The Differences Between American and Britain Political System
The Differences between American and British Political Systems
To the political system is concerned, all western countries are a parliamentary democracy, a multiparty system and separation of powers system. However, the organizations in specific and different countries have their own characteristics, which are most representative of the U.S. presidential model, and the United Kingdom parliamentary cabinet system model. The two countries’ political systems are especially different in the constitution, the legislature, the executive, and the judicial. Perhaps the most fundamental difference between the American and British political systems is the constitution--or the lack of one. The United States has a written constitution as do the vast majority of nation states. The American constitution is hard to change and, in current political circumstances, perhaps impossible to change in any meaningful respect. In stead of having one particular document which lists out the basic principles of how a country should be governed, the foundation of the British state are laid out in statute law, that is, laws passed by Parliament; the common laws, which are laws which have been established through common practice in the courts, not because Parliament has written them; and conventions, which are rules and practices which do not exist legally, but are nevertheless regarded as vital to the workings of government. Another defining feature of the American constitution is the strict separation of the powers of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The British political system has no such formal separation of the powers - indeed until recently one person was a member of all three arms of government, since the Lord Chancellor was a member of the Cabinet (the executive), a member of the House of Lords (the legislature) and the head of the legal system (the judiciary). In the United States, because of the separation of the powers, no Cabinet member is allowed to be a
To the political system is concerned, all western countries are a parliamentary democracy, a multiparty system and separation of powers system. However, the organizations in specific and different countries have their own characteristics, which are most representative of the U.S. presidential model, and the United Kingdom parliamentary cabinet system model. The two countries’ political systems are especially different in the constitution, the legislature, the executive, and the judicial. Perhaps the most fundamental difference between the American and British political systems is the constitution--or the lack of one. The United States has a written constitution as do the vast majority of nation states. The American constitution is hard to change and, in current political circumstances, perhaps impossible to change in any meaningful respect. In stead of having one particular document which lists out the basic principles of how a country should be governed, the foundation of the British state are laid out in statute law, that is, laws passed by Parliament; the common laws, which are laws which have been established through common practice in the courts, not because Parliament has written them; and conventions, which are rules and practices which do not exist legally, but are nevertheless regarded as vital to the workings of government. Another defining feature of the American constitution is the strict separation of the powers of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The British political system has no such formal separation of the powers - indeed until recently one person was a member of all three arms of government, since the Lord Chancellor was a member of the Cabinet (the executive), a member of the House of Lords (the legislature) and the head of the legal system (the judiciary). In the United States, because of the separation of the powers, no Cabinet member is allowed to be a