英美政治体制的比较

Contrasts between the American and British Political SystemsWe have learned The society and culture of major English-speaking countries this semester. Now I will take something about the similarities and differences between the American and British political systems. SimilaritiesThe first western capitalist political systems created by British are praised as the source and model of the western political system. On the basis of absorbing and drawing lessons from Britain ,U.S.A. has formed the most perfect political system in the contemporary capitalist countries. So there are many similarities between the American and British political systems.1. Head of StateBoth the U.S. and British political systems have a head of state .The president is the official head of state in the US. The president is indirectly elected by the people through the Electoral College to a four-year term.In the U.K., the queen or king is the official head of state. But the queen or king is only a figure head without real authority.However, the prime minister usually has the spotlight on political matters and is the official head of government2.The Upper HouseBoth the U.S. and British political systems have an upper house. The United States has a Senate as the upper house of the legislative branch and the U.K. has the House of Lords.The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. Each U.S. state is represented by two senators, regardless of population. Senators serve staggered six-year terms.The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster.The House of Lords is the second chamber of Parliament. It is independent from, and complements the work of, the House of Commons –they share responsibility for making laws and checking government action.3.The Lower HouseBoth the U.S. and British political systems have a lower house. The U.S. House of Representatives and the British House of Commonshave a great deal in common. Each house is made up of representatives elected by the people. In both systems control of the lower house goes to the party that has the most seats.The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The number of districts in a state is determined by a count of the population taken every 10 years.The House of Commons comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords (the upper house). The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members (since 2010 General Election), who are known as Members of Parliament (MPs). Members are elected through the first-past-the-post system by electoral districts known as constituencies. They hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved (a maximum of five years after the preceding election).Differences1. Form of governmentThe USA is a republic, while the UK is a constitutional monarchy.Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution.A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of state is not a monarch.2. GovernmentThe government consisting of three parts，or branches，the executive，the legislative and the judicial in USA. Each branch has powers that the others do not have and each branch has a way of counteracting and limiting any wrongful action by another branch.The president has the power to make treaties with other nations and to make all appointments to federal positions，including the position of Supreme Count justice.The Senate ，however must approve all treaties and confirm all appointments before they become official. In this way the Congress can prevent the president from making unwise appointments.However，the UK government is not split into branches. The House of Commons reigns supreme, and the party with the greatest number of members of the Commons is the governing party. The leader of the governing party becomes Prime Minister, who almost has the power of a king. He or she alone has the power to declare war, to make alliances, to use nuclear weapons, and to appoint the people of his choiceto the Cabinet, the various government ministries and offices of state. These appointments are entirely his choice and are not subject to scrutiny or confirmation by any other person of body. The Prime Minister also has the power to dismiss (―demand the resignation of‖) any serving minister or secretary of state.3. The constitutionThe United States has a written constitution which is very difficult to change. The UK does not have a single document called the constitution but instead its constitutional provisions are scattered over various Acts of Parliament, any of which can be changed by a simple majority in the Parliament such as statute law, the common laws and conventions.4. The political partiesThe United States has two major political parties.One is the Democratic Party.The symbol of the party is the donkey. The other is the Republican Party. The symbol of the party is the elephant.There are three major national parties in UK—The Conservative party ，the Labour party and the Liberal Democrats.In the United States, the Democratic and Republican Parties absolutely dominate federal and state elections with independentssecuring only small proportions of the vote. In the United Kingdom, the two main political parties - Conservative and Labour - win a smaller and declining share of the total vote, with a growing share being taken by the likes of the Liberal Democrat Party and the UK Independence Party at national level and by the likes of the Scottish and Welsh Nationalist Parties at the devolved level.In conclusion, a political system is an important integration of a country’s politics and different countries have their distinctive features.。