Politics
Politics get shaped by various factors, including the structure, separation of power, and people’s freedom, and interest groups within those countries. The United States and the United Nations exhibit different constitutions that govern how political institutions emerge and their powers. The United States of America has the federal and constitutional form of government which creates regulations for all its states. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, has a monarchy-parliament that governs all its parts through the constitution. The heads of states, political parties, interest groups, and the citizens are different in these entities due to their conglomerate differences.
The political culture
The political culture is the set of beliefs and behaviors that influence the communities’ politics through common perceptions on the relationship between the citizens and the institutions. According to Watts (2013), citizens of the US and the UK have a common political culture acting as the foundation of the stretched-term ideas and traditions passed from one group to another. The United States exhibits a multi-racial society connected through a common perception of the American Dream. The citizens believe in hard work and individualism through economic, social, and political activities. America’s political philosophy relies on the exceptionalism principle, which considers the country superior to other industrial democracies. Society exercises liberal individualism through which they view themselves as the best hope to humankind. Politics get viewed according to personal terms by protecting private property and opportunity (John et al., n.d). The country also exercises a strong belief in the majority’s will through democratic activities and the adaption of speeches and values created by the founding fathers. The country’s political strength develops from the deep belief in the exercise of power, the rule of law, and fear of authoritarian rule.
The UK political traditions include a strong commitment to democracy, fairness in elections, and liberal values to influence individual rights and duties. The citizens strongly believe in the resolution of political disputes through the ballot box. Watts (2013) argues that individuals in the UK trust the political class who rules them and creates social difference as an essential aspect of society.UK institutions and social elements of the country depend on continuity as the best strategy to maintain order. The radical foundations include hereditary monarchy and the House of Lords that have a long history. The country experiences internal turmoil, revolutionaries, and interference by the foreign powers to influence its existence. According to Semetko et al. (2013), society stands through the principles of practicality instead of ideology and predetermined doctrines. The country has no written constitution but depends on the institutions and the ideas developing over some time. Consensus through agreements, cooperation, and moderation inform the political history, stability, and tradition of independence in the UK. The country faces challenges in the contemporary period due to an increase in cultural diversity. However, the country developed an understanding of other social classes through their contribution rather than their social status and authority.
Political participation and interest groups participation
Political participation includes the involvement of the people and interest groups in formal politics such as elections, activism, and political consumerism: the United States and the United Kingdom exhibit similar voting and voting enthusiasm. In the US, elections are considered the best strategy to ensure power is not in few hands. The public participation in elections is diverse in the two entities, with the United States having more tasks during the election (André et al., 2015). The US voter may vote for the president, Senate, House of Representatives, and local officers simultaneously or on different occasions. The voter also engages in other initiatives that require them to respond to arguments when they are voting. In the United Kingdom, the elections indicate popular participation, so sometimes they may be meaningless while in other situations altered by lack of freedom. The participants’ turnout was low in both organizations, but the contemporary society exhibits more commitment and participation in decision-making through an increase in turnout (Semetko et al., 2013). These are resultant of massive political exposure through television and other media platforms.
In America and the United Kingdom, the political environment involves two-party systems through which interest groups better represent the people’s interests. The United States offers more opportunities to the interest groups more than the United Kingdom. These developments result from the professional activities in the recent development of social media and government activities beyond the Centre (Chadwick and Stromer-Galley, 2016). These include the institutions that present informal political participation by ensuring the interests of their people get addressed. Farmers in America and Britain rely on organizations such as National Farmers’ Union and American Farmers Bureau Federation to defend the interests of their members in the respective countries. In recent years, interest groups have increased, and new social movements are loose than political parties and influence the political parties more than the pressure groups. According to Brechenmacher (2018), the united states have experienced activities such as the Black Lives Matter organization to influence institutional change. A group like the National Farmers’ Union in Britain controlled the government by managing the economy through corporatism. The interest groups, including the labor unions and the business unions, influence the executives, judiciary, and public opinion.
Political party structure
Political parties play a significant role in democracies, including the representation of citizen interests. The two countries have a two-party system, but in the UK, the parties are more meaningful because of membership fees, logical ideology, and a high degree of discipline (Watts, 2013). The United States divides the government and the opposition by ensuring that one party controls the presidency while the other controls the legislature. A political party in the UK aims at taking power and controlling how the government institutions get administered. The winning party requires a majority of occupations in the House of the Commons to rule the governmental machinery until the next election. The party takes control of the executive and dominates the legislature to implement its platform. Party politics are different in the United States since the parties do not have the power concentration; they have their way and say in the executives and the legislature (Blomgren and Rozenberg, 2015). The decisions of the president may not go as planned under the legislature. Congress acts as a counter-balance entity for the executive because it considers the constituency needs before the national requirements.
Legislation system
The legislature is the branch of government that makes the countries’ laws as mandated by the constitution of a particular country. The United States and the United Kingdom exhibit a bicameral legislative system that includes lower and upper chambers that create the laws (Blomgren and Rozenberg, 2015). America has the lower section known as the House of Representatives, and the upper House is referred to as the Senate. The Senate has more roles than the House of representatives since it provides territorial representation, with each state having two representatives. In the UK, the lower House is the House of the Commons, while the Upper House is the House of Lords. The upper House checks and balances the lower House and shares the parliamentary work with the same entity. According to Norton (2019), in the House of Lords, members have experience in political matters and provides scrutiny and revision of laws. Both countries have more extended periods for the upper house members.
References
Watts, D. (2013). Understanding US/UK government and politics: A comparative guide. Manchester University Press. https://www.manchesterhive.com/view/9781847790897/9781847790897.xml
John, P., Liu, H., & Fieldhouse, E. The Civic Culture in Britain and America Fifty Years On1. https://hummedia.manchester.ac.uk/institutes/cmist/archive-publications/working-papers-isc/2010/TheCivicCultureinBritainandAmerica.pdf
Semetko, H. A., Blumler, J. G., Gurevitch, M., Weaver, D. H., & Barkin, S. (2013). The formation of campaign agendas: A comparative analysis of party and media roles in recent American and British elections. Routledge. https://books.google.com/books%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26id%3DQYJBsWhj1d8C%26oi%3Dfnd%26pg%3DPP1%26dq%3DThe%2Bthree%2Bthings%2Bthat%2Bmake%2BBritish%2Belections%2Bso%2Bdifferent%2Bfrom%2BAmerican%2Bones%26ots%3Dafy91SOP1x%26sig%3DXW2JnzmDzYj27B10xX70ulzSET0
Brechenmacher, S. (2018). Comparing democratic distress in the United States and Europe (Vol. 21). Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. https://carnegieendowment.org/2018/06/21/comparing-democratic-distress-in-united-states-and-europe-pub-76646
Chadwick, A., & Stromer-Galley, J. (2016). Digital media, power, and democracy in parties and election campaigns: Party decline or party renewal?. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1940161216646731
Norton, P. (2019). Post-legislative scrutiny in the UK Parliament: adding value. The Journal of Legislative Studies, 25(3), 340-357. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13572334.2019.1633778
Blomgren, M., & Rozenberg, O. (Eds.). (2015). Parliamentary roles in modern legislatures. Routledge. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=EfzIBQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT18&dq=Difference+Between+USA+And+UK+legislature
André, A., Depauw, S., & Martin, S. (2015). Electoral systems and legislators’ constituency effort: The mediating effect of electoral vulnerability. Comparative Political Studies, 48(4), 464-496. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0010414014545512