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

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