POL 212:

INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE
POLITICS AND GOVERNANCE

September 16, 2019

Compare the Political Structure of the following Governments:

Political and Administrative Structure

 Democratic Republican
 Unitary State
Philippines  Presidential System
 Bicameral Government

 Constitutional Monarchy
United Kingdom of  Devolved Government
Great Britain and  Parliamentary System
Northern Ireland  Bicameral Government

 Constitutional Republic
 Unitary State
France  Semi-Presidential
 Bicameral Government

Germany  Democratic Republican

 Federal State
Germany  Parliamentary System
 Bicameral Government

I. Great Britain and the Philippines

Article 2 section 1 provides, “The Philippines is a democratic republican state”, one of the
manifestations of democracy is separation of powers among the three co-equal branches
of government, namely the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The constitution
values the importance of republicanism by which the power rests on the people and
representatives are elected through them. The Philippines is a Unitary State by which
concentrated sovereignty is conferred on the central government and that local
government submits to the national government. Bicameral form of government is applied
in the Philippines as Congress and House of Representatives work separately.

Meanwhile, the British political system is headed by a monarchy but essentially the
powers of the monarch as head of state - reigning Queen Elizabeth II - are ceremonial, it
is limited by the constitution. The prime minister – currently Boris John, is the head of the
government that exercises powers within the realms of influence by the parliament.

The UK has a devolved system of government, by which some considers the binding of
nation-states unitary but is categorically not a system of federal government such as in

Introduction to Comparative Politics and Governance

the United States or Australia, partly because less than a fifth of the citizens of the UK
are covered by the three bodies in question and partly because the three bodies
themselves have different or asymmetrical powers from one another.

The UK, is a unitary state, under conditions by which other states (Scotland, Wales and
Norther Island) present themselves under the rule of Great Britain, the acts of union
passed by the British Parliament long before recognizes the solidarity of these states,
thereupon, becoming one and unified country.

On the other hand, however, some rejects the Unitarianism of UK, establishing certain
guidelines that disqualifies the eligibility of UK in becoming a unitary. Heywood’s standard
definition of union refers to an “autonomous political community bound together by
citizenship and nationality,” wherefore the issue of North-South Ireland and the three
devolved administrations (The Scottish Parliament, The Welsh Assembly and The
Northern Ireland Assembly. (Graves, M. 2005) defines UK as “one state, four nations”.

The system of government that the UK portray is a parliamentary, wherefore, the

parliament as independent body form and legislate the bills and laws to be passed. The
UK Parliament is composed of House of Commons and the House of Lords, making them
a bicameral legislature.

II. France and Philippines

Article 2 section 1 provides, “The Philippines is a democratic republican state”, one of the
manifestations of democracy is separation of powers among the three co-equal branches
of government, namely the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The constitution
values the importance of republicanism by which the power rests on the people and
representatives are elected through them. The Philippines is a Unitary State by which
concentrated sovereignty is conferred on the central government and that local
government submits to the national government. Bicameral form of government is applied
in the Philippines as Congress and House of Representatives work separately.

A Constitutional Republic is a state where the officials are elected as representatives of

the people, and must govern according to existing constitutional law that limits the
government's power over citizen, more likely Philippines and France share the common
interest of governance.

Republic of France, is a unitary state without any complications as compared to UK, for
the central government exercises total control over the country’s nearly 1,000 local
political subdivisions, which are called “departments.” Each department is headed by an
administrative prefect appointed by the French central government. While they are

Introduction to Comparative Politics and Governance

technically governments,
France’s regional
departments exist only to
implement the directives
issued by the central
government.

France is categorized as
semi-presidential system of
government, having both a
President and a Prime
Minister. Emmanuel Macron
currently sits as the president
of France, gaining half of
non-blank votes from 1st and
2nd balloting last 2016
Presidential election. It is to
be noted that in France’s
election procedure, a
presidential candidate is required to obtain a nationwide majority of non-blank votes at
either the first or second round of balloting, which implies that the President is somewhat
supported by at least half of the voting population. The Presidents appoints the Prime
Minister to whom is responsible to the French Parliament.

The French Parliament is composed of two entities, making them a bicameral legislature
– namely the National Assembly (Lower House) and the Senate (Upper House).

III. Germany and the Philippines

Article 2 section 1 provides, “The Philippines is a democratic republican state”, one of the
manifestations of democracy is separation of powers among the three co-equal branches
of government, namely the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The constitution
values the importance of republicanism by which the power rests on the people and
representatives are elected through them. The Philippines is a Unitary State by which
concentrated sovereignty is conferred on the central government and that local
government submits to the national government. Bicameral form of government is applied
in the Philippines as Congress and House of Representatives work separately.

Post war events, specifically World War 2 (1949 to 1957), President Harry Truman signed
the Marshall Plan on April 3, 1948, and aid was distributed to 16 European nations,
including Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, West Germany and Norway. United

Introduction to Comparative Politics and Governance

States contributed its resources internationally to give aid assistance on countries that
destructively affected by the worst of war. This action plan turn-out to be effective for
democracy’s sake. Today, the following countries are undeniably rising from downfall and
are performing consistently on peace.

Germany is a democratic republican state with Philippines and France alike. Power rests
on the people and government official emanates in them. The federal system of political
organization in Germany is the exact opposite of the unitary state of France Republic nor
Philippines. The national or federal government in Berlin shares political authority with the
governments of several Lander, or political units within the nation-state. However, as in
all federal states, including Australia, India, and the United States of America, the central
or national government of Germany is supreme within the sphere of authority granted to
it through the constitution.

Germany is a parliamentary and federal democracy. The German Bundestag (lower

house) is directly elected by citizens eligible to vote every four years. The most important
tasks of the Bundestag are legislation and to oversee the government’s work. The
Bundesrat, the upper house, is made up of members of the federal state governments.
Densely populated federal states have greater representation in the Bundesrat than
smaller ones. This makes Germany legislature bicameral with France, Philippines and
U.K. alike.

IV. What are the goals and purpose of comparative government and
politics subject?

In general, comparative government and politics is a major entity in political landscape

that plays a vital role in empowering the social, political and economic stability of a state.

Through this subject, one can lucidly formulate an idea with its objectives accordingly.
The knowledge brought by this curriculum aims to provide an excellent base for broader
perspective with utmost consideration to different concurrence of events in a state. Thus,
making one a reliable source of opinion in prospective analyses of viewpoints in socio-
political phenomena. Comparative politics and governance, in essence, is a study of
governments under different administration, making one a center of influence and source
of dynamic political affluence. Consisting of political system, administrative structure,
political parties, historical preferences, governmental functions and the like, comparative
politics and governance largely encompasses the geopolitics of government.

As a political science major student, COMPA for me has the following purpose:

1. Provide the fundamental knowledge of geopolitics

Introduction to Comparative Politics and Governance

 2. Introduce a wider spectrum of political landscape that other country has
3. Accept and reject ideas that are radically misaligned
4. Apply political theories
5. Get updated to current events

References:

http://www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/Britishpoliticalsystem.html
https://www.slideshare.net/afcab/political-and-administrative-structure
https://books.openedition.org/pufr/4051?lang=en
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/marshall-plan-1
https://www.annenbergclassroom.org/glossary_term/unitary-state/

Introduction to Comparative Politics and Governance