Political system in GB, U.S.A. and CZ

The head of the state:

Great Britain: The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy. This means that it has a monarch (a king or a queen) as its Head of state. The monarch has very little power over the government, which is run by the Prime Minister, and reign only with the support of Parliament. Parliament and the monarch have different roles, and they meet together only on special occasions such as the coronation in Westminster Abbey or the opening of parliament after its holiday in November. Queen is also the Head of the Church of England and the Commonwealth. Her signature has to be on all new laws and many state papers. For many people she is a symbol of the unity of the nation, because since 1707 Great Britain has been united under one ruler. She has the right to be informed, so she meets the Prime Minister every week and receives copies of all Cabinet papers. However, she is supposed to be impartial, to be above politics, and any advice she offers to the Prime Minister is secret.

U.S.A.: The president not only represents the country as the Head of the State, but he also has real political power. Elections for President are held every four years and no presidents may hold office for more than two terms. Presidential candidates are chosen by the political parties at their conventions. When a candidate has been chosen by a party, he or she will campaign to win the elections- tour the country, make speeches etc. People vote the president of the United States directly.

Czech Republic: Our president only represents the country, but he has some rights. He has a veto right. He can give a pardon and he appoints the Prime Minister, judges and governor of the Czech National bank. He is elected each five years by deputies and senators. He has to get absolute majority.

Parliament and Government:

Great Britain: Parliament consists of two chambers known as the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The house of Commons is the law-making body. New laws are passed here.

Law-making process – First law is proposed and debated. If the majority of the members are in favour of the bill, it goes through the same process in the House of Lords. The House of Lords may disagree with the bill and ask the House of Commons to reconsider it. Finally it goes to the monarch to be signed. This is only a formality, as no monarch has refused to sign a bill since 1707. Only then it becomes valid.

U.S.A.: Congress is the place where new laws are proposed and made. It consists of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Law-making process – Bills cannot become laws until they have been passed by a two- third majority in both houses and they can still be vetoed by the President.

Czech Republic: Parliament consists of two chambers Chamber of deputies and the Senate.

Law-making process– First law is proposed and debated. If the majority of the members are in favour of the bill, it goes through the same process in the Senate. The House of Lords may disagree with the bill and ask the Chamber of deputies to reconsider it. Finally it goes to the president to be signed. If he doesn´t sign it, the Chamber of deputies can outvote the decision of the president. Only then it becomes valid.

System of elections

Great Britain: General elections are held every five years, but the Prime Minister may decide to call them earlier. For the purpose of General Elections Britain is divided into many small areas called constituencies. In each constituency one MP is elected to the House of Commons. Only the candidate, who wins most of the votes, becomes the MP for that constituency. The second candidate gets nothing. It is called the winner takes it all system. The party which wins the majority seats in the House of Commons gets to the power. Its leader becomes the Prime Minister and moves to Number Ten Downing Street.

U.S.A.: Elections for President are held every four years and no presidents may hold office for more than two terms. Presidential candidates are chosen by the political parties at their conventions. When a candidate has been chosen by a party, he or she will campaign to win the elections- tour the country, make speeches etc. People vote the president of the United States directly.

Czech Republic: General elections are held every four years. For the purpose of General Elections Czech Republic is divided into areas called regions. Recently there are 14 regions. People vote for one political party. Each party has own slate, where are written their members. From this slate people can choose candidates, whom they want to give preferential vote.

Political parties

Great Britain

There are just two political parties in Britain that have a significant influence on British politics.

The Conservative (also called Tory) party– This party can be described as the party of the middle and upper classes. Most of his voters live in rural areas, small towns and suburbs of large cities. Much of its financial support comes from large industrial companies.

The Labour Party– Most of his voters comes from working class. This party gets its strongest support in industrial areas.

Sinn Fein, The Ulster Unionists, The Scottish Nationalist Party, The Welsh Nationalist Party

USA

Democratic Party – They are liberal party. They support equal opportunity for all Americans from each social background.  They fight for an environment protection. They don´t want to give money to military.

Republican Party – It is a traditional pro-business party.

Other smaller parties do not play an important role in national politics.

Czech Republic

Czech Social Democratic Party- They are fighting for rights of lower class, families with children and pensioners.

Civic Democratic Party – This party can be described as the party of the middle and upper classes.

Communists Party of Bohemia and Moravia –