Read this introduction of the US and UK political systems and fill in the vocabulary list.

The United States of America (US) is a federal republic of 50 states. The national government is divided into three branches: legislative, executive and judicial, all of which have their own responsibilities. The different branches of government regulate each other and no one part of government can be more powerful than the others.

The President of the United States is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the military. He is also the head of the executive branch of the government, which is responsible for enforcing laws. The President appoints the members of the Cabinet – usually this means the vice-president and the heads of the executive departments.

The legislative branch of government is responsible for making new national laws and modifying existing laws. This duty is carried out by Congress, which is divided into the Senate and the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives has 435 members, and the number of representatives that each state has depends on the size of its population. The Senate has 100 members, two members from each state.

The judicial branch of the government interprets the laws that are made by Congress. It consists of the Supreme Court and the lower federal courts. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the US and it may declare laws unconstitutional.

The two major parties in the United States are the Democratic Party, founded in 1824, and the Republican Party, founded in 1854. There are other parties as well, but their role in the country’s politics is not very significant.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, usually just the United Kingdom (UK), is a constitutional monarchy. The King or Queen is the head of state of the UK as well as the monarch of fifteen other independent Commonwealth countries. The monarch is also the commander-in-chief of the British Armed Forces.

All bills need to get the Royal Assent, that is, the monarch’s approval, before they become laws. In practice, however, legislative power is vested in Parliament, which has two houses: the House of Commons, whose members are elected by voters, and the House of Lords, whose members are mostly appointed. All bills must go through both Houses before they become laws. The House of Commons is the power powerful of the two houses; the Lords mainly double-check and revise new laws.

Executive power is exercised by the government. In the UK, the government is normally formed by the leader of the party that wins the most seats in the general election. If the party doesn’t get more than half of the seats, its leader may try to form a coalition government. The two biggest parties in the UK are the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. The government is led by the Prime Minister. The Cabinet ministers are selected by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister.

The judiciary in the UK is independent of the executive and the legislature. The highest court is the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

Vocabulary list

federal republic liittotasavalta
republic tasavalta
1. osavaltio, valtio
government halitus
branch haara, toimiala
2. lainsäädäntö-
executive toimeenpano-
judicial tuomio-
regulate säädellä
3. valtionpäämies
4. puolustusvoimain ylipäällikkö
military armeija, asevoimat
enforce valvoa
5. nimittää
cabinet hallitus, valtioneuvosto
6. varapresidentti
executive department ministeriö (US)
modify muokata, muuttaa
7. kongressi
the Senate senaatti
8. edustajainhuone (US)
representative edustaja
9. korkein oikeus
declare julistaa
10. perustuslain vastainen
11. puolue
the Democratic Party demokraattinen puolue
the Republican Party republikaaninen puolue
constitutional perustuslaillinen
the Constitution perustuslaki
monarchy monarkia
the Commonwealth (brittiläinen) kansainyhteisö
armed forces asevoimat, puolustusvoimat
12. lakiesitys
the Royal Assent kuninkaan/kuningattaren hyväksyntä
13. eduskunta, parlamentti
the House of Commons alahuone
14. valita
15. äänestäjä
vote äänestää
the House of Lords ylähuone
seat paikka (parlamentissa)
16. eduskuntavaalit
coalition government kokoomushallitus
the Labour Party työväenpuolue
the Conservative Party konservatiivipuolue
17. pääministeri
minister ministeri