The United States of America are a federal presidential constitutional republic. The American Constitution is the oldest written constitution in the world. The constitution divides the power of the government into three branches.

The first branch is the executive, which is headed by the president. The president he has the power to propose legislation to the Congress and to veto against bills passed by the Congress. The executive branch of the government is responsible for enforcing the laws.

The second branch is the legislative, which includes both Houses of Congress – the Senate and the House of Representatives. Members of both houses recommend new laws, known as bills, to deal with important issues facing the nation. The Senate consists of 100 Senators (two from every state), which are elected for six years. The House of Representatives is comprised of 435 representatives, which are elected for four years.

The third branch is the judicial, which is headed by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court interprets the laws and decides if the are constitutional.

The American system of parliament is known as the “system of checks and balances”, which means that the three different branches control each other to provide a balance of the power.

Today, there are two major political parties in the United States, the Democratic and the Republican. The Democratic Party is considered to be the more liberal party, and the Republican, the more conservative.

Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy. This means that the official head of the State is the monarch ( a king or a queen) but his or her powers are limited by the constitution.

The Queen is only a formal and symbolic head of State. She holds receptions and State banquets, she visits various parts of Britain every year, she gives audiences to the Prime Minister and other important persons and she pays state visits, she formally summons and dissolves Parliament Besides she is commander-in-chief of all armed forces and the head of the Church of England. She also awards various titles and orders, etc. But in reality, the Queen acts only on the advice of her ministers. The monarch’s power of veto, which is not clearly defined, has not been used for over two hundred years, and so it has become a tradition that the royal power of veto doe not really exist at all.

The Constitution of the UK is unwritten. It is based on custom, tradition and common law.

The Parliament is the supreme legislative body and the highest authority in the UK. It consists of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. British parliamentary system is one of the oldest in the world.

The House of Lords is made up of hereditary and life peers and peeresses, two archbishops and 24 bishops of the Church of England. Its main function is law-making. The House of Commons consists of 650 paid members who are elected at a General Election, which must be held every five years.

The Government is formed by the party which has the majority in Parliament and the Queen appoints its leader as the Prime Minister. The Cabinet is the executive organ of government. It´s made up by the leading ministers and heads of government departments. The present Prime Minister is David Cameron, the head of the Conservative Party. The Prime Minister´s official residence is 10 Downing Street.

In present-day Britain there are two big political parites, the Labour Party and the Conservative Party.