The two countries I have chosen to compare are China and Canada. Their systems of government are very different and have different powers and rolls in their country. Canada has a system of government very similar to our own. While china’s government appears to be similar as well, but it is quite different.
Canada’s government democratic and is parliamentary in form but, very much like our own. Like all large governments it is representative democracy. Canada has a central government designed to deal with the country as a whole. Things like national defense, banking, currency, and commerce are controlled by the central government. All other matters are left to the provinces to deal with. Such as education, hospitals, and civil rights are responsibilities of the states.
The Canadian Parliament consists of two houses. Their Senate is made up of 104 members who serve until the age of seventy-five. The House of Commons is composed of 295 members who are popularly elected to serve for five-year terms. The Parliament elects the executive, the Prime Minister.
Canada has a Federal system and is divided into ten provinces that have powers the way our states do. China’s government is a dictatorship it is led by the communist party. A premier who is now Li Peng leads the country. The Executive powers rest in the State Council, which is headed by the premier, Li Peng. The National People’s Congress is the most powerful part of China’s government.
Its members are indirectly elected to serve five-year terms. One representative is elected from each province for every 400,000 people, with a minimum of ten representatives from each. There are approximately 3000 representatives in China’s Congress. China also has a federal government. The country is divided into Provinces, which are divided into even smaller divisions of several types.
The Communist party controls the government. Other parties do exist but the Communists Party is in control of the government. Canada and China are very different States and are run by very different forms of government. The basic underlying difference between the two governments is the location of sovereignty in the counties.
In China it seems as though the people do play a large part in the government, but after studying it, it is evident that the power really rests with the Communist party and the dictatorship. While in Canada the people popularly elect their representatives who elect their Prime Minister. The people elect their representatives to office and the representatives have to answer to the people. In China the members of The National People’s Congress are indirectly elected. I’m not sure what that means, but it sounds a little fishy. At any rate representatives are not popularly elected.
The Communist party almost solely runs the nation. In Canada there are several different parties involved in government. In china only four percent of the population belong to the Communist p! arty. Still Communist party members hold the vast majority of significant government positions. On the other hand the Chinese and Canadian governments do have some similarities.
Both governments are federal in form. They both have divisions between the central and local governments. They both are representative democracies. Well at least China tries to look like one. Canada and China are examples of governments that are fundamentally quite different.
In China the people hold very little power in their government. The power rests with a small group and the Communist party. While in Canada the people popularly elect their representatives and hold the power in the government. The sovereignty rests with the people in Canada and with the Dictatorship in China. There lies the difference between the two types of government.
That is also what makes America as well as Canada and other governments like ours so great. The people have control over the government. It is something we often overlook and take for granted. I wouldn’t want to live in China or any other Communist country.
In a dictatorship the dictator gets what he wants, not the people in a democracy the majority gets what they want, but the minority has the right to whine as much as he wants. What a great country we live in.Bibliography:
