International Political Parties and Systems

The United Kingdom:

 

  • Legislative-executive system: Parliamentary
  • Legislative: Parliament
  • Lower House: House of Commons
  • Upper House: House of Lords
  • Unitary or Federal Division of Power: Unitary
  • Main Geographic Subunits: England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland
  • Electoral System for Lower House: Single-member district with plurality
  • Chief Judicial Body: Supreme Court
  • Political Parties:
  • Liberal Democratic Party: two-and-a-half-party system
  • The Labour Party: socialism and advocated a cross-class appeal
  • The Conservative Party: leftist
  • The Liberal Democrats: mix of classical liberalism’s phasis on both individual freedom and a weak state and social democracy’s emphasis on collective equality.

 

 

Russia:

 

  • Legislative-executive system: Semi-presidential
  • Legislature: Federal Assembly
  • Lower House: State Duma
  • Upper House: Federation Council
  • Unitary or Federal Division of Power: Federal
  • Main Geographic Subunits: Republics, provinces, territories, autonomous districts, federal cities
  • Electoral System for Lower House: Proportional Representation
  • Electoral System for Upper House: Appointed by Local Executive and Legislature
  • Chief Judicial Body: Constitutional Court
  • Political Parties:
  • Parties of Power: represented the largest segment of parties in the Duma
  • Communist and Leftist Parties: social-democratic organizations, yet remains close to its communist ideology and rejects Western capitalism and globalization.
  • Nationalist Parties: extreme nationalism
  • Liberal Parties: pro-western and pro-market economy

 

 

China:

 

  • Legislative-executive system: Communist Party authoritarian regime
  • Legislature: Unicameral National People’s Congress (nominal authority only)
  • Unitary or Federal Division of Power: Unitary
  • Main Geographic Subunits: Provinces
  • Electoral System for Lower House: Not applicable
  • Chief Judicial Body: Supreme People’s Court (nominal authority only)
  • Political Parties:
  • The Chinese Communist Party: essential as political influence, Three Represents (workers, peasants, and private entrepreneurs)
  • The Succession and Circulation of Elites: no institutionalized ‘vice office’ to ease the transition to a successor when the top leader dies.

 

 

India:

 

  • Legislative-executive system: Parliamentary
  • Legislature: Parliament
  • Lower House: House of the People
  • Upper House: Council of States
  • Unitary or Federal Division of Power: Federal
  • Main Geographic Subunits: States
  • Electoral System for Lower House: Single-Member District Plurality
  • Electoral System for Upper House: Supreme Court
  • Political Parties:
  • The Congress Party (INC): ‘secularism’, social reform, and to continue to eliminate caste discrimination. Regionalized multiparty system and coalition governments.
  • The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) : Hindu nationalist party, support for secularism, anti-Muslim.
  • Parties of the Left (Left Front): collection of communist and other left leaning parties whose popularity for many years seemed unaffected by the declining success of communist parties and countries elsewhere in the world.
  • Regional and Other Parties: new rise in power and it depends on the states

 

 

Iran:

 

  • Legislative-executive system: Semi-presidential Theocracy
  • Legislature: Majilis
  • Lower House: Majilis
  • Upper House: (none)
  • Unitary or Federal Division of Power: Unitary
  • Main Geographic Subunits: Ostan (provinces)
  • Electoral System for Lower House: Single-member and multi member district majority  
  • Chief Judicial Body: Supreme Court
  • Political Parties:

 

Mexico:

  • Legislative-executive system: Presidential

 

  • Legislature: Congreso de la Unión (National Congress)
  • Lower House: Cámara de Diputados (Federal Chamber of Deputies)
  • Upper House: Camara de Senadores (Senate)
  • Unitary or Federal Division of Power: Federal
  • Main Geographic Subunits: estados (states)
  • Electoral System for Lower House: Mixed single-member district and proportional representation
  • Chief Judicial Body: Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (National Supreme Court of Justice)
  • Political Parties:
  • Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD): Mexico’s left party and advocate more nationalist and protectionist politics. They struggle as a leftist party due to internal fighting and being unable to capture enough voters.
  • The Partido Acción Nacional (PAN): Mexico’s right party, has a strong organizational presence, and advocate for states’ rights and opposed the centralization of power. They struggle with internal division and suffer from its geographic concentration of the vote.
  • Mexican Green Party (PVEM); opportunistic party, allied with the leftist PRD, and changed its alliance and now runs in an electoral alliance with the PRI.

 

MORENA (National Regeneration Movement): divides Mexico’s left and it helped open the doors for new leadership for PRD members.

 

Nigeria:

  • Legislative-executive system: Presidential

 

  • Legislature: National Assembly
  • Lower House: House of Representatives
  • Upper House: Senate  
  • Unitary or Federal Division of Power: Federal
  • Main Geographic Subunits: States
  • Electoral System for Lower House: Single-member district plurality
  • Chief Judicial Body: Supreme Court
  • Political Parties: based on ethnic identities