US and UK Political Systems - Assignment Example

Ayesha Khalid Order 500052 Essay 13 February Comparative Politics: A Comparative Study of US and UK Political Systems United Kingdom and United States are the world’s two most developed, influential and exemplified democracies. Both the nations have evolved and matured under the rule of democracy and so far have proven themselves in this genre of political systems. But the way that these two governments go about is completely different. Although both countries follow a pattern of democracy but both patterns are majorly unrelated and in few respects opposite from each other.

Whatever one may say about the imperfections in the democratic systems of these nations but people from both nations have their own wishes, inclinations and interest which dictates their style of government; a fact that one cannot change. “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations or dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence”-John Adams To start with, there are three parts of the UK; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, each having a special status and local administration with a wide spectrum of responsibilities however England which represents the 84% of the total UK population does not have any regional government as compared to the US where every state has its own local government hence the British political system does not have anything equivalent to the federal system of the US.

Secondly the most important concept is that of separation of powers which clearly distinguishes between the US and UK government. In US the constitution entails that three arms (the executive, the legislature and the judiciary) must be completely and strictly independent and indifferent from each other e.g. the president (head of the executive) cannot be the member of the congress but in UK it is the complete opposite. The British political system is pragmatic and flexible since the three arms of the government are easily diffusible.

The most striking contrast between the two systems is the absence of written constitution in UK. While in US like other nations of the world, constitution makes an integral part of the federal government while British political system relies heavily on the judgment of politicians, executive, judiciary and law arbitrators. The Britain parliament has a bicameral structure which consists of British House of Commons and the House of Lords; the latter is the upper chamber with far less authority than the former, it cannot veto a decision passed by the British House of Commons.

This two house law formulation and approval arrangement is a product of a thousand years long slowly evolved British Political system. Now when we compare it with the US, we notice that the US political is dominated by two political parties; the democratic and the republicans, (British equivalent of these are the Labor and the Conservative parties). The main reason for the dominance of these two parties is the electoral system and secondary reasons include the huge influence of money in US electoral system.

Moreover both countries have very mature democratic system which is signified by the domination of two political parties in overall political scene. Now coming over to the election process of these two countries, the most important thing to be kept in mind is that the UK does not have a president; the head of the state is a monarch, though little power rests in his or her hands. As far as British PM is concerned he or she is elected by the ruling party. The PM can call election anytime in their five year term while US president has no such flexibility as the US national election date is pre decided.

To be precise and pragmatic at the same time, the US national election is between two candidates a republican and a democrat. In UK, a completely different approach is adopted. There is a vote for all 646 constituencies and voters will probably vote for a party rather than a candidate. Everything has its price and so does each of the systems. If the concept of separation of powers does not apply in UK then they do have to bear the consequences of this reform. The three arms do not have any authority over their decisions as ministers in the government are members of legislatures, very senior judges sit in the upper house of the parliament and so on and so forth.

They all are intertwined but the Britain’s have a different say over it, according to them that’s the only reason why their government is flexible and pragmatic.US however says that this French concept of separation of powers works as a checks and balances mechanism for them, since each of the three branches of the state has some authority to act on its own. It is popularly considered important for any state to have a written constitution as it is the rules and practices formulated in a single referable document.

The absence of unwritten constitution in UK simply suggests a rule of personal interpretation and bias and a lack of clarity in terms of basic principles that define a country’s political system. Having a written constitution usually gives public and courts more power and control over the decisions made for the running of the country. Moreover the UK stands out as the only member of the EU without a written constitution, showing a general disagreement of neighboring nations with the notion of unwritten constitution.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the written constitution in the US clearly states the responsibilities of the agencies, the autonomy they have, to who and for what they are accountable to, and the extent of their powers. Since the US political system has everything in writing it tends to be more definitive, democratic and free of personal biases. In today’s world the system of monarchy is neither practical nor advisable, no matter how less the monarch has the power. A system which has room for personal arbitration and biases, no matter how honest the executive may be, can still be termed as a connotation of authoritarian rule.

References Roger Darlington. “A Short Guide to the British Political System.” Roger Darlington’s World. 2011. Web. 22 Jan. 2011. Roger Darlington. “A Short Guide to the American Political System.” Roger Darlington’s World. 2010. Web. 6 Nov. 2010. William Ashby. “Design for a Brain (Second Edition).” Chapman & Hall. London, 1960.