Comparative government
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Comparative government or comparative politics is the field of political science that focuses on comparing the varying forms of government in the world, and the states they govern, though it may also compare governments across different periods of history. Comparative government attempts to analyze different governments through understanding the history, geography and people that are under the sovereignty of that government. It looks into the internal workings of a government, the processes it uses, the power it asserts, where that power comes from and that discerns what type of government it is. In doing this comparative politics then compares the varying forms of government with each other and seeks to compare the different governments and from that form an understanding of each and how each behaves. A closely related area of study is civics.
It has areas of concentration that include topics such as democratization, state-society relations, identity and ethnic politics, social movements, institutional analysis, and political economy. Methodologies used in comparative politics include rational choice theory; and political cultural, political economy, and institutional approaches. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Locke, and Thomas Hobbes are some of the key early thinkers in this subdiscipline.
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Connection to international relations
Comparative politics is not a subfield of international relations. How each government conducts its foreign policy is a consideration inside comparative politics. International relations is the study of these interactions and the process of these interactions. These two fields do of course overlap, but are separate fields of study.
Major areas of a government
There are four areas in government:
- executive
- assemblies, also called the legislative branch
- judicial
- bureaucratic elites
Executive branch
- Largest, most complex branch of government. Depending on the form of government this can be the most powerful branch such as in dictatorships or it can be weaker than the legislative branch as in most democracies. The legislative branch is almost never weaker than the judicial branch.
- The executive branch is composed of elected and appointed members (elected president, appointed heads of bureaucracies).
- Often there are two executive members: one is ceremonial and the other is the working executive. Distinctions are made in the titles. The ceremonial heads are called heads of state, (Queen of the United Kingdom, Japanese emperor.) It is their responsibility to greet visiting heads of state, ambassadors as well as be the holders of grand stately tradition. The working executive are called heads of government (British Prime Minister, Japanese prime minister.) It is their responsibility to enforce the law, direct the bureaucracy and interact with the legislative branch and in some governments interact with the judicial branch. Note: Some governments have one executive who holds both positions. The President of the United States is one such executive.
- Most governments have chief executives who are at the top of the branch, main formulators and executors of policy
- United States, French, Chinese executives are powerful, capable of individual decision making, rather than collective decision making
- British executive is more collective, except in times of war/emergency
- Monarchies are rare in the 21st century but do still exist
- Powerful kings in Saudi Arabia but mostly ceremonial ones in Europe (British Royal Family, Scandinavian kings, low countries monarchs)
- Some monarchs live a pomp and circumstance lifestyle.
- Presidents in parliamentary governments serve a mostly symbolic role.
Cabinet
- Powerful policy-making body
- Contains leaders of major government departments (ie ministers or secretaries of state)
- Appointed by head of government
- In presidential systems, there is often a presidential prerogative to select cabinet members
- In parliamentary systems, cabinets need to maintain the confidence of parliament, therefore cabinet composition is dependent on the parliamentary elections
- In a multiparty election in systems using proportional representation, if no party has an outright majority, cabinets are often made up of a coalition from many different parties, that may or may not have agreed to form a coalition cabinet before or after the election took place.
- The bargaining for cabinet composition therefore can create minority rule situations and political instability.
Functions of the Executive
- Initiates policy, can stop it with veto powers in some presidential systems.
- In parliamentary systems, having veto power is less likely.
- Oversees policy implementation.
- Has a major role in foreign policy.
- This foreign policy is what sets the tone of international relations with other states.
- Head of and directs the bureaucracy.
- Often is the head of the military.
- When there is a separation of powers, the executive is limited by the other branches of government, usually the legislative and judicial branches. It is helpful for the legislature to be dominated by the same political party or coalition but even when this happens the executive can be stopped by the legislature.
- Executives are psychologically the most important in shaping the internal and world perception of the government of that state.
- Often has the power to make key appointments of the cabinet, judges, civil servants, ambassadors and military officers.
- Pivotal role in communication and mobilizing support or opposition for and to certain policy initiatives.
Assemblies (diets, legislatures, houses, senates, parliaments)
- Some legislatures or assemblies have lasted for thousands of years.
- Iceland's Althingi is the oldest existing assembly.
- Generally are elected through a popular vote, develop and approve policies.
Legislative or Assembly functions
- In a democratic government
- Create laws for passage by the executive branch
- Act as a check and balance against the other branches of government.
- Are the "voice of the people," and are expected to act on behalf and at the behest of the "common person" ensuring that the "common person" is represented in their government and so have a voice in that government.
- In an authoritarian government
- To "rubber stamp" the decrees of the executive branch thus lending an air of legitimacy.
- In some cases the legislative branch can act as an advisory committee to the executive branch but most often has no actually power to override the executive branch.
Assembly structure
- unicameral or bicameral or "houses"
- Upper house, in the United States the Senate, in England the House of Lords.
- Lower House, in the United States the House of Representatives, in England the House of Commons
- Each house has different powers.
- Democracies and authoritarian governments typically have two chambers
- One house is representative of the population (ie United States House of Representatives http://www.house.gov/)
- The other is often considered to be the senior house. (United States Senate http://www.senate.gov/ )
- These two houses can provide checks and balances to each other as both their approvals are often required for major policy initiatives such as the passing of a law.
- Internally, legislatures have two types of organization
- Political parties
- Formal subunits (presiding officers, committees)
- British vote on party lines more often, while US Congress members supposedly are more independent
- Committees have internal structures to increase efficacy in dealing with the legislative workload
- Have large staffs and a clear division of labor
- Other governments such Britain’s rotate their staffs on committees thus preventing them from having an area of expertise
Judicial
Bureaucracy
See also
External link
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