Differences between the British and the Saudi Arabia Political System - Essay Example

Running Head: Differences between the British and the Saudi Arabian Political System Differences between the British and the Saudi Arabian Political System [Writer’s Name] [Institute’s Name] Differences between the British and the Saudi Arabian Political System Introduction Our globe is engulfed with more than a hundred countries and nations that comprise of people of different races, cultures, religions, languages, etc. In this regard, every country has been established on a number of reasons and is ruled by a government that is different in a number of countries. However, one of the similarities of every type of government is to provide necessary facilities of life to its citizens, as well as, to cater the needs and expectations of the people. Some of the major kinds of government that have been implemented in various countries are monarchy, anarchy, etc. In some of the countries, a king rules the country, and in some, rulers are elected by the people. In this paper, political systems of two countries will be discussed, in order to understand their differences, which will allow a better understanding of the political systems. In specific, political system of the United Kingdom and the Saudi Arabian political system will be analyzed in this paper. The British Political System The framework of political system of the United Kingdom is based on a constitutional monarchy, which has been implemented in the United Kingdom, as well as, in the Northern Ireland, which has been included in the Great Britain. According to the constitutional monarchy, the state is headed by a monarch; however, the head of the government is the Prime Minster of the United Kingdom. In addition, the UK government is responsible for the exercising of all the executive powers, which are shared by the Executives of Wales, as well as, the delegated government of Scotland. (Brazier, pp. 11-13, 2008) On the other hand, the government and the Parliament have been vested with all the legislative powers. In specific, the House of Lords and the House of Commons are the two major chambers of Parliament that are responsible for the proper utilization of legislative powers. Judicial independence is one of the major key issues in the British political system, and therefore, no executive or legislative power can influence the judiciary; however, it has been observed that some members of the Parliament are still serving as senior judges in the British judicial system, which has often been criticized by the experts. (Wright, pp. 33-37, 2000) Political parties play a major role in the formation of political system of the United Kingdom. Since the 1920s, the Conservative Party and the Labor Party have proved themselves as the two largest political parties in the country. A number of other minority parties are a part of the British political system; however, the abovementioned two parties have maintained their dominance over the general, as well as, the electoral elections held in the country. Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales are the major components of the British political system, as a legislature and a government are possessed by all of them, which are used for the devolved matters in their regions. (Watts, pp. 34-36, 2006) Constitution is one of the significant constituents of the British political system, and statutes, constitutional conventions, and a number of other factors have formulated the British constitution, which is often deemed as an un-codified constitution. The political system of the United Kingdom is often known as the Westminster system. Moreover, it has influenced a number of countries in other parts of the globe, such as Australia, Malaysia, Canada, India, Jamaica, etc. Until now, the paper has discussed some of the major points of the British Political System. Now the paper will discuss some of the key factors of the Saudi Arabian Political System, which will highlight the major differences in these political systems. (Watts, pp. 71-72, 2006) Saudi Arabian Political System Unlike the British political system, an absolute monarchy is the only framework of the political system of the Saudi Arabia. In the United Kingdom, it was observed that a monarch is the head of the state, whereas, the Prime Minster is the head of the government. However, the King of Saudi Arabia enjoys as the head of state, as well as, the head of the Saudi government. In other words, the King of Saudi Arabia also serves as the Prime Minister of the Saudi government, and therefore, monarchy is the central institution of the Saudi Arabian political system. As Saudi Arabia is a country ruled by an absolute monarchy, the country has no fabricated constitution. In other words, the Holy Quran is considered the constitution of the country, and the Islamic law of Shariah has been implemented for the governing of the constitution. In the year 1992, the Basic Law was adopted in the country that ruled out that the King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud and his sons and grandsons are the true rulers of the country, and this law is being followed in the country since then. (Cordesman, pp. 41-46, 2000) In order to avoid any kind of family turbulences, a committee was set up on October 20, 2006, which decides on the key issues related to the eligibility of princes and kings to rule the country. In specific, sons and grandsons of King Abdul Aziz are the members of this committee, which has been referred as the Allegiance Institution. According to this rule, one out of three nominated princes is voted by the Allegiance Institution, which decides the future ruling king of the Saudi Arabia. However, in case of non-eligibility, a maximum of one week has been considered as a transitory period during which, a 5-member transitory council is responsible for the running of state affairs. (Cordesman, pp. 23-25, 2003) Unlike the British political system, no political parties are found in the country, and national elections are not held in the country due to the absolute system of monarchy. However, the local elections are organized in the country, which were lastly held in the year 2005. In order to ensure that the country is ruled truthfully by the king, the Shariah law and some of Saudi traditions play the role of factors that bound the powers of the Saudi king in a theoretical manner. During the ruling, the Saudi royal family, religious leaders, and important members of the Saudi society should be taken into consideration by the Saudi king. (Cleveland, pp. 50-53, 2000) Until now, the country is run on the absolute monarchy; however, it has been observed that a kind of central government has been developed by the Saudi kings in the previous years. Since the year 1953, the kind appoints the Council of Ministers that are responsible for the formulation of policies, which has resulted in the increased activities of bureaucracy. In specific, the Prime Minister heads the abovementioned council, which is assisted by two deputy prime ministers, and twenty-two other ministers. (Graham, pp. 40-42, 1994) Moreover, business leaders and advisers have also been included in the list of council members. In other words, the Saudi political system is an unconditional monarchy system; however, it is expected that it will be transformed into a constitutional government system in the years ahead. Conclusion The paper has tried to describe, discuss, and analyze some of the major factors and key issues of British political system and the Saudi Arabian political system. It can be observed that the two political systems share a number of factors like the monarchy system; however, the constitutional government system is one of the major and significant differences in these two political systems. It is hoped that the paper will be beneficial for the students, teachers, experts, and nonprofessionals in the better understanding of the topic. References Anthony H. Cordesman. (2003). Saudi Arabia enters the Twenty-first Century. Greenwood Publishing Group. Anthony Wright. (2000). the British Political Process. Routledge. Douglas Graham. (1994). Saudi Arabia. M. E. Sharpe. Duncan Watts. (2006). British Government and Politics. Edinburgh University Press. Rodney Brazier. (2008). Constitutional Reform: Reshaping the British Political System. Oxford University Press. William L. Cleveland. (2000). A History of the Modern Middle East. Westview Press. Read More