Similarities Between America And The United States

The United Kingdom and United States of America There are various forms of political institutions. For example, the broadly accepted political institution nowadays, where the government is ruled by the nation’s citizens, is democracy. Like every political institutions, democracy was established on principles and beliefs. Citizen’s rights, federalism, separation of powers and judicial independence are the elemental precepts of democracy. Two forms of democracy exist which are direct democracy and representative democracy. However, all modern democracies are representative. (yellow book page 89 1st paragraph.) A second, but repugnant, political institution is dictatorship. Dictatorship is a regime where one person, or a small group of people,

Its political regime is eminent among the world’s democracies due to its legitimate majority rule.(blue book page 48 last paragraph) Ergo, the democratic political institution characterizes the UK’s government. Its citizens undeniably do choose what goes on in their country and how their country reacts to foreign affairs. Their human and basic rights are well protected. The UK’s political system is apportioned, thereupon securing an authentic separation of powers. The United States of America is a federal republic made up of 50 states. The USA is frequently described as a democratic state. Although that its government frequently violate its own rules and laws, nevertheless democracy is what best describes the USA. The citizens elect their president, and there is a true separation of powers. Human rights and basic rights are mainly protected, yet, there are occasions where the USA’s government punished citizens while only practicing their rights; this takes away some of its democratic legitimacy. The rule of law is what the USA’s government is chiefly based on, meaning that the government can only act according to the legal statute, that all citizens are equal before the law, and that no citizen is above the law, not even political leaders. (blue book page 106 3rd paragraph) To ensure further democracy and prevention of tyranny, the Bill of Rights was created

For example, while the USA does have a written constitution, in the UK such a written document does not exist. Therefore, it is almost impossible to change the USA’s constitution while the UK’s constitution can be changed by a simple majority rule. In the United States no cabinet member is allowed to be a member of congress, however in the UK every government minister must be a member of one two Houses of Parliament. Also, the USA’s government is a presidential system while the UK’s government is a parliamentary system. The American President has more limitations to his power than does the British Prime Minister. In Britain one of the houses of legislature is directly elected, the House of Commons, while the House of Lord is largely appointed; in the USA both houses of legislature are directly elected. In the USA the presidential term is fixed and does not change, which is 4 years. In the UK however, the term is set at a maximum of 5 years, yet the prime minister can call elections whenever they want. In the USA, after a presidential election, it takes two and a half months until the new president is in his seat. On the other hand, in the UK, the new prime minister is in his seat hours after the elections’ results. Looking at both governments it is quite difficult to determine which of them is more liberal than the other. However, the UK is more eligible to be determined as more liberal