Political system of Russia

The Russian Federation is a democratic federal lawful state with the republican polity. The Russian Federation consists of republics, region, areas, cities of federal value and autonomous regions. The flag of Russia consist of 3 stripes white, blue, and red. The President is the head of the state and is elected directly by the people. In fact he has much power, he controls all the three branches of power. The President can even dissolve the Duma if he doesn't agree with his suggestions three times running. The President has his administration, but it is not part of the Federal Government. The President is involved in the work of the legislative and executive branches.

The Federal Assembly represents the Legislative branch of power. It is made up of the two houses: the Federation Council and the State Duma, which make laws. The Federal Assembly is also called the Parliament, but it's not its official name. Both chambers are headed by chairmen sometimes called speakers. The Duma consists of 450 deputies (one half is elected personally by the population, and the other half consists of the deputies who are appointed by their parties after voting). The members of the Federation Council are elected on a different basis. There are two representatives of each subject of the RF (89 subjects). Every law to be adapted must be approved by the State Duma, the Council of Federation and signed by the President. The President can veto laws passed by the Federal Assembly, but it can pass laws over the President's veto a two-thirds majority.

The Federal Government represents the executive branch of power. The President appoints its head, the Chainman of the Government, but the Dums must approve his appointment.

The juridical branch of power consists of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and lower Courts. The responsibility of the Constitutional Court is to analyse the new laws to make sure they correspond to the laws of the state. The Constitutional Court has the right to declare actions of the President, the Federal Assembly and the Federal Government unconstitutional. The Supreme Court is the highest instance for civil and criminal case.

Political system of Great Britain

The UK is a constitutional monarchy. The Queen is head of the State, but she has little direct power.

The constitution has 3 branches: Parliament, which makes laws, the government, which “executes” laws and the courts, which interprets laws.

The Parliament consists of the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Queen.

The House of Lords has very little power and consists of more than 1000 hereditary lords and peers.

The function of the House of Lords is debating a bill after the House of Commons.

Members are not elected, they sit there because of their rank and the chairman of the House of Lords is the Lord Chancellor (he sits in special sit, called Woolsack).

The House of Commons has true power. It is made up of 650 Members of Parliament. Members are elected by the people.

The function of the House of Commons is introducing and debating the Bills.

The chairman of the House of Commons is the Speaker.

Parliament has a maximum duration of 5 year. The election campaign lasts about 3 weeks; the British parliamentary system depends on political parties. The party which wins the majority of seats forms the government and its leader usually becomes Prime Minister. The Prime Minister chooses about 20 Members of Parliament from his party and forms his cabinet of ministers. The second largest party becomes the official opposition with its own leader and “shadow cabinet”.

The session is opened by the Queen. Each session lasts for 160-175 days.

There are 2 leading parties in GB: the Conservative Party (the Tories) and the Labour Party. (The Liberal and the Social-Democratic party)

(The Green Party, the Communist Party, the Nation Front)

Tony Blair is the leader of the labour Party and Britain’s Prime Minister.

The Palace of Westminster.

Voting

It is one of the important ways of protecting democracy. It is not only the right of every citizen to vote, it is also a responsibility. When you are a citizen of a country you are expected to take part in the work of your government. It doesn't mean that you must hold public office: you can do it by voting. The many things that our government must do for the people have to be done through representa­tives, who will work for the good of the people. The constitution sets four certain requirements for candidates who run for a post of president, vice-president, members of parliament. Requirements usually concern age, residence and citi­zenship. The candidates who meet all these requirements are coincident to be eli­gible for office. In order to get right to vote a permanent residence of an individual is required.

The duration of the qualification is generally a few months. Some countries have the co-called literary qualification: the voter should be able to read and speak English and to know how to interpret the constitution. In some US states a pole tax is levied upon everyone who votes, so it's not surprising that not all people participate in elections.

Every voter should learn' how to choose the best candidate. An intelligent voter thinks for himself and makes his own decision. His ballot is secret.

There are many ways in which the voter can learn about the candidates. He can attend meetings, read the necessary information in newspapers, maga­zines, circulars sent to the homes of voters by political parties. By learning about each side the voter compares the information and makes his choice. They are registered by local election commissions producing an identification card (ID). When doing this you may be asked the name of the party you prefer. A political party is a group of people who have the same ideas about their representatives and the government they are going to have. If you wish you may not belong to any party. You register as an independent. You may vote in a primary election for nominees chosen by the members of the party or by group of people to represent it in general election.

A general election is the one in which only one candidate for an office from the constituency is elected from among all the candidates. Prior to holding pri­mary or general election the commission appoints election officers and arranges for polling places. After the ballots have been cast they are counted and the re­sults obtained are tabulated and are returned to the election commission.

ELECTIONS