionary, 3rd ed (2004) [Law - Books KL40 B988.C.3,viewed from http://www.lib.flinders.edu.au/resources/sub/law/legdef.html on August 25,2009. Cook, C, Creyke, R, Geddes, R & Hamer, D 2009, 'Legal research - How to start', in Laying down the law, 7th edn, Lexis Nexis Butterworths, NSW. Sir David Smith, Australians for Constitutional Monarchy, Samuel Griffith Society. Conference,1997,"Australians for constitutional monarchy",The role of the Governor-General, our Australian Head of State,pp.1-16. Howard Fineman,2009, "America in the world", The Thirteen American Arguments: Enduring Debates That Define and Inspire Our Country ,pp 200-250. Lee Hamilton,2004,"Congress and the President",How Congress works and why you should care,pp.9-12. Rodney Tiffen, Ross Gittins,2004,"Politics and Economics",How Australia compares,pp.18-42 Rosalind Ryan,2008,"Australian PM confirms aim to remove Queen as head of state", viewed on August 25,2009,retireved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/07/foreignpolicy.australia Read More