Poli 2053 Frank Wilson In an increasingly small and interdependent world one needs to know about the politics and activities that are taking place in other countries Institutional Features of Political Systems Legislature Value Functions Types How they are selected Single Member District Big parties dominate such election United States and Britain Proportional Representation seats are based off of of votes each party gets Legislatures are considered to be vital to all political systems It provides a popular representation of citizens and a promulgation of laws The legislature is usually the scapegoat of the country Functions of the Legislature Maintain require stability Affect wide areas of life Control critique other branches of government Serve as a forum for debate Budget Serve as a forum for communication 1 Recruitment intern 2 Education CSPAN 3 Socialization Meet your congressman The Executive The executive is the most important person in any political system The job is often too overwhelming for people Some suggest that 4 8 years is too short for true presidential leadership President is Popularly elected Not susceptible to legislative changes Universal suffrage Executive in a parliamentary system is Mostly ceremonial Usually elected by the legislature or a monarch Great Britain Japan Judiciary The judiciary is the most ignored branch of government in almost every political system Became a big role in government for their role in the 2000 United States Election The judiciary is important because we have a lot of constitutional questions that The Constitution cannot answer like Obamacare gun rights abortion civil rights detainees and marriage equality Powers of the judiciary date back to 1803 when Judicial Review was enacted The Supreme Court has the power to look over laws the executive and legislative and determine their actions unconstitutional The British Political System Great Britain is a parliamentary coalition government They are laid back people led by Prime Minister David Cameron Great Britain unlike most European countries is notoriously against being a part of The European Union and since Margaret Thatcher has been trying to succeed The system in place is known as the Westminster System named after the London district where most institutions of government are located Britain having not been invaded since 1066 by the Normans and having not been ruled by an invader in well over 1 000 years has remained loyal to their political system and Britain is reluctant to change Under Tony Blaire s leadership Britain took drastic changes to its political image He envisioned Britain going from a traditional society to a chic one Under Blaire Britain became synonymous with the millennium dome The Spice Girls and The Human Rights Convention Britain s Peculiar Party System Monarchy The King Queen are essentially still lords over the political system but checked by parliamentary power There is an active class system within Britain Wealthy people have titles like Sir Lord and Baroness These come from wealth and family roots There is no truly written constitution for Britain The coded laws of the country are dispersed over the five states that have influenced the political system 1215 The Magna Carta officially limits the powers of the English crown 1689 the British Bill of Rights was signed establishing unalienable rights to British citizens Influence of History European Dominance Although Britain has given up most of its empire it still holds a huge influence over all of their previous colonies except the United States This network of colonial influence is referred to as The British Commonwealth It is very similar to the French Francophone Political System 1 Fundamental continuity of the system In tact no occupation in over 1 000 years 2 Not neat or logical nor is it fully democratic 3 Change has been too gradual and pragmatic 4 No representation of powers All members of government belong to parliament Some senior member judges sit in the House of Lords The Judiciary is led by a senior member of the cabinet 650 members Political Parties Conservative Party national institution They are a non ideological party who believe in the unity of the nation social class systems individual freedoms they are against government assistance often hostile towards nationalization they tend to favor indirect taxes and are vehemently anti European Union Margaret Thatcher the most influential British Prime Minister ever was a conservative and served as prime minister for over ten years She was ousted by her own party due to do with her extreme views on the European Union The Labour Party believes in non conformity public ownership redistribution of wealth labour unions and the EU They hate the class system and NATO The Liberal Democratic Party fills the vacuum for the two major parties The LDP was a more moderate party and is the reason Tony Blaire transitioned the Labour Party into the New Labour Party They lack stamina to be successful in the British Parliamentary Parliamentary government is created by a majority party which is part of a preservation of government for over 1 000 years The party structure of Britain is a battle between two major parties The Conservative Party and the Labour Party British people belong to a class system and are generally classified by passive personalities Bicameral Commonwealth David Cameron unpopular Economic Problems France has a presidential system whereby universal suffrage elects a president Unlike a prime minister the president will survive a change in parliamentary majority France also has two big parties but their government is also comprised of many smaller ones French people are scorned into different classes rather than born in and are characterized as hyper and their government was born from revolution and rebellion Bicameral Francophone Hollande unpopular Economic problems China Distinctive aspects of political system compare to Russia Remarkable polity under new leadership Chinese history three distinct periods The revolution and changes C C P dominate the polity Legislative is unicameral The judiciary toes the party line Political consolidation What do recent developmental events in Russia and China illustrate about their political systems final question Russian characteristics Communist roots Dominant leadership personality driven One party state Judiciary Corruption Problems quest for democracy Navalny Khodorksky rich guy jailed by the government