Political System Comparison Between United Kingdom and United States of America 英语论文.doc

political system comparison between united kingdom and united states of americacollege: yantai university wenjing college class: 081-2name: zhang meng mengstudent number: 200890503238political system comparisonbetween united kingdom and united states of americaintroduction: the first set of western capitalist political systems created by british are praised as the source and model of the western political system. on the basis of absorbing, drawing lessons from britain, u.s.a has formed the most perfect political system in the contemporary capitalist countries. political systems of united kingdom and united states of america have same theoretical basis. as the typical representatives of capitalist countries, united kingdom and united states of america have many common natures. for example, both of them safeguard the interests of the bourgeoisie, maintain the capitalist system and implement dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. however, they also have some different characteristics on specific aspects of political system. this article is drafted from the key part of the political system: constitution, political party and election three respects to compare and expect to offer good references for our study of western political system.i、 constitution comparison between uk and u.s.abritain is a country without written constitutions of the sort which most countries have. instead of having one particular document which lists out the basic principles of how a country should be governed, the foundations 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.the american constitution is the oldest written constitution in the world. the constitution of the united states is the basic instrument of american government and the supreme law of the land. for two centuries and more, it has guided the evolution of governmental institutions and has provided the basis for political stability, economic growth and social progress. the constitution set up a federal system with a strong central government. a federal system is one in which power is shared between a central authority and its constituent parts, with some rights reserved to each. the constitution also called for the election of a nation leader, or president. it provided that federal laws would be made only by a congress made up of representatives elected by the people. it also provide for a national court system headed by a supreme court. according to the constitution, the delegates set up a government consisting of three parts, or branches, the executive, the legislative, the judicial. 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. when it comes to the three-part government，the system of “checks and balances” occur to us. this system works in many ways to keep serious mistakes from being made by one branch or another. in addition, the constitution specified exactly what power the central government had and which power was reserved for the states. the states were allowed to run their own governments as they wished, provided that their governments were republican.ii、 political party system comparison between uk and u.s.a the two-party system has existed in britain for the last 150 years. since 1945 either the conservative party or the labour party has held power. a new party-the social and liberal democratic party -was formed in 1988 when the liberal party merged with the social democratic party formed in 1981.the labour party is a socialist party, they believe a society should be relatively equal in economic terms, and that part of the role of government is to act as a “redistributive” agent：transferring wealth from richer to poorer by means of taxing the richer part of the society and providing support to the poorer part of society. the conservative party is the party that spent most time in power. basically the conservatives are seen as the party of the individual, protecting the individuals right to acquire wealth and to spend it how they choose, and so favoring economic policies which businessmen prefer, such as low taxes. the liberal democrats are the third biggest party, and to some extent may be seen as a party of the “middle”, occupying the ideological ground between the two main parties.political parties are the basis of the american political system. today, the united states has two major political parties. one is the democratic party, which evolved out of thomas jeffersons party, formed before 1800. the symbol of the party is the donkey. the other is the republican party, which was formed in the 1850s, by people in the states of the north and west, such as abraham lincoln, who wanted the government to prevent the expansion of slavery into new states then being admitted to the union. the symbol of the republican party is the elephant. today, the two major parties are really not very different. but this does not mean there is no difference between them. on economic issues, the democrats traditionally favor government intervention while the republicans stress the role of the market more. on social issues the democrats support a strong social security system while the republicans oppose large governmental social security programs. in spite of these differences, the two parties both believe in individualism, defend capitalism and uphold private ownership of means of production. iii、 electoral system comparison between uk and u.s.a periodic national elections are very important in the western model of democracy. they provide opportunities for people to influence future government policies and to replace those incompetent political leaders. in britain, the general election only means that citizens elect the members of the house of commons. queen and the members of the house of lords are not elected by citizens. for electoral purposes britain is divided into constituencies, each of which returns one member to the house of commons. elections are by secret ballot. british citizens, together with citizens of the irish republic resident in britain, may vote provided they are (a) aged 18 or over, (b) included in the annual register of electors for the constituency, and(c) not subject to any disqualification. each elector may cast one vote, normally in person at a polling station. people entitled to absent vote by post or by proxy, although postal ballot papers cannot be sent to address outside britain. british citizens and citizens of other commonwealth countries, together with citizens of the irish republic, may stand for election as mps provided they are aged 21 or over and are not disqualified. a candidate must deposit 500, which is returned if he or she receives 5 per cent or more of the vote cast. in america, american politics is party politics, and no one can hope to win an election if he does not have a party to back him. almost all the elected officials in america are either republicans or democrats, including all presidents, nearly all senators and representatives, all state governors and nearly all local officials. the large number of elected officials make it necessary for the american to take part in countless elections both local and nation wide. there are different elections in america. the nation-wide election or the general election, which is held every four years, is to elect the president. it is so important that both parties will do all they can in the contest. the whole party is deeply involved. the state-wide elections are to choose the state governor or senator to the senate. almost all the candidates are nominated by different parties, but the final decision is made by public votes. if a government official or a candidate offends voters, his hope for success in the election will diminish. american elections seem rather democratic, but the american people do not have much choice in the elections. there are only two major parties in the country, and they are almost the same in nature. to succeed in an election, the presidential candidate must try to win votes from both parties. this has made many american politicians believe that no extremist has the chance to win a presidential ele