Country Institutions

UK:

Executive:

• Prime minister is head of government, can call elections, sets foreign policy agenda, and serves as de facto commander in chief and chief executive over the civil service

  • no formal term limit

  • PM chosen by majority party in house of commons

  • removal: a vote of no confidence in house of commons

• Monarch is head of state, ceremonial

  • formally appoints the prime minister who the majority party selects

Legislative:

• bicameral

• house of lords: upper house; reviews and amends bills from commons, effectively delaying implementation as a power check

  • either a lord, clerical member, or appointed (appointments approved by monarch with recommendations made by the PM and an independent commission)

  • 800 members

• house of commons: lower house; approves legislation

  • directly elected under SMD-FPTP

  • 650 members

Judicial:

• uses common law

• major functions include serving as the final court of appeals, protecting human / civil rights and liberties, and ruling on devolution disputes

• no judicial review

• has judicial independence

Political system:

• parliamentary system w/ a constitutional monarchy

• unitary government (but more federal progress)

• two party system

  • conservative and labour parties

• minor parties with regional representation are able to win some legislative representation due to SMD-FPTP

• political parties:

  • conservative party - center right

  • labour party - center left

  • liberal democrats - centrists

  • scottish national party - center left

  • democratic unionist party - right wing

Other:

• NGO: amnesty international (advocates for human rights and social justice)

• Civil society: strong tradition, brexit protests

• cleavages:

  • ethnic and regional (scottish, english, welsh, irish) (resulted in devolution)

  • religious (protestants and catholics in northern ireland) (resulted in good friday agreement: power-sharing where majority party picks first minister and minority party picks deputy minister that allows minority party and majority party compromise with each other bc minority can block majority)

• globalization: united nations member, EU

• legitimacy: tradition

Mexico:

Executive:

• president: head of state and government; serves as commander in chief and leader of the bureaucracy, can approve domestic legislation and lead foreign policy

  • needs plurality vote to win, not majority

  • serves one, six-year term

• removal: impeachment via legislature with 2/3 vote in both houses

Legislative:

• bicameral

• chamber of deputies: lower house; approves legislation, levies taxes, and verified outcomes of elections

  • 300 members directly elected via SMD, plurality

  • 200 members directly elected via PR, party list system

  • 3 year terms

• senate: upper house; conforms presidential appointments to the supreme court, approves treaties, and approves federal intervention in state matters

  • 96 members elected in three-seat constituencies and 32 by proportional representation (128 total) (mixed electoral system)

  • gender quotas in party list system have helped increase female representation in the legislature

  • 6 year terms

Judicial:

• supreme court

  • civil law

  • has judicial review

  • has judicial independence

  • magistrates are nominated by the president and approved by the senate

  • one 15-year term

Political system:

• federal system

• presidential representative democratic republic

• constitutional democracy

• multi-party system

• national election institution (INE)

• dominated by national action party (PAN), the party of the democratic revolution (PRD), and the institutional revolutionary party (PRI)

• parties are allowed to form coalitions to nominate candidates for any particular election

• political parties:

  • national action party (PAN) - center right

  • institutional revolutionary party (PRI) - center left

  • party of the democratic revolution (PRD) - left wing

  • MORENA - left wing (AMLO)

Other:

• NGO: mexican commission for the defense and promotion of human rights (addressing violence and corruption)

• civil society: corporatist under PRI, labor unions, catholic church, anti-femicide protests

• cleavages:

  • ethnic (indigenous population, whites, and mestizos)

  • regional (north vs south) (zapatista uprising in 1994 in chiapas protesting nafta because they thought it would increase economic inequalities and the south is economically depressed)

• globalization: NAFTA / USMCA, GATT (general agreement on tariffs and trade, joined in 1890’s)

• legitimacy: constitution, revolution

Nigeria:

Executive:

• president: head of state and government

  • serves as chief executive, commander in chief, head of civil service, can approve domestic legislation and conduct foreign policy

  • must receive majority of general election with at least 25% of the vote in 2/3 of nigeria’s states

  • two 4-year term limits

  • removal: impeachment via legislative branch - requires 2/3 vote in both houses

Legislative:

• bicameral; called national assembly together

• senate: upper house; power to approve legislation, can impeach and can confirm

  • directly elected from each of nigeria’s 36 states

  • 3 members per state + 1 from FTC (109 members)

• house of representatives: lower house; can approve legislation

  • directly elected in SMD

  • representatives from each of nigeria’s states, # of reps from state is based on population

  • 360 members

Judicial:

• supreme court

  • common law

  • power of judicial review

  • no judicial independence; effort has been made to reestablish legitimacy and independence by reducing corruption

  • federalism has resulted in islamic sharia courts being established in the north

  • judges are recommended by a judicial council and are appointed by the president with confirmation by the senate

Political system:

• federal system

• constitutional democracy

• presidential representative democratic republic

• multiparty system

  • two strong parties: peoples democratic party and all progressives congress of nigeria

• political parties:

  • all progressives congress (APC) - center right

  • peoples democratic party (PDP) - center left

Other:

• NGO: center for democracy and development (promoting democracy and good governance)

• civil society: #ENDSARS (protest against special anti-robbery squad), MEND (movement for emancipation of the niger delta, control of oil), MOSOP (movement for the survival of the ogoni people, anti-shell in delta)

• cleavages:

  • ethnic (hausa-fulani, yoruba, igbo) → prebendalism

  • religious and regional (north muslim vs south christian) (federalism → sharia law in north) (boko haram)

• globalization: economic community of west african states (ECOWAS), WTO,

• legitimacy: constitution

China:

Executive:

• president: head of state; commander in chief; chair of military commission; general secretary of the CCP

  • president can serve indefinitely - changed under XI in 2018

• premier: head of govt; oversees the civil service

  • nominated by the president

• changes in top leadership are accomplished behind closed doors

• removal: NPC can remove the president

Legislative:

• unicameral

• national peoples congress: elects the president, approves the premier, and legitimizes policies of the executive

  • elected indirectly through a series of local and regional elections

• politburo standing committee: center of power in chinese state

• NPC standing committee: responsible for carrying out NPC’s decisions and supervising the work of the govt and judiciary

  • interpret laws, issue decisions and direction, supervise work of govt and judiciary

  • chairman, vice-chairman, secretary general, and members elected by NPC

• China’s standing committee of the national peoples congress: assumes legislative duties most of the year when NPC if not in session, sets NPC legislative agenda, supervises NPC member elections, interprets the constitution and laws

Judicial:

• civil law

• subservient to the decisions of the CCP, which controls most judicial appointments

• rule by law instead of rule of law

• no judicial independence

• no judicial review

CCP:

• Structure, top (elite) to bottom. 

  • General Secretary - head of CCP. Currently Xi. Chosen from Standing Committee

  • Standing Committee - currently 7 members. Chosen by Politburo. Membership mirrors faction influence

  • Politburo - currently 24 members. Chosen by Central Committee

  • Central Committee - around 340 members

  • National Party Congress (NPC) - around 3,000 delegates. Meets every 5 years

Political system:

• socialist republic

• authoritarian

• unitary

• one-party system

  • communist party of china is the controlling party

  • allows the existence of 8 democratic parties, all state-sanctioned and hold no power

  • parties that aren’t state sanctioned aren’t allowed to exist

• political parties:

  • chinese communist party (CCP)

  • eight minor democratic parties (all subordinate to CCP)

Other:

• NGO: beijin LGBT center (human rights)

• civil society: suppressed; umbrella movement (democracy for hong kong), zero covid protests (world cup),

• cleavages:

  • ethnic (han chinese and ethnic minorities such as uighurs in NW and tibetans in the SW) (re-education camps in xinjang province for political socialization)

  • regional (different ethnicities in different regions but also different rates of development)

• globalization: WTO, open door trade policy under deng, SEZ’s (special economic zones) to promote foreign investment, one belt one road under xi, heavy investments in africa

• legitimacy: economic growth, revolution

Russia:

Executive:

• president: head of state; commander in chief, appoints top ministers, conducts foreign policy, presides over the duma under certain conditions

  • must win absolute majority in national election

    • if no presidential candidate wins majority, runoff with top two

  • two 6-year term limits

    • constitutional amendment in 2020 reset putin’s term limits

• prime minister: head of government; oversees the civil service

• removal: legislature can remove pres, starts in duma and then federation council then constitutional court

Legislative:

• bicameral

• duma: passes legislation, approves budget, and confirms the prime minister

  • elected, half of the representatives are directly elected from single-member districts and the other half are chosen through elections that use proportional representation with a threshold

  • 450 members each serving 5 years

• federation council: approves budget legislation, treaties, judicial nominees, and troop deployment

  • appointed by regional governors (who are nominated by president and confirmed by regional legislature) and the regional legislature

  • 170 members

Judicial:

• civil law

• judicial system used to target opposition

• judges are nominated by the president and approved by the federation council

• has judicial review (but has not been used to limit the authority of the governing branches)

• no judicial independence

Political system:

• semi-presidential system

• asymmetrical federalism

• constitutional

• authoritarian

• dominant party system

• diminished representation of smaller parties because of changing threshold rules, reinstating SMD

• political parties:

  • united russia - center right

  • communist party of the russian federation - left wing

  • liberal democratic party of russia - right wing

  • a just russia - center left

Other:

• NGO: Memorial (preserving historical memory)

• civil society: suppressed under putin (registration etc), pussy riot (anti-putin, feminism), nashi (youth group)

• cleavages:

  • ethnicity and religious (ethnic russians tend to be orthodox and minority non-russian populations including muslims) (war in chechnya in 1990s to prevent separatist movements)

• globalization: WTO, yetsin shock therapy, glastnos (political openness)

• legitimacy: nationalism, tradition

Iran:

Executive:

• president: head of govt; oversees the civil service and conducts foreign policy

  • elected for up to two 4-year term

  • must win majority of general election vote

• supreme leader: head of state; sets the political agenda, serves as commander in chief, appoints top ministers, the expediency council, half the guardian council, and head of judiciary

• removal: SL can be removed by the assembly of experts (but they never have); president can be removed by SL

Legislative:

• unicameral

• majles: power to approve legislation, oversee the budget, and confirm presidential nominees to the Cabinet

  • directly elected in single-member and multimember districts, which sometimes requires a second round of voting

  • candidates are vetted by the Guardian Council

  • acts under the supervision of the guardian council to ensure compatibility with islam and sharia law

  • lacks formal political party structures

  • a small number of the 290 seats in the Majles are reserved for non-Muslim minorities, such as Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians (5 each(?))

• guardian council: vets candidates and oversees the Majles to make sure laws comply with Islamic law

  • half are selected by supreme leader, half nominated from the judiciary with the majles approval

  • 12 members total

• assembly of experts: can elect, monitor, and remove the supreme leader;

  • all clerics

  • elected for 8 year terms

  • review bills

  • directly elected by the people

• expediency council: advisory committee to resolve disputes between the Majles and the Guardian Council

  • selected by the supreme leader

Judicial:

• sharia law

• main function is to ensure that the legal system is based on religious law

• head of judiciary is appointed by the SL

  • can nominate half of the guardian council with approved by the majles

• no judicial independence

Political system:

• islamic republic, authoritarian theocracy

• unitary system

• lacks formal political party structures

• parties operate as loosely formed political alliances

• conservatives vs reformers

• political parties:

  • islamic republic party - right wing

  • reformist party - center left

  • moderation and development party - center right

Other:

• NGO: center for supporters of human rights

• civil society: 2009 green movement (election fraud), woman life freedom movement,

• cleavages:

  • religious (shi’a, sunni, christian, jewish, zoroastrian) (baha’is have been executed, tortured, etc)

  • ethnic (persians, azerbaijanis and kurds) (clashes between kurds and the iranian military)

• globalization: nuclear deal, rouhani encouraging foreign investments, neoliberalism under rouhani

• legitimacy: religion, revolution