USA vs UK: A Comparison

Population 62,000,000 people

Population 313,232,044 people

Overview

Introduction Laws Governments and Legal Systems Other similarities and differences

Introduction

Strong relationship exists between the two nations Shared history Slavery The Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776 The make-up of GB (population differences between UK and USA) often confused The English Common Law

Law

English Common Law forms the basis of the legal systems in most of the Commonwealth countries, including the United States of America (except Louisiana - the French were the original European colonizers of Louisiana from the early 18th century until most of Louisiana was bought by the United States in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase. Louisiana's laws, originally based on the French 'Code Napolon', are gradually being changed to conform to the legal systems of other states)

Great Britains Legal system

Politics in the United Kingdom takes place within the framework of a constitutional monarchy

The monarch (Queen Elizabeth II) is head of state and the prime minister is the head of the UK government

The Cabinet is a formal body made up of the most senior government ministers chosen by the prime minister, formal members of the Cabinet are drawn exclusively from the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

The UK is a parliamentary democracy

This means that members of the government are also members of one of the two Houses of Parliament (the House of Commons and the House of Lords)

The

Government

is

directly

accountable

to

Parliament, the governing party is only in power because it holds a majority in the House of Commons, and at any time the government can be dismissed by the Commons through a vote of no confidence

United States of America's legal system

Major difference: the Declaration of Independence of 1776 and the Constitution of 1789 define the US system unlike the UKs system

Three powers Deliberately granted different terms of office by the Constitution. Effectively, this means that the President has a term for four years, and a maximum of two terms which again is different to the British system where the Prime Minister can serve for as long as he or she wants (if they secure the votes in each election)

Members of the Senate serve for six years and Members of the House of Representatives serve for two years with the members of the supreme court effectively serving for life.

The role of the President can be compared in a similar way to the role of the Prime Minister in Great Britain; both are head of their governments with the most power that ultimately make the final decisions.

The work of both the House of Representatives and the Senate is done through standing committees, who perform legislative and investigatory functions, in a similar way to the House of Lords in the British system.

Other Similarities and Differences

The UK is a small country and can fit into the US approximately 38 times which is surprising considering the population is only five times greater in the US than in the UK

Weather Food (legislation against caged chickens and a general animal free range view in most of Britain). Fast food expanse in USA compared to UK.

Infrastructure similar, highways compared to motorways Driving on left and cars left hand drive Public transport more prevalent in UK because of size of nation Education differences Spelling and pronunciation GBP vs USD Cost of living (Gas as an example) see diagram pto