Comparing The Government Systems Of The United States And The US

Learning the history and the culture of any country is impossible without knowing how these countries are governed. Since English is a global language, it is essential to have at least some basic knowledge about the government systems in two major English-speaking countries, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. One can get a deeper understanding of the government systems of the UK and the USA with the help of a comparison between their structure and functions.

Firstly, the political regimes in the USA and the UK are partly the same, yet in terms of types of government and constitution these countries are really different. The first main similarity is that the political regimes in both countries are democracies. Also, both countries

However, they still have a lot of differences. Both Legislative bodies are bicameral and their main functions are passing legislation, giving authority for the governments to raise and spend money and scrutinising the activities of the governments. Nevertheless, due to the system of check and balances in the USA, the Legislature there can confirm or reject presidential appointments, impeach the president and remove judges from office, and the Legislature in the UK does not have such power. In addition, the Legislature in the UK has a partial "fusion" with the Executive because of a weak separation of powers, while American separation of powers is rather strong and prevent each branch's interference with the work of one another. Both chambers of the Legislature in the USA are elected: the members of the Senate for six years and the representatives from the House of Representatives for two years, whereas the Parliament of the UK is only partly elected, as the House of Lords is a non-elected chamber, and the elections to the House of Commons are held every five years. Also, the US Legislature has the authority to declare war, but the Legislature in the UK does

To start with, the heads of both Executive branches are also heads of state – the President in the USA and the Monarch in the UK. Both of them appoint new ministers and judges and have the right to veto laws. The main functions of both Executive branches are to execute, to implement and to enforce the law. On top of that, the Executive in both countries is responsible for the daily administration of the state and has its own Cabinet. On the other hand, the main figure of the Executive in the UK, the Prime Minister, also serves in Parliament, while the US head of the Executive, the President, cannot be a part of another government branch. Plus, the head of the Executive in the USA, the President, is elected for four years along with the Vice President, unlike the head of the Executive in the UK, the Sovereign, who must be from the Royal family and cannot be elected. However, the Prime Minister is elected for five years as well. Furthermore, the Monarch in the UK has never used his or her right to veto laws, while the President has done it a lot of times. It is worth mentioning that the Vice President in the USA can assume the Presidency in case it is necessary, but the Prime Minister in the UK cannot become the Sovereign and assume royal