What Are The Similarities Between Russia And The United States

The Russian Federation and The United Kingdom are among the most powerful countries in the world we live in today. Both countries occupy spots in the top ten of the World GDP Rankings and also in the GDP rankings based on purchasing power parity. Their respective ranks on these lists prove the power of the countries through their massive spending, exports and consumption in international markets. Russia and the UK are both super powers however they run their countries in very different ways. The United Kingdom is a democratic constitutional monarchy, with a bicameral parliament. The Head of the British government is the Prime Minister. Russia is a federal semi-presidential republic. The head of the Russian state is the president and the head
of the government is the prime minister, but because the president appoints the prime minister he in effect has total control over the government.
Because the UK is a constitutional monarchy, the monarch is a predominantly ceremonial position. Queen Elizabeth II has been head of state for the past 61 years since the passing of her father King George VI. Next in line for the throne is her son Prince Charles who has held this position for as long as the Queen has been in power. Following Prince Charles comes his eldest son Prince William. As head of state the Queen has no actual political or executive role in the running of the government, she cannot pass any laws or intact any royal decree. The Queen’s main role is as a figurehead and diplomat, performing ceremonial duties while inspiring a strong sense of nationalism in her subjects.
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is broken into two houses, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Both houses meet in the Palace of Westminster, which is connected to the iconic clock tower Big Ben. Both houses can introduce bills and members of each house can be Government Ministers however typically the Ministers come from the House of Commons. The upper of the two houses is the House of Lords. Representatives in the House of Lords are appointed, not elected. There are 793 seats in the House of Lords, of those 793, 26 are considered Lords Spiritual and the rest are Lords Temporal. Lords Spirituals are Bishops of the Church of England and at least one must be present at every meeting of the House of Lords to read prayers at the start of session. Lords Spiritual are fully functioning members of parliament but since they make up only 3.5% of the upper house their power is relatively limited. Lords Temporal have no religious affiliation but many are old English royalty who gained their power through the hereditary peerage system. In 1999 the House of Lords Act was passed with the intentions of ending this system of inheritance and abolished all but 92 of the hereditary positions in the house. Members of the House of Lords can no longer pass their position down through their lineage. Now members gain their spots through the House of Lords Appointment Committee.
Although both houses in the British parliament are able to introduce bills it is the House of Commons; the lower house that is the more powerful.
The 650 members of the House of Commons are elected through the first-past-the-post system, which promotes two party competition between the Labor and Conservative parties. When the British Parliament Act of 1911 was passed the House of Lords lost its ability to veto laws passed by the House of Commons, instead only giving it the ability to delay said laws or make the lower house re-visit them. This change is what truly made the UK democratic. The representatives in the House of Commons are elected by the people and because of this can be held accountable for their actions. Before 1911, the aristocrat filled House of Lords could veto any legislation passed by the elected representatives, thus taking power away from the lower and middle
class.
The House of Lords again lost power in 2009 when the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom was established; previously it had been 12 members of the House of Lords who filled the role of federal judiciaries. Unlike Russia where the Judiciary (in theory) has the ability to rule laws unconstitutional and sufficiently check the other braches of government, the UK’s Supreme Court does not have adequate power to do so. Their constitution allows the legislative branch absolute power, and following the Parliament Act of 1911 effectively only half of the bicameral legislature has this power. This lack of checks and balances does allow for swift and decisive action but can also leave the minority opinion out of the picture.
The House of Commons is also the more powerful of the houses because this is where the Prime Minister is unofficially elected.
The current Prime Minister of Her Majesty’s Government is David Cameron, who was appointed to his position by the Queen in 2010. Technically the position of Prime Minister is not mandated by the Constitution of the United Kingdom however it the accepted standard for the current monarch to name the leader of the party with the most seats in the House of Commons the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister may select the 22 members of his or her (in Margaret Thatcher’s case) cabinet from either house of legislature, most commonly though the cabinet members are elected officials chosen from the House of
Commons.
Unlike The United Kingdom the head of the Russian Federation is the President. Current President and Supreme Commander-in-chief Vladimir Putin has served as both the second and fourth president of Russia. This was possible due to the unique term limitations set forth by the Constitution of Russia, restricting the length of a presidential stay in office to two consecutive terms however not limiting the number of non-consecutive terms. This means that after serving two terms a president is not allowed to serve the next term but is permitted to run again for a third term after being removed from office for at least one term. This is exactly what Putin did.
Elected originally in 2000 Vladimir Putin served his first two four year terms until 2008. Following these two terms he stepped down as mandated by the constitution to allow his former deputy Prime Minister Dimity Medvedev to be appointed President from 2008 to 2012. After being elected Medvedev immediately appointed Putin his Prime Minister. After his four years as Prime Minister Putin ran for a third term, at the same time amending the constitution to change the length of presidential terms from four to six years.
Like the United Kingdom, Russia has a bicameral legislative branch. The Russian Federal Assembly is made up of the State Duma, the lower house, and the Federation Council, the upper.