Otázka: System of government – USA, GB, CR
Jazyk: Angličtina
Přidal(a): Ondřej Sedlák
GREAT BRITAIN
- Constitutional monarchy, the head of the state is the Queen Elizabeth II. She reigns but does not rule, so the country is governed by the Government. Elizabeth II is the queen of sixteen independent nations known as the Commonwealth Realms. The Queen is represented by Governors-General in other countries of Commonwealth. They are appointed by her on the advice of ministers of the country.
- The British Parliament is bicameral. It consists of two chambers: The House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Lords is made up of hereditary and life peers and peeresses who are not elected. The main function is to bring the wide experience of its members into the process of law making. Members of the House of Commons are elected by adult British citizens.
- General election must be held every five years. Minimum voting age is 18. The Prime Minister is appointed by the monarch and ministers are chosen by the Prime Ministers. The current Prime Minister is Boris Johnson (after Theresa May). In the UK there are several main political parties – most important: The Conservative Party (Boris Johnson), the Labour Party and the Liberal Democratic Party.
- The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland left the European Union definitively on 31 January 2020. Since 1 February 2020, the United Kingdom has been in an 11-month transition period.
USA
- The USA is a federation consisting of 50 states, one federal district with the capital and other territories. Rights and power are divided between the individual states and federal government. States have their own governments and make their own laws concentrating sales taxes, education or divorce. Federal laws apply to all states and citizens.
- The federal government controls national taxes and budget and the armed forces. The federal government has three branches – executive power, legislative power and judiciary power. They are designed to check and balance the others.
- The Congress is bicameral parliament and it consists of two houses: The Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress is situated on the Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. The President is elected for a four-year term and may only be elected twice. He must be born in the USA and he also forms the federal government. He lives and works in the White House.
- Some famous presidents are: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln or Theodor Roosevelt. The current president is Donald Trump.
- Two parties dominate the American system, these are the Republican Party (Trump) and the Democratic Party.
CZECH REPUBLIC
- Its government is divided into three branches: the legislative – represented by the Parliament, the executive – represented mainly by the president and the government, and the judicial – represented by courts at various levels.
- The Parliament consists of two chambers – the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The 200 Deputies and 81 Senators have the executive duty of making laws. The elections to the Chamber of Deputies take place every four years. Every two years one third of the Senators is renewed, so it takes six years to renew the whole Senate, of course, according to the elections. These days is president elected every five years by the people, but previously was president voted by the Parliament. Miloš Zeman was the first President elected in the direct election (in 2013).
- When these times of elections come, every citizen from the age of 18 has the universal, equal, direct and secret right to vote. In Czech Republic there are many political parties (the biggest: ANO – winning party, prime minister Andrej Babiš; ODS Civic Democratic Party; Czech Pirate Party; SPD Freedom and direct democracy; KSČM Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia; etc.). If you like their program, you can choose the one from them and give it your vote (or you can circle only some candidates and give them the preferred vote).
