The Comparison Between the Political Systems of the USA and the UK

Political systems are shaped by the societies in which they function. Therefore, it is important to
learn about the social, economic, historical, cultural settings against which the political systems
operate. If we talk about the UK and the US, there are many similarities and differences in the
political culture of the two countries. British culture has a strong commitment to representative
institutions based on free elections, individual rights and democracy. British was the first
parliamentary democracy in Europe. Later many countries modeled their institutions. The current
shape of the institutions is a result of centuries of evolution. Political unity, stability and a tradition
of independence have long been regarded as characteristics of British political system.
America is a multi-cultural, multi-racial greatly diverse society with strong commitment to liberty
and equality. Political culture of US derived from some of the ideas of the country’s founding
fathers who wrote the constitution. It includes faith in democracy and representative government,
popular sovereignty, rule of law, equality, liberty, freedom of speech and individual rights.
The major difference between UK and US political systems is that the American political system
was designed at one time at one point for ‘the new world’ while the British system had evolved
over centuries, earning the name, ‘the mother of all parliaments. Whereas the most obvious
similarity is a common commitment to the democratic process.
Political System of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has a parliamentary form of government. It’s also called cabinet or
ministerial system. In this form of government, the Parliament is all an all and hold supremacy
over other institutions. It is said that the British parliament can do anything but make a man a
woman or vice versa.
Legislative and executive are closely related to each other and are in close working relationship
because executive is also a part of legislature. There is a constitutional monarchy in UK i.e. the
powers of the queen who is head of state, is restrained by the constitution, or the queen shares
power with the constitutional institutions. Now a days queen has a ceremonial position while the
actual power lies with the prime minister who is head of the government.
The prime minister along with his cabinet is responsible in front of the parliament.
Salient Features of UK Parliamentary System
There is a dual executive in British parliamentary system i.e. the queen is the titular head (de jure
executive) of the state where as the prime minister is the head of the government (de facto
executive) and holds actual powers.
The political party with majority seats in the House of commons form a government.
The British prime minister gets elected in general elections through ‘first past the post’ method.
He/she is the most important member of both the parliament and the cabinet. He appoints, removes
and supervises the cabinet. Despite the needs of consensus and collective action within a cabinet,
ultimate decision making power rests in the prime minister as the party leader.
After getting elected he/she selects their cabinet from the parliament. It’s mandatory to pick the
ministers from the parliament. If the prime minister wants to pick someone from the outside, he/she
will have to elect that person as member parliament within six months. The ministers need approval
from the head of the state. The ministers are both the members of executive as well as the
legislature.
There is a fusion of power in British political system as the two organs of the government i.e.
legislature and executive share their power and are dependent on each other. It allows the executive
to implement its manifesto through the legislature.
All the cabinet ministers in British parliament work as a team. They ‘swim together and drown
together’. If any of the ministers does not want to agree with the rest of the team, he/she has to
resign or get expelled from the cabinet. All the proceedings in the cabinet are kept secret. There is
a strict party discipline and cabinet as a whole is responsible for its actions to parliament.
There’s a term fixed for the legislature i.e. five years, but no term fixed for the cabinet and the
prime minister. They will execute their mandate as long as they have the confidence of the
parliament. The loss of vote of confidence or a defeat of major legislative bill in the House of
Commons means a cabinet’s fall from power and the collective resignation of its members.
There can be a coalition government in UK if no single party can take a lead or majority votes. In
2010 the conservative party formed a hung parliament with Liberal Democrats.
Merits of UK Parliamentary System
The British parliamentary system has allowed a relatively peaceful change from monarchical to
liberal democracy.
The biggest merit of British parliamentary system is that there is a harmonious relationship
between legislature and executive. Both the organs support each other.
The British parliament exercises control over the ministers which makes them responsible not to
overstep their mandate.
The power is divided among the ministers and not vested in a single person. This division checks
the dictatorial tendencies of the executives.
British parliament is representative of all the sections and regions of the country. The prime
minister keeps that factor in mind while selecting his council of ministers. This has resulted in the
transparency and accountability of the government towards citizens’ representatives.
Demerits
Although the parliament can pass a vote of no confidence, there are very limited checks and
balances in British Parliamentary system. First the executive branch is not separated from the
legislature. The prime minister is a party head as well as the head of the house and the cabinet.
This makes him/her almost autocratic because of the strict party discipline house members support
him/her for whatever they want.
It’s also noteworthy that the powers that are inherited (the House of Lords) are undemocratic and
can cause constitutional crises,
Motion of no confidence or political defection can make the government unstable. Therefore, the
parliamentary system is not conducive for long term policies due to uncertainty of the tenure of
the government.
The Political System of the United states of America
In American presidential system the head of the government, and head of the state are one and the
same. The head of the government leads an executive that is distinct from the legislature. More
over the executive is not answerable to the legislature. The president along with his cabinet also
called the administration. The presidential system has main virtue of stability. President being
elected by a popular vote separately from the legislature need not bother to satisfy the legislature
and can take measures on his own initiative. American president can choose his cabinet having
outstanding outside the congress
Features of the American presidential system
In US President is the head of the state as well as head of the government also called the chief
executive. Unlike the monarch, he is elected by the electoral college and indirect popular votes. In
this way the executive in American government is separated from the legislature. Each state
chooses electors who are equal in number to the members of congress of that respective state.
These electors cast ballots in their respective states for president and vice president. The result is
sent to the national capital and is opened in the presence of congress. According to the people who
support American presidential system, a popularity elected leadership is more democratic than a
leadership chosen by the legislative body, and is more accountable towards the citizens but cannot
be removed from the power when his policies no longer remain effective.
The American president can appoint any person as a head of department according to his/her
expertise. The ministers who are known as secretaries in the United States of America do not
require to be from the legislature. The president has a free right to choose the secretaries which
can be from his party or they can be totally different people. They are the organization of
professional experts selected by the president to run the administration. They all are accountable
to the president and can keep their status as long as they have the support from the president. The
American president can change or remove his cabinet members whenever he wants.
There is a separation of power between the three branches of the government meaning no single
person can hold office in more than one of the three branches of the government. This separation
of power is considered a great advantage as each branch may scrutinize the actions of the others.
Every branch works within their limitations and mandate and do not usually interfere in other’s
business. Professor Sutherland says that without independent judiciary, executive and legislature,
the constitutional rights will become the ghost that are seen in the law but that are elusive to grasp.
The division of power between the legislature and the executive is clearly defined in the American
constitution. These are independent of each other’s influence. The president however has a wide
range of powers. He along with his cabinet are not responsible for their actions in front of the
legislative body. Each of the three branches exercise their powers in the allotted sphere i.e. the
legislature in the field of law making and executive in the field of law enforcement and
administration.
The founders of American constitutions completely separated the three organs of the government
and made them independent of each other’s influence. But practically the complete separation
produced discrepancies in the system. Therefore, the system of checks and balance was inducted
in the American system as a constitutional amendment. According to this system each organ now
put check on the other organs of the system in one way or the other. The executive can appoint the
judges but cannot remove them. The judges can be removed by the congress. Senate approves the
appointments made by the president and approve the aid. The president can veto the bills passed
by the congress.
There is a fixed tenure for the president i.e. four years. Before that he/she cannot be removed from
the office. The only way to remove them from their office before the completion of their term is
impeachment.
Merits of American Presidential System
American political system is more stable than British parliamentary system as the coalition
government can collapse as seen in the past
There is a better policy implementation in the presidential system. The term of the president is
fixed therefore the policy is carried out without any fear.
It is a direct reflection of popular choice as people of America are involved indirectly in electing
their president.
President can appoint any person his secretary in the cabinet based on the person’s expertise and
skills which makes the presidential cabinet far better than the British parliamentary system.
American president is more powerful in many ways than the prime minister and is the faster
decision maker in the state of emergency.
Popular election of the chief executive stimulates the public interest in the public affairs.
Demerits
The presidential system sometimes leads to autocratic leadership.
There is no way to ensure that the responsibilities given to the administration are being carried out
in a proper fashion because the administration is not accountable to the legislature. The executive
is not accountable to the legislature.
The lack of cooperation between the legislature and the executive can often lead towards a
deadlock.
This system is somewhat inflexible as once the president gets elected it’s impossible to remove
him from the office no matter how much the public unlike his policies.
The Comparison between the Two Systems
There are some major differences and similarities in both the system which are as follows
The Constitution
The most fundamental difference between the UK and the US political system is the constitution.
The United States has a codified constitution which was written in one time at one place. Whereas
the UK does not have a single document called the constitution but it’s constitutional provisions
are scattered over the centuries in form of different historic documents like Megna Carta Charter
1215, Petition of Rights 1628, Bills of Rights 1689. Act of settlement 1707 and various acts of
parliament.
The sovereignty in the United States belongs to the people of America. The constitution derives
its power not from the king or a queen or the congress, but from the people themselves. This
concept of popular sovereignty is the foundation upon which the entire constitution depends.
In the United Kingdom the sovereignty lies with the parliament.
American constitution is rigid and is very hard to change. Two and a half centuries have passed
and only 27 amendments are made in the constitution. There are four methods in the constitution
to amend the laws but they are difficult to proceed. Whereas in the British constitution, various
acts of parliament can be changed by simple majority
In the United states the political discourse frequently makes reference to the constitution, such as
democratic initiatives are unconstitutional etc. It is rare in the British politicians to argue that the
actions of their opponents are illegal or unconstitutional.
Monarchy vs Federalism
A Britain was and is still a constitutional monarchy, but the American system is based on
federalism equally distributing powers between its 50 states. British system is unitary
concentrating all its powers to the single set of government institutions i.e. central legislative,
executive and judiciary. The center delegates the powers to the burrows, counties and councils (the
administrative units) but these powers can be curtailed, expanded, or abolished by the center.
Whereas in the US the powers are divided in the center and federating units called states. This
power division is codified in the constitution and it cannot be changed or taken by the center.
One similarity in the UK and the US system is that they both have the bicameral system meaning
two houses in the legislature. British legislature has House of Lords as its upper house (unelected
house with inherit and nominal seats) and House of Commons as the lower house elected by first
past the post popular votes. In the United States both house, The House of Representative (lower
house) and the Senate (upper house) get elected by general popular votes. That’s why the American
upper house is called the most powerful upper house in the world.
Separation of Power
Due to their past experience of greedy kings and nobility and the failed experiment of
confederation, the founding fathers of America made sure that there should be a separation of
power between the three branches of the government and that no single branch be able to get
authoritative over the others. Later they inducted the system of check and balance through a
constitutional amendment. Now through this system one branch can limit the powers of the other
branch. Judiciary is enjoying complete independence from the pressure of both legislative an
executive and is seen as a savior of human rights and constitution in the US. It is called the third
pillar of the American congress.
However, there is a fusion of power in the British Political system. Here the three branches are
intermingled and integrated with each other. The chief executive is the member of legislature and
sits in the House of Commons. He actually gets elected as a member parliament and later as a
leader of majority party he is asked to take the seat of the prime minister. Until 2009 the highest
court of appeal in Britain was the House of Lords meaning that the final arbiters of judicial disputes
were the 9 law lords in the unelected upper house. In 2009 the law lords were removed from the
House of Lords and are put into a new supreme court, somewhat separating the judicial branch
from the legislature.
While the supreme court in America can declare a new law as unconstitutional, the British supreme
court’s role is confined to give the ruling.
The Government
Due to the ways the two systems of government are designed, the American president has more
limitations to his power than in the case of British prime minister. In the United states, the
democratic president may have a republican majority in congress making it difficult for the
president to get his policies through. In such situations the congress can vote down the suggestions
from the president.
In Britain, there is no systematic limitations on the prime minister’s power, but it usually depends
on the majority of his political party in the House of Commons. The larger the majority, the more
policies the prime minister and the government get through without any other branch of the
government interfering.
In the USA the committees’ seats are filled by the parties who have considerable majority in both
House of Representatives and Senate whereas in the UK the committees’ seats are filled according
to the proportion of different parties in the parliament.
In the UK the speaker resigns from his/her respective party but in the US the speaker supports
his/her respective party.
The President and the Prime Minister
Being elected president is a long and costly affair. The presidential candidates are nominated at
the two parties’ national conventions and different nominees have to fight it out in the presidential
primaries to see who is going to represent the two parties in the actual presidential elections.
Opposed to America, the British prime minister is normally the leader of the political party he or
she represents. The prime minister is called ‘first among equals’ meaning that the prime minister
needs to be elected to the House of Commons in general elections like his/her fellow members of
parliament. In other words, the prime minister should be a member parliament too unlike the
president of America who gets elected as a chief executive separately from the legislature and has
nothing to do with what is happening in the legislature.
The Party Discipline
Party discipline refers to the practice where legislators vote with their parties. Party discipline is
typically stronger in parliamentary system than in presidential. This is because the ‘executive
party’ requires majority party cohesiveness for its own survival.
Parties in the American presidential system are less structured than of the UK. Failure to vote with
one’s party does not threaten to bring down the government. Therefore, the members of the
legislature are freer to identify with regional, ethnic, economic or other divisions when considering
policy issues. Because they are directly elected and identifiable with particular districts or regions,
many members see it their duty to their constituencies as the first priority with allegiance to their
party and its platform as secondary.
In parliamentary government the parties are highly structured and tend towards unified actions.
This party discipline is required primarily because deviation from the party line could result in
bringing down the government. The parliamentary system requires both the legislative and
executive to be on the same page. Moreover, the majority party in the government is perceived by
voters to have mandate to run the country that’s why each party may develop a system of
punishments and rewards. Individual members who deviate from the party are punished by the
party by not getting nominated in the subsequent elections.
The political parties
There are two political parties which dominate the political scenario on both the sides. In the
United states there are two parties represented in congress and they both are federal parties. There
is no party in America which only seek votes in one or two federating units. In the UK there are
national parties as well as the parties that field candidates only in Wales, Northern Ireland,
Scotland respectively.
In the USA, Republicans are right of center party whereas the Democrats are the left of center
party. In the UK, the conservatives are right of center party and the Labour is left of center party.
However, the center in American political system is markedly to the right of the center in British
politics.
In the USA there is no center party in a sense of positioning politically between the Democrats and
Republicans. But there is a Liberal Democrat party which ideologically sees itself between the
Labour and the Conservatives.
In the USA the Democrats and the Republicans absolutely dominate the federal and state elections
with independents securing only small proportion of the votes. In the UK the two main political
parties i.e. Conservatives and Labour, win a smaller share of total votes with the growing share
being taken by the Liberal Democratic Party and UK Independent party on national level and
Welsh and Scottish nationalist parties on the devolved level.
The major parties of the US have a large scale convention every four years to decide their
respective presidential nominees. In the UK, all political parties hold annual conferences where
they debate the policy positions to be adapted by the party, but they do not choose the party leader
in these conferences.
Elections and Campaign
In the US, the terms of president, senators and the congressmen is four years, six years and two
years respectively. In UK the term of the members of House of Commons is five years.
The candidates for president, senate, and the House of Representatives are chosen by the system
of primaries. British do not have a system of primaries and the selection of the candidates remains
confined to the actual members of the relevant party.
The Us will have the special elections to fill the vacant senate seats. In most of the states the
governors fill the vacant seats by appointment. Most states allow the governor to pick the
replacements who serve until the next general elections. Special elections are announced by the
governors to fill the vacant seats in House of Representatives. In the UK, the vacant seats in the
House of commons are filled through the by-election which has to be held within three to four
months.
The American general election effectively lasts for two years starting with the declaration of
candidates for the primaries. The British general election lasts around two weeks.
There are no limitations on expenditure in American political elections. There are statuary
limitations on expenditures for all the elections in the UK.
End Note
Both the American presidential system and the British parliamentary system are the form of
democracy and are organized in such a way that they both have various strengths. Due to the vote
of no confidence, it is easy to end the term of prime minister within a parliamentary system.
Meanwhile it is harder to impeach a president. However, prime ministers are dependent on the
legislature while the presidents enjoy the independent reign. They are able to make the decisions
they believe are the best for the nation.
Despite all the differences and few similarities between the two systems, it is ultimately the
members of the nation who hold power and strong political institutions. By voting the citizen can
voice their choices and effect the change in their respective countries, no matter their system of
government.