Comparison of Indian Constitutional

Scheme with Other Countries for GS 2

PROLOGUE

1. United States of America

1.1 President of USA
1.2 Vice President
1.3 Congress
(a) House of Representatives
(b) Senate
1.4 Supreme Court of USA
1.5 Comparison b/w INDIA-USA’s Political Systems.

2. United Kingdom
2.1 Monarchy of UK
2.2 Her Majesty's Government
(a) Prime Minister
2.3 British Parliament
(a) House of Commons
(b) House of Lords
2.4 Supreme Court of UK
2.5 Comparison b/w INDIA-UK’s Political Systems.

3. France
3.1 President of the France
3.2 Prime Minister
3.3 Parliament of France
(a) National Assembly
(b) Senate
3.4 Judiciary of France
3.5 Comparison b/w INDIA-FRANCE’s Political Systems.

4. Germany
4.1 President of Germany
4.2 Federal Chancellor
4.3 The Bundestag
4.4 The Bundesrat
4.5 Judiciary of Germany
 4.6 Comparison b/w INDIA-GERMANY’s Political Systems

5. Switzerland
5.1 The Federal Council
5.2 President of the Confederation
5.3 Federal Assembly
(a) National Council
(b) Council of States
5.4 The Federal Supreme Court
5.5 Comparison b/w INDIA-SWITZERLAND’s Political Systems

6. China
6.1 President of China
6.2 Vice- President
6.3 State Council
6.4 Premier
6.5 The National People's Congress
(a) NPC Standing Committee
6.6 Supreme People's Court
6.7 Comparison b/w INDIA-CHINA’s Political Systems

{NOTE:

 The best way of reading would be by keeping parallels in mind e.g. when
reading US president keep in mind his Indian counterpart or when reading
German Chancellor keep in mind Indian PM.

 Wherever comparisons are used e.g. Senate>Rajya Sabha, it doesn’t means

that Senate can overpower Rajya Sabha, it means that the powers of Senate in
US are greater than that are enjoyed by Rajya Sabha in India.

United States of America

American constitution is the oldest among existing written constitutions of

the world. It was drafted by the constitutional convention, the Philadelphia
Convention (1787).
It is federal presidential democratic republic.

[But what is federal system of government?

In a truly federal state, power is divided b/w federal govt (at the centre) and its
constituent units as specified in constitution.
 But the most imp feature of federal state is that sovereignty is divided b/w the centre
and the states. There is not one but many centre of sovereignty in a federal country.
Other important attributes are-dual citizenship; supremacy of constitution; Supreme
Authority for interpreting constitution and deciding conflicts b/w centre and states.]

Provision of Checks and Balance

The principle of checks and balances was applied to provide against a water-tight
compartmentalisation and to ensure no despotism.

 Thus law making power of congress is checked by president’s veto and

Supreme Court’s power of interpreting laws and declaring them ultra vires if
they contradict the provisions of the constitution.
 President is checked by the fact that he cannot spend money without the
approval of Senate; that he can be impeached by the congress; that he can’t
make appointments without the approval of senate and treaties negotiated by
him cannot become effective until they are ratified by senate.
 The Judiciary is checked by the fact that Congress can determine the no. of
judges and fix their salaries; that President and Senate together appoint
judges and Congress can impeach judges.

I. PRESIDENT

President of USA is head of the state and head of the government. He is commander-
in-chief of armed forces, head of national economic programme and spokesman for
all Americans.

1. He is the Chief Executive, the official charged with supervising the activities
of all Americans in the national administration.
2. He has been commanded by law to prepare the govt’s annual budget, to set
rules for civil service and to encourage efficient administrative practices.
3. With the ‘advice and consent’ of senate, President appoints ambassadors,
other public officials and counsels, judges of Supreme Court.
4. He is also director of American foreign policy; however, treaties and
diplomatic appointments must be confirmed by Senate.
5. He is closely associated with work of congress. The constitution requires him
to recommend to congress such measures as he judges necessary and
expedient and grants him qualified power of veto.
 [Qualified power of veto whenever he thinks that the bill passed by
congress is unwise or unconstitutional, he may return the bill without his
signature or retain it unsigned= pocket veto the bill cannot become law of
the land.
But if both chambers of the Congress pass the bill by 2/3 majority then it
becomes law without the President's signature.]

ELECTION The President of US is elected from an indirect election i.e.

not by voters directly but by an electoral college whose electors are chosen by
the voters of the state.
In other words, voters in each state select a slate of electors from a list of
several slates designated by different political parties and those electors
promise in advance to vote for presidential candidates of those political
parties.

VICE-PRESIDENT

The Vice President is the second-highest executive official in rank of the government.
The Vice President becomes President upon the death, resignation, or removal of the
President. Under the Constitution, the Vice President is ex-officio President of the
Senate. By virtue of this role, he or she is the head of the Senate. In that capacity, the
Vice President is allowed to vote in the Senate, but only when necessary to break a
tie vote. Due to the 12th Amendment, the Vice President presides over the joint
session of Congress.

II. CONGRESS

It has two chambers

A. House of Representative
B. Senate

POWERS OF CONGRESS These include

 the powers to levy and collect taxes;

 to coin money and regulate its value;
  provide for punishment for counterfeiting and felony;
 establish post offices and roads;
 create federal courts inferior to the Supreme Court;
 declare war, raise and support armies, provide and maintain a navy, make
rules for the regulation of land and naval forces, provide for, arm and
discipline the militia;
 Make laws necessary to properly execute these powers.

The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all
other powers are reserved to the states and the people

IMPEACHMENT OF FEDERAL OFFICERSCongress has the power to impeach

the President, federal judges, and other federal officers from office.

Both houses have separate roles in this process. The House of representative must
first vote to impeach the official. Then, a trial is held in the Senate to decide whether
the official should be removed from office which acts like a court. When an
Impeachment process involves a U.S. President, the Chief Justice of the United States
is required to preside during the Senate trial. In all other trials, the Vice President
would preside in his capacity as President of the Senate.

CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHTthis is near similar to the work done by standing

and business committees in India except Congress is more powerful and does wide
variety of functions. Congressional oversight is intended to prevent waste of
resources and fraud, to protect civil liberties and individual rights and ensure
executive compliance with the law. It applies to cabinet departments, executive
agencies, regulatory commissions and the presidency.

A. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES It is the lower house of the

Congress. The House consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a
congressional district. The number of representatives each state has in the
House is based on each state's population, unlike senate; here proportional
representation has been followed.

ELECTION the qualifications for being elected as the member 

An individual must be at least 25 years of age, and must have been a U.S. citizen for
at least 7 years standing. Each representative is elected for period of 2 years.

In addition to the 435 voting members, there are 6 non-voting members, consisting
of 5 delegates and one resident commissioner. There is one delegate each from the
District of Columbia, Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the resident commissioner
from Puerto Rico.

SPECIAL POWERS All legislative bills for raising revenue must originate in the
House of Representatives.

B. SENATE It is the upper house of American Congress. Though unlike upper

houses of other countries, Senate is co-ordinate and co-equal with House of
Representatives and , in addition, vested with imp special powers.

ELECTION The Constitution empowers the Senate ‘to be the judge of the elections,
returns and qualification of its members’. Senate has 100 members from 50 states (50*2)
with 1/3 of members retiring every 2 years. Until the 17 th amendment to US
constitution in 1913, senators were elected by state legislatures and not by electorate
of the states. Each senator is elected for 6 years.

The qualifications for being a senator  an individual should be at least 30 years of

age, must be a citizen of USA of 9 years standing and must be the inhabitant of the
state from which he is elected.

The Senate can by majority vote refuse to allow a duly elected member from taking
his seat.

SPECIAL POWERS the Senate must give "advice and consent" to many important
Presidential appointments, including cabinet officers, federal judges (including
nominees to the Supreme Court), department secretaries (heads of federal executive
branch departments), U.S. military and naval officers, and ambassadors to foreign
countries

III. SUPREME COURT

Supreme Court of US enjoys immense prestige and the people of America take pride
in calling it “the most august tribunal on earth”. Its position as the final interpreter of
the constitution has come to be universally accepted and through the exercise of this
power, the SC acts as an umpire of constitutional conflicts and as the protector of the

FINAL INTERPRETER OF THE CONSTITUTION SC has assumed the

position of final interpreter of constitution and it is on the basis of this position that
the SC has built up the Doctrine of Judicial Supremacy. This position of SC has never
been successfully challenged.

JUDICIAL REVIEW The practice of judicial review --- is the most important
function and ‘distinctive attribute’ of the SC. Judicial Review is the right of SC and
also of subordinate federal courts to examine the laws passed by the federal & state
legislatures with a view to determining whether or not they are in consonance with
constitution of US. If SC feels that a law under examination contravenes any
provision, it declares the law ultra vires and unconstitutional.

Judicial Review, it should be remembered, does not only apply to federal & state
statutes. It has a wider scope and covers the constitution of states, treaties made by
federal govt and executive orders issued by federal & state executive authorities.

The Judiciary Act of 1789 subdivided the nation jurisdictionally into judicial districts
and created federal courts for each district. The three tiered structure of this act
established the basic structure of the national judiciary: the Supreme Court, 13 courts
of appeals, 94 district courts but Congress retains the power to re-organize and even
abolish federal courts lower than the SC under the act.

COMPARISION B/W INDIA-USA’s POLITICAL

SYSTEMS.

FEATURES INDIA USA INFERENCES(if

any)
Type of system Quasi-federal Federal State
state/Unitary
State with Federal
features
President Nominal Head Real Head While in Indian
president is a
rubber stamp of
govt, US president
is Chief-executive
of govt.
Vice-President Yes Yes
Prime Real Head No PM in
Minister/Other parliamentary
democracy with
majority in both
houses can be more
powerful (can do
whatever he wants)
than US president.
Polity Democratic Democratic
Republic Republic
Form of Parliamentary Presidential
Government system system
Lower House Lok Sabha House of Lok Sabha>House
Representative of Representatives,
in its functions
Upper House Rajya Sabha Senate Senate>Rajya
Sabha, in its
functions.
Civil & Political Yes, through Yes, through
Rights PART III of Constitutional
Indian provisions and
Constitution Civil Rights Act.
Judiciary Supreme Court is The Supreme SC of India
independent of Court of US is subordinates all
Executive independent of High Courts but SC
interference. Executive of US exercise
Judicial Review is interference. lesser control over
exercised by Judicial State Supreme
Supreme Court & Supremacy is Courts. SSC are the
High Court followed. final authority on
the interpretation
of the applicable
state's laws and
state's Constitution
(dual sovereignty).
Constituent Indian states are In US, Each state
 States semi-autonomous has its own
with ability to written
make constitution, and
independent laws code of laws. The
with regard to 10th Amendment
state list and to the US
concurrent list Constitution
BUT to limit all prohibits the
this Union govt federal
has Governors, government from
Art.249, 250 & exercising any
356. power not
delegated to it by
the States in the
Constitution
(fully
autonomous).
Civil Service Politically neutral Politically neutral
“officially” institution
Party Systems Multi-Party Though not
System provided in the
Constitution, in
practice Two-Party
System prevails,
with some other
parties with
relatively minor
representation.

UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN &

NORTHERN IRELAND

UK has a Constitutional Monarchy and unitary democracy. It has no Written

Constitution. Its government is known as Her Majesty’s Government. It functions
through Unwritten Constitution which is sum total of Historical Written Laws,
Court Judgements, parliamentary constitutional conventions and Treaties.

Under the unwritten British constitution, executive authority lies with the monarch,
although this authority is exercised only by, or on the advice of, the Prime Minister
and the Cabinet.

In UK, Parliament is ‘Supreme law making body’ and Courts don’t exercise Judicial
Review over laws passed by the Parliament hence ‘Parliamentary Supremacy’.

One consequence of the principle of parliamentary sovereignty is that there is no

hierarchy among Acts of Parliament: all parliamentary legislation is, in principle, of
equal validity and effectiveness unlike India, where Constitutional law > non-
Constitutional law.

A. RULE OF LAW The protector of people’s liberties in UK is Rule of Law. As

a basic principle of British Constitutional System, the rule of law means that
the exercise of powers of govt shall be conditioned by law and that the subject
shall not be exposed to arbitrary will of his rule.
That is to say, no man can be punished or made suffer in body or goods
(imprisoned or fined) except if it is established in the ordinary legal manner
and before the court of law that he is guilty of a breach of law.

B. EQUALITY BEFORE LAW It implies that no one is above the law. With the
sole exception of Monarch who “can do no wrong”, everyone in UK, whether
the PM or Constable is under same responsibility for every act done without
legal justification. This rule is subject to certain exceptions.

C. UNITARY STATE  The UK includes 4 countries: England, Wales, Scotland

and Northern Ireland but it is a unitary state and though Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland have legislatures and executives, the authority of all these
bodies are dependent on Acts of Parliament and that they can be abolished at
the will of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. England and Wales share
the same legal system, while Scotland and Northern Ireland both has its own
distinct legal system.

[But what is unitary state?

In unitary state, the ultimate authority and control over all affairs of the govt
and administration rests with the central govt, which may create such
provinces & sub-divisions for the sake of administrative convenience and
confer upon them such powers as it deems fit.]
 I. MONARCHY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

The British Sovereign has no effective or real powers. She has that glory that belongs
to a hereditary monarch. She wears the crown on great official occasions. But there is
no power behind her glory and dignity. She reigns but does not rule.

In all her official functions, she acts on the advice of council of ministers; which means
after all, that she has to do what they tell her to do. She may exercise her right “to be
informed, to encourage and warn”. This is known as Royal Prerogative. The Sovereign
advices and minister decides. No British Sovereign since Queen Victoria (1892) has
made a serious effort to take a direct hand in administration. The Sovereign's role as
a constitutional monarch is largely limited to non-partisan functions, such as
granting honours, performance of opening ceremonies and holding receptions
emissaries.

POWERS  She exercises 2 types of powers.

A. INTERNAL These include power to-

 dismiss and appoint a Prime Minister & other ministers;

 summon and prorogue Parliament;
 grant or refuse Royal Assent to bills (making them valid and law);
 appoint members to the Queen's Council;
 command the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom;
 grant Prerogative of mercy;
 create corporations via Royal Charter;
 Appoint bishops and archbishops of the Church of England.

B. EXTERNAL These include power to-

 ratify and make treaties;

 declare War and Peace;
 deploy the Armed Forces overseas;
As in the case of Indian President, British Sovereign exercises all of this power with
the advice of council of ministers

II. GOVERNMENT of the UK

Her Majesty's Government is the central government of the UK.

As in India, the Government is led by the Prime Minister, who selects all the other
Ministers of the Cabinet.

In accordance with constitutional convention, all ministers within the government

are either Members of Parliament or peers in the House of Lords. The executive
authority lies with the monarch, although this authority is exercised only by, or on
the advice of, the PM and the Cabinet. The Government is required by convention to
maintain the confidence of the House of Commons.

PRIME MINISTER OF UK
PM is appointed by the Monarch. The most important power still personally
exercised by the Monarch is the choice of whom to appoint Prime Minister, this is
done, in the case of hung Parliament, after negotiations and usually leader of party
with most no. of seats in House of Commons is chosen.

PM is the de facto leader of Her Majesty's Government, and exercises executive

functions that are nominally vested in the sovereign.

III. PARLIAMENT OF UK OF GREAT BRITAIN & NORTHERN

IRELAND

British Parliament is the supreme legislative body in the UK. It has been called
‘the mother of parliaments’, its democratic institutions having set the standards
for many democracies throughout the world including India.
 In theory, supreme legislative power is vested in the Queen-in-Parliament but in
practice, real power is vested in the House of Commons since the House of Lords
is subordinate to Commons. Royal Assent of the Monarch is required for all Bills
to become law.

[As in India, Parliament= President + Lok Sabha + Rajya Sabha.

British Parliament = the Monarch+ the House of Lords + the House of

Commons.]

Dissolution of parliament the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, removed

the Royal Prerogative to dissolve Parliament. Now Dissolution of parliament
occurs only when British PM loses vote of confidence or 2/3 of the members
of the House of Commons vote to hold an early election.
After each Parliament dissolves, the Crown issues writs to hold a general
election and elect new members of the House of Commons but membership
of the House of Lords does not change due to dissolution.

It has two chambers

A. House of Commons
B. House of Lords

FUNCTIONS OF BRITISH PARLIAMENT

Laws are made by the UK Parliament. A bill can be introduced by any member of
either House, but usually a bill is introduced by a Minister of the Crown. The House
of Lords neither initiate nor debate financial bill.

A bill introduced by a Minister is known as a "Government Bill"; and one that is

introduced by another member is called a "Private Member's Bill".

Parliamentary procedure of passing bills is about similar to India except the

institution of Speaker of House of Commons.
 A. HOUSE OF COMMONSThe British House of Commons is the
oldest “popular” legislative body in the world. The House consists of
650 MPs each of whom represents a parliamentary constituency.

ELECTIONS- The qualifications for being elected as the member 

SPECIAL POWERS The House of Commons is legally omnipotent

chamber. Financial bills can only be initiated, debated and passed in
Commons.
All legislation must be passed by the House of Commons to become law
and it controls taxation and the supply of money to the government.
Government ministers (including the PM) must regularly answer
questions in the House of Commons.

SPEAKER The House of Commons transacts its business with the

Speaker on the chair. The Speaker, presiding officer of the house, holds one of
“the most honourable, dignified and onerous offices in the world”. She/he is
elected by the House of Commons.

Unlike India, upon his election to the chair, he cuts his party affiliations and becomes
embodiment of impartiality. He controls the debate and maintains order in the
house. He is the guardian of the rights and liberties of the House of Commons.

He is nominated by the govt of the day but while in office, they act with strict
impartiality.

B. HOUSE OF LORDS The House of Lords is the chamber that is

subordinate to the House of Commons. The Lords currently has
around 830 Members. Historically Lords performed judicial functions
as highest court of the land but the Constitutional Reform Act 2005
abolished of the judicial functions of the House of Lords with the
creation of the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in October
2009.

ELECTIONS The house consists of two very different types of

member, the Lords Temporal and Lords Spiritual.

Lords Temporal  these includes 2 types -

a. appointed members (life peers with no hereditary right for their descendants to
sit in the house as oppose to hereditary peers,) appointed by Crown on aid and
advice of cabinet, their number is variable and
b. 92 remaining hereditary peers, elected from among, and by, the holders of titles
which previously gave a seat in the House of Lords.

Lords Spiritual these represents the established Church of England and are 26 in
number: the Five Ancient Sees (Canterbury, York, London, Winchester and
Durham), and the 21 next-most senior bishops.

POWERS All bills except money bills are debated and voted upon in House of
Lords. The House of Lords acts to review legislation passed by the House of
Commons, with the power to propose amendments, and can exercise a temporary
veto. This allows it to delay legislation if it does not approve it for 12 months (by
voting against a bill, the House of Lords can only delay it for a maximum of two
parliamentary sessions over a year).

After this time, the House of Commons can force the Bill through, without the Lords'
consent under the Parliament Acts. Usually governments accept changes in
legislation in order to avoid the time delay.

The House of Lords cannot veto major manifesto promises (Salisbury convention).
However the Lords still retain a full veto in acts which would extend the life of
Parliament beyond the 5 year term limit.

IV. JUDICIARY OF UK
The judiciary of UK is not unified. Each of the separate legal systems in England and
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland has their own judiciary. However, the judges
of the Supreme Court of the UK do have a jurisdiction over whole of the United
Kingdom.

SC is headed by the President and Deputy President of the Supreme Court and is
composed of a further 10 Justices of the Supreme Court.

Unlike other functional democracies, SC of UK doesn’t exercise judicial review over

the law passed by parliament.

COMPARISION B/W INDIA-UK’s POLITICAL

SYSTEMS.
FEATURES INDIA UK INFERENCES(if
any)

Type of system Quasi-federal Unitary State

state/Unitary with
State with Constitutional
Federal features Monarchy
President/ Nominal Head Nominal Head
Monarch
Vice-President Yes No
Prime Real Head Real Head
Minister/Other
Polity Democratic Democratic
Republic Monarchy
Government Parliamentary Parliamentary Speaker of House
system system of Commons is
much more
powerful and
efficient in
maintaining order
in the house than
Lok Sabha
Speaker.
Lower House Lok Sabha House of UK being a unitary
Commons state, House of
Commons > Lok
Sabha, in its
functions.
Upper House Rajya Sabha House of Lords Rajya Sabha =
House of Lords,
regarding financial
bills in some
respects but Rajya
Sabha > House of
Lords regarding
non-money bills.
Civil & Political Yes, through Yes, through
Rights PART III of Rule of Law
Indian
Constitution
Judiciary Supreme Court SC of UK SC of India > SC of
is independent doesn’t exercise UK, in its
of Executive judicial review functions.
interference. over the law
Judicial Review passed by
is exercised by parliament
 Supreme Court
& High Court
Constituent States Indian states are In UK,
semi- devolution of
autonomous powers has taken
with ability to place, but
make Legislation
independent creating
laws with regard devolved
to state list and parliaments or
concurrent list assemblies can
BUT to limit all be repealed or
this Union govt amended by
has Governors, central
Art.249, 250 & government in
356. the same way as
any ordinary
statute.
Civil Service Politically a permanent
neutral politically
“officially” neutral
organisation
Party Systems Multi-Party Two-Party
System System

REPUBLIC OF FRANCE

Fifth Republic of France is a democratic republic, in which the President of France is

head of state and the Prime Minister of France is the head of government. The
judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

I. PRESIDENT OF REPUBLIC OF FRANCE

The President of the France is the head of state. He is also supreme commander-in-
chief of the French Armed Forces and the ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He is the
guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity and observance of treaties.

He enjoys wide range of power. He has the power to choose the Prime Minister.
However, since the National Assembly has the sole power to dismiss the PM's
government, the president has to name a prime minister who can command the
support of a majority in the assembly. He cannot dismiss PM. The French President
wields significant influence especially in the fields of national security and foreign
policy.

OTHER POWERS  The President may:

 Dissolve the French National Assembly;

 Refer treaties or certain types of laws to popular referendum, within certain
conditions.
 Grant pardon to convicted criminals.

He names and dismisses the other ministers, with the agreement of the Prime
minister. He presides over the Council of Ministers. He nominates certain
members of the Constitutional Council.

All decisions of the president must be countersigned by the Prime minister

and, where required, by the appropriate ministers.

ELECTION The President is elected directly through universal suffrage for

5 years. A president cannot serve more than two consecutive terms.

To be admitted as an official candidate, potential candidates must receive

signed nominations from more than 500 elected officials (from 45,000+ elected
officials). These officials must be from at least 30 departments, and no more
than 50 officials should be from the same department. Each official may
nominate only one candidate.

French presidential elections are conducted through two ballot system or run-
off voting which ensures that the elected President always obtains a majority.
If no candidate receives a majority of votes in the first round of voting, the
two highest-scoring candidates arrive at a run-off and the candidate who gets
more than 50% of vote is elected.
He can be impeached by the High Court-a special court convened from both
houses of Parliament on the proposal of either House, if the president fails to
discharge his duties in a lawful manner.

PRIME MINISTER
The Prime Minister of France is the head of government. The PM directs the actions
of the government & conduct the policy of the Nation.

In practice, the PM acts on the advice of the President to whom he is a subordinate,

except when there is cohabitation in which case his responsibilities are akin to those
of a PM in a parliamentary system.

[COHABITATION When the majority of the Assembly don’t agree with the
president, this leads to cohabitation. If this happens, the president's power is
diminished (only those powers which are to be exercised through PM vis-a-vis
National Assembly), as much of the de facto power relies on a supportive PM and
National Assembly, and is not directly attributed to the post of president. When the
majority of the Assembly sides with him, the President can take a more active role
and may, in effect, direct government policy. When the president and the prime
minister come from opposing parties, the president is responsible for foreign policy
and the prime minister for domestic policy.

When PM + President=same political party President is boss.

Otherwise, cohabitation = sharing of power b/w President and PM.]

ELECTION The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of the Republic.

He has no fixed term, remains in office while commanding the confidence of the
National Assembly and the President of the Republic.

II. PARLIAMENT OF FRANCE

The Parliament of France has a bicameral legislature, consists of two houses:

a. National Assembly;
b. Senate.

Unlike the President of India, the French President under the Constitution of 1958 is
not the component part of Parliament.

The powers of both houses are about same except the National Assembly can cause a
government to fall if an absolute majority of the total Assembly membership votes a
censure motion.
Parliament meets for one 9 month session every year and under special
circumstances, the President can call an additional session. As in India, the cabinet
has a strong influence in shaping the agenda of Parliament.

LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE Bills may be introduced in either of the houses of

Parliament, except for finance bills which must be submitted and read first in
National Assembly.

The legislative initiative is exercised concurrently by the government and members

of Parliament but private members’ bill cannot increase the financial load of the state
without providing for funding. All bills must undergo compulsory advisory review
by the highest administrative court, the Council of State before being submitted to
parliament.

If both houses don’t choose to adopt the text identically, it is sent before a commission made of
equal numbers of members of both houses, which tries to harmonize the text. If it doesn’t
manage to do so, the National Assembly can vote the text and have the final say on it;
however laws related to the composition of the Senate cannot be voted in this manner.

The bill is then sent to the President for signature. At this point,

a. The President of France, the speaker of either house or a delegation of 60

deputies or 60 senators can ask for the text to undergo constitutional review
before being put into force; it is then sent before the Constitutional Council.
b. The President can also, only once per law and with the countersigning of the
Prime minister, send the law back to parliament for another review.
c. Otherwise, the President must sign the law, after being countersigned by the
Prime minister and the concerned ministers.

The power to dissolve Parliament belongs to the President of the republic. He can
dissolve the Assembly at any time and for any reason solely at his discretion. There
is only one limitation; he cannot dissolve it twice within the same year.

A. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY The National Assembly has 577 members,

these are known as Deputies.

ELECTION Deputies are directly elected for 5 year term through direct elections
(single-member constituency through a two-round system).

[What is a two-round system?

To be elected in the first round of voting, a candidate must obtain at least 50% of the
votes polled, with a turn-out of at least 25% of the registered voters. If no candidate
is elected in the first round, those who poll in excess of 12.5% of the registered voters
in the first-round vote are entered in the second round of voting.

In the second round, the candidate who receives the most no. of votes is elected.]

QUALIFICATIONS one must be

 at least 23 years old;

 of French citizenship, and
 Not subject to a sentence of deprivation of civil rights or to personal
bankruptcy.

The leader of majority party is chosen as the PM. the National Assembly may force
the resignation of the cabinet by voting a censure motion. However, party discipline
+no horse trading ensure that, government completes a parliamentary term of 5
years.

B. FRENCH SENATE The Senate has 348 seats. The senators elect a
President from among their members.

ELECTIONS Senators are chosen by indirect election through an electoral college

of about 145,000 local elected officials for 5 year term, and 1/3 of the Senators retire
every three years.

QUALIFICATIONS Same as that of representatives except age must be 35 years.

III. JUDICIARY OF FRANCE

Judiciary of France is independent and doesn’t control by the other two branches of
government. The most significant feature of the French judicial system is that it is
divided into judicial and administrative streams.

JUDICIAL COURTS The judicial courts adjudicates civil & criminal cases. The
judicial court stream consists of :

 Inferior courts,
 Intermediate appellate courts, and
 The French Supreme Court.
 Judges have security of tenure and may not be promoted or demoted
without their consent. Their careers are overseen by the Judicial Council of
France.

ADMINISTRATIVE COURTS Administrative courts adjudicate on

claims and suits against government offices and agencies. The
administrative stream is made up of:

 Administrative courts,
 Courts of Administrative Appeal, and
 The Council of State.

The Council of State acts both as legal adviser to the govt and as the Supreme Court
for administrative justice. It is the court of last resort, it hears cases against executive
decisions and has the power to quash or set aside executive-issued statutory orders
and regulations when they violate constitutional law, enacted law.

[Neither judicial nor administrative courts are empowered to rule on the

constitutionality of acts passed by Parliament.]

CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL OF FRANCE Constitutional Council of France

does the same work of judicial review over Constitutionality of the legislative acts as
the SC of India. However, this is done in different manner altogether.

This is done by CCF

prior to their enactment, to all forms of law, but only after referral from the French
President, President of the Senate, President of the National Assembly, the Prime
Minister, or any of the 60 senators or 60 assembly members.

After their enactment, CCF exercise review after referral from French Supreme Court
or the Council of State.

COMPARISION B/W INDIA-FRANCE’s POLITICAL

SYSTEMS.

FEATURES INDIA FRANCE INFERENCES(if

any)
Type of system Quasi-federal Unitary Republic
state/Unitary
State with Federal
features
President Nominal Head Real Head unless While in India pres.
Cohabitation. is a rubber stamp
of govt, French
pres. is effective
head of govt.
Vice-President Yes No
Prime Minister Real Head Nominal Head Indian PM>French
unless PM, in its
Cohabitation. functions.
Polity Democratic Democratic
Republic Republic
Elections Parliamentary Semi-Presidential
system system
Lower House Lok Sabha National
Assembly
Upper House Rajya Sabha French Senate
Civil & Political Yes, through Yes, through the
Rights PART III of 1789 Declaration
Indian of the Rights of
Constitution Man and of the
Citizen
Judiciary Supreme Court is Divided into 2
independent of streams: judicial
Executive and
interference. administrative-
Judicial Review is independent of
exercised by Executive and
Supreme Court & legislative
High Court interference.
Judicial Review is
exercised by
Constitutional
Council of France.
Constituent Indian states are Administrative
States semi-autonomous Units are semi-
with ability to autonomous
make
independent laws
with regard to
state list and
concurrent list
BUT to limit all
 this Union govt
has Governors,
Art.249, 250 &
356.
Civil Service Politically neutral French civil
“officially” service are open
to citizens of the
European Union
except police and
justice. Politically
and religiously
neutral.
Party Systems Multi-Party Multi-Party
System System

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY

Germany is a federal parliamentary republic. The judiciary is independent of the

executive and the legislature. The Constitution provides for protection of Human
rights and dignity, republicanism, Democracy and Federalism. These are Basic Law
of the Constitution (eternity clause) and these cannot be removed or repealed by the
normal amendment process and require absolute two-thirds majority of the
Bundestag along with a simple two-thirds majority of the Bundesrat.

[Absolute two-thirds majority2/3 majority of all elected members

Simple two-thirds majority 2/3 majority of all members present and voting]

The Constitution provides for referendums for delimitation of the existing federal
territory.

[The process of referendum is explained in Switzerland]

Federal legislative power is divided between the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. The
Bundestag is directly elected by the German people, while the Bundesrat represents
the regional states (Lander). The federal legislature has powers of exclusive
jurisdiction and concurrent jurisdiction with the states in areas specifically
enumerated by the constitution.

I. PRESIDENT OF GERMANY
The President of Germany is the head of state of Germany. As in India, the President
has mainly ceremonial and supervisory duties.

(But he is not the commander-in-chief of the military. In times of peace the

Minister of Defence and in times of war Federal Chancellor)

FUNCTIONS the President:

1. Proposes an individual to be the Chancellor and after that individual is

subsequently elected by the Bundestag appoints his/her as Federal
Chancellor, but Bundestag is free to disregard the president's proposal and
elect another individual to the post, whom the president is then obliged to
appoint.
2. Appoints and dismisses the remaining members of the Cabinet upon the
proposal of the Chancellor.
3. Dismiss the Chancellor, but only after the Bundestag passes a Vote of No
Confidence and appoints the successor requested by the Bundestag.
4. Dissolve the Bundestag 
(a) If the Bundestag elects an individual for the office of chancellor by a
plurality of votes and not by majority, the president can, either appoint
that individual as chancellor or dissolve the Bundestag and call for a new
election(in case of hung parliament).
(b) If Vote of Confidence is defeated in the Bundestag, and the incumbent
chancellor proposes dissolution, then he may, at his discretion, dissolve
the body within 21 days.
5. Appoints federal judges, federal civil servants and military officers, these
appointments must be countersigned by the Chancellor or responsible
Minister.
6. Must sign all federal laws as to make them come into effect but if he thinks
them to be violative of constitution, he can refuse to sign them.
ELECTION the president is elected for a term of 5 years through indirect election
by secret ballot (as in India), by the Federal Convention, the convention consists of
all Bundestag members as well as an equal number of delegates chosen by the
legislatures of the Lander (states). The delegates of each state are elected by the
members of the state legislature under a form of proportional representation. The
convention must be convened 30 days before the expiration of the term of office of
the current president. The convention is convened and chaired by the President of
the Bundestag.

The president is elected by an absolute majority of votes cast. If, after two votes, no
single candidate has received this level of support, in the third and final vote the
candidate endorsed by a plurality of votes cast is elected.

QUALIFICATIONS the president must be

a. A German Citizen;
b. At least 40 years of age;
c. Entitled to vote in Bundestag elections.

IMPEACHMENT The President can be impeached by the Bundestag or Bundesrat

for wilfully violating German law.

Once the Bundestag impeaches the president, the Federal Constitutional Court is
charged with determining if he or she is guilty of the offence. If the charge is proved,
the court has authority to remove the president from office.

II. FEDERAL CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY

The Federal Chancellor is the head of government of Germany. She has the right to
set the guidelines for all policy areas including foreign and domestic policy. The role is
generally comparable to that of Prime Minister in other parliamentary democracies
like India. The Cabinet is the chief executive body of Germany and the Federal
Government includes the Chancellor and his or her cabinet ministers.

She is the leader of the party or coalition holding a majority of seats in the Bundestag
(federal parliament).

The Chancellor is responsible for guiding the cabinet and deciding its policy
direction. The cabinet ministers are free to carry out their duties independently
within the boundaries set by the Chancellor's political directives.
SELECTION The Chancellor is elected by the Bundestag after being proposed by
the President. If elected, the Chancellor is appointed by the President for 4 years. The
ministers are appointed and dismissed by the President upon proposal of the
Chancellor.

DISMISSAL the Chancellor can be removed by constructive vote of no confidence, i.e.

Unlike India where only vote of no confidence has to be passed, the Bundestag,
while passing vote of no confidence must simultaneously agree on a successor.

III. BUNDESTAG
Constitutionally, the Bundestag is the main body of Germany's Parliament, which is
not a bicameral parliament. In practice, the country is governed by a bicameral
legislature i.e. Bundestag + Bundesrat.

Like other parliamentary democracies, the Bundestag elects the Chancellor and
exercises oversight on govt on issues of both policy and routine administration. This
can be done through binding legislation, public debates on government policy,
investigations, and questioning of the chancellor or cabinet officials.

Like India, most of the legislative work in the Bundestag is the product of standing
committees. The meetings of Bundestag are chaired by President of the Bundestag.

ELECTION The Members of Bundestag are elected for a term of 4 years and
currently consists of 630 members which are to be chosen through Mixed Member
Proportional (MMP) electoral system.

[But what is Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system?

MMP is an indigenous electoral system of Germany, half of the Members of the

Bundestag are elected directly from 299 constituencies through first-past-the-post
system, the other half are elected through the party list system in such a way as to
achieve as much possible, proportional representation for the total Bundestag].

Each voter votes twice in the elections to the Bundestag. As per 17th Bundestag
elections 2013, 299 were elected through direct vote (this is fixed) and 331 were
elected through party list system (this is variable).

PARTY LIST SYSTEM Under party list systems, voters in an electoral constituency
choose from among a group of candidates put forward by the various parties
contesting an election. When the votes are tallied, each party is entitled to seat the
no. of members from its list that corresponds to its share of popular vote; for
example, if a given party obtains 30% of the vote, then it would send 3 out of 10
candidates to the legislature and those 3 would be chosen in order in which
candidates’ name appears on the list]

Further, those parties which receive 5% of total national vote or win at least three
directly elected seats are eligible for non-constituency seats in the Bundestag. This
was done to prevent political fragmentation and strong minor parties.

QUALIFICATION all candidates must be:

a. Citizens of Federal Republic of Germany;

b. 18 years of age.

IV. BUNDESRAT

The German Bundesrat is a constitutional body that represents the delegation of 16

Federal States (Lander) of Germany at the national level. Officially, it is not upper
house but practically it is.

Like most of other upper houses, the Bundesrat plays second fiddle to the
Bundestag; however, it does play a vital legislative role.

ELECTIONthe members of Bundesrat are not elected directly or indirectly, they

are sent by respective state govts. Each delegation has a minister-president and other
cabinet ministers. The state cabinet may appoint as many delegates as the state has
votes. Each state is allocated at least 3 votes, and a maximum of 6. All of a state's
votes are cast en bloc i.e. out of 3 member delegation, all 3 votes would be cast by
minister-president for or against or in abstention of a proposal.

POWERSThe Bundesrat must approve all legislation affecting policy areas for
which the Constitution grants the concurrent powers to the Lander.

The Bundesrat can exercise absolute veto against constitutional amendment, which
requires an approval with majority of 2/3 of all votes in Bundesrat and against all
other legislations it has a suspensive veto, which can be overridden by Bundestag by
passing the law again, but this time with 50% plus one vote of all members and not
just by majority of votes cast.

In case of deadlock regarding absolute veto, the Bundestag, the Bundesrat or the
government can convene a joint committee to negotiate a compromise, this
compromise cannot be amended and both chambers are required to hold a final vote
on the compromise as it is.
President of the Bundesrat The post of the President of the Bundesrat rotates
annually among the minister-presidents of each of the Lander. He convenes and
chairs plenary sessions of the Bundesrat.

If the President of Germany is outside the country, or the position is lying vacant
then the President of the Bundesrat temporarily assumes the powers of the
President, until a successor is elected. While doing so, he does not continue to
exercise the role of chair of the Bundesrat.

V. JUDICIARY OF GERMANY

Judiciary of Germany is independent and doesn’t control by the other two branches
of government The Constitution provides that the judicial power shall be vested in
the judges and it shall be exercised by the Federal Constitutional Court, by the
federal courts and by the courts of the Lander.

The judiciary is hierarchically integrated.

[The German judicial system includes 5 types of courts- Ordinary courts,

Administrative law courts, Tax law courts, Labour law courts and Social law courts
+ the Federal Constitutional Court ‘but all of them are not of our concern’].

FEDERAL COURT OF JUSTICE the Federal Court of Justice subordinates all of the
ordinary courts-local, regional and appellate courts, which adjudicates on civil and
criminal law

FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONAL COURT the Federal Constitutional Court is the

supreme constitutional court established by the constitution.

FCC exercises the right of Judicial Review, as like SC of India, and it may declare
any federal or state law unconstitutional, if it violates constitution, thus making
them ineffective.

The Federal Constitutional Court decides on the constitutionality of laws and

executive orders under the following circumstances:

 Individual complaint — a suit brought by any individual alleging that a law

or any action of government violated his or her constitutional rights. All
possible solutions in the regular courts must have been exhausted
beforehand.
 Referral by regular court — a court can refer the question whether a statute
applicable to the case before that court is constitutional.
  Abstract regulation control — the federal government, a government of one
of the federal states or a quarter of the Bundestag's members can bring suit
against a law.

Constitutional amendments passed by the Parliament are subject to its judicial

review, since they have to be compatible with eternity clause of the constitution.

COMPARISION B/W INDIA-GERMANY’s

POLITICAL SYSTEMS.

FEATURES INDIA GERMANY INFERENCES(if

any)

Type of system Quasi-federal Federal State

state/Unitary
State with Federal
features
President Nominal Head Nominal Head Both Indian &
German presidents
are rubber stamp of
govt.
Vice-President Yes No
Prime Real Head ChancellorReal
Minister/Other head.
Polity Democratic Democratic
Republic Republic
Elections Parliamentary Parliamentary
System system
Lower House Lok Sabha Bundestag
Upper House Rajya Sabha Bundesrat While members of
Rajya Sabha are
elected through
Single Transferable
Vote System, the
deputies of
Bundesrat are sent
by govts of the
states.
Civil & Political Yes, through Yes, through
Rights PART III of Constitutional
Indian provisions-“eterni
Constitution ty clause”
Judiciary Supreme Court is Courts are
independent of independent of
 Executive Executive &
interference. legislative
Judicial Review is interference.
exercised by Judicial Review is
Supreme Court & exercised by the
High Court Federal
Constitutional
Court
Constituent Indian states are Lander are fully
States semi-autonomous autonomous
with ability to within their
make legislative &
independent laws executive sphere.
with regard to
state list and
concurrent list
BUT to limit all
this Union govt
has Governors,
Art.249, 250 &
356.
Civil Service Politically neutral Politically neutral
“officially” institution
Party Systems Multi-Party Multi-Party
System System

SWITZERLAND

The Switzerland is the Federal Parliamentary Democratic Republic. It is very close to

become Direct Democracy. Executive power is exercised by the government and the
Federal Council of Switzerland is the head of government and the govt is not
concentrated in any one person. The judiciary is independent of the executive and
the legislature.

[Direct democracy is a form of democracy in which people decide policy initiatives

directly, as opposed to a representative democracy in which people vote for
representatives who then decide policy initiatives]

INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM Switzerland provides for Initiative- a

citizen-proposed law and Referendum- govt-proposed law.
 Initiative is a means by which a petition is signed by a no. of registered voters,
forcing a public vote on
a. A proposed statute,
b. Constitutional Amendment.

Initiative in Switzerland is available in Federal Assembly on a question of

Constitutional amendment, i.e. the electorate has the right to initiate constitutional
legislation, though it is used in Cantons for both legislative as well as amendment
proposals.

Referendum is a practice of referring measures passed upon by the legislature for

acceptance or rejection.

In Switzerland, if both houses of Federal Assembly agree on a constitutional

amendment, it must be submitted to voters and becomes law, if approved by
majority of qualified voters but also by a majority of cantons (Double Majority)

In the Swiss Federation the referendum is optional in respect of ordinary law, but if
100000 citizens or 8 cantons make a demand, federal laws are submitted for approval
of the people.

I. FEDERAL COUNCIL

The Federal Council constitutes the federal government of Switzerland and serves
collectively as the Swiss head of state. The Council consists of 7 councillors and each
one of them heads one of the 7 federal executive departments. The Council acts like
the board of directors of a major corporation.

The Council includes members of many political parties but due to the principle of
collegiality, the Councillors are not supposed to publicly criticise one another, and
they are expected to publicly support all decisions of the Council, even against their
own personal opinion or that of their political party.

ELECTION the Councillors are elected for a term of 4 years by both chambers of
the United Federal Assembly. Each Councillor is elected individually through secret
ballot by an absolute majority of votes.

Every adult Swiss citizen can become a Councillor, but in practice, only Members of
Federal Assembly or sometimes, members of Cantonal governments are nominated
by the political parties.
The Councillors can be re-elected for an indefinite number of terms. After being
elected, they can neither be voted out of office by a motion of no confidence nor can they be
impeached.

PRESIDENT OF THE CONFEDERATION

Every year, one of the 7 Councillors is elected by the Federal Assembly as President
of the Confederation. The Federal Assembly also elects a Vice President. By
convention, the chair of President rotates among the members in order of seniority
and the previous year's Vice President becomes President.

He is not head of state or head of govt, both of these functions are administered by
the Federal Council collectively. The President presides over Council meetings and
carries out certain functions like those of a head of state but he is not head of state. In
urgent situations where a Council decision cannot be made in time, he or she is
empowered to act on behalf of the whole Council; however he has no power above
and beyond the other 6 Councillors.

The decisions of the Council are formally taken by voice vote by a majority of the
Councillors present at a meeting or through Consensus. The President breaks the tie.

II. FEDERAL ASSEMBLY

The Federal Assembly is national legislative body of Switzerland. Swiss Constitution

vests the supreme authority in the Federal Assembly. It is bicameral and composed
of the National Council and the Council of States. The powers of 2 chambers of
Federal Assembly are almost absolutely equal. It should be noted that the principle of
separation of powers has not been made the basis of the Swiss governmental system. Federal
Assembly has been entrusted with all kinds of functions which are not legislative but also
executive and judicial in character.

It has been correctly observed that “there are few parliaments which exercise more
miscellaneous duties than Federal Assembly.”

POWERS

a. Legislative & Financial powers The Federal Assembly passes all federal
laws and legislative ordinances, considers and passes the annual budget of
Federation, approves the state accounts and authorise public loans floated by
 the federal govt. The Federal Assembly also votes on treaties and
constitutional amendments.

b. Executive powers The Federal Assembly exercises imp executive functions.

Sitting together, the two chambers elect members of federal council, federal
chancellor, and in case of war or threat of war, the Commander-in-Chief. The
Constitution directs the Federal Assembly to take all measures necessary to
ensure external safety and preservation of independence and neutrality of
Switzerland.
[Switzerland is a neutral state= no ladai jhagda with neighbours +no dilchaspi
in international power politics]

c. Judicial powers Judges of federal Tribunal are elected by Federal Assembly;

it also hears appeals against the decisions of Tribunal on administrative
disputes. The Federal Assembly deals with conflicts of jurisdiction b/w
different federal authorities. It also exercises the judicial prerogative of
granting pardon & amnesty.

The Federal Assembly exercises general supervision over the federal administration
and is empowered to issue instructions to the Federal Council in the form of
‘postulates’, a sort of directive to the Council to examine a particular question.

A. NATIONAL COUNCIL the National Council is the lower house of the

Federal Assembly.

ELECTION The National Council has 200 seats and members are chosen for
the term of 4 years by proportional representation in multi-seat
constituencies.
[Multi-Seat Constituency= one Constituency and many deputies]

The deputies are chosen from each of the constituency of 26 cantons.

The no. of deputies a canton can send depends on the population of the
canton but at least one deputy should be from every canton.
Each voter elects the deputies of the canton in which she/he lives and each
voter has as many votes as there are deputies to elect. A voter cannot give
more than two votes to the same candidate. Each citizen can vote for persons
of different parties.
The no. of candidates a party can send to the National Council depends on the
no. of votes party gets.
 B. COUNCIL OF STATES the Council of States is the upper house of
Federal Assembly.
It has 46 seats which are filled from 26 cantons. The 20 cantons send 2
councillors each and 6 former half cantons send 1 councillor, for 4 year term.

ELECTION Swiss Constitution provides for democratic method and the

mode of election is left to individual cantons.

III. FEDERAL SUPREME COURT

The Federal Supreme Court is established under the Swiss Federal Constitution as
the supreme judicial authority of Switzerland. It is the court of appeal for all
decisions of the cantonal courts of last instance.

Because of an emphasis on direct democracy through referendum, the Constitution

precludes the court from reviewing acts of the Federal Parliament, unless such
review is specifically provided for by statute.

FEATURES INDIA SWITZERLAND INFERENCES(if

any)

Type of system Quasi-federal Federal State

state/Unitary
State with Federal
features
President Nominal Head Nominal Head

Vice-President Yes Yes

Prime Real Head Federal Council is Administrative
Minister/Other Real Head power is exercised
by whole of council
collectively and not
by one person as in
India.
Polity Democratic Democratic
Republic Republic
Elections Parliamentary Parliamentary
system system
Lower House Lok Sabha National Council Both houses
National Council
and Council of
States, have equal
powers.
 Upper House Rajya Sabha Council of States
Civil & Political Yes, through Title 2 of the
Rights PART III of Constitution
Indian
Constitution
Judiciary Supreme Court is Federal Supreme
independent of Court of
Executive Switzerland is
interference. independent of
Judicial Review is Executive
exercised by interference, but
Supreme Court & not empowers to
High Court judge the
constitutionality
of a federal law as
this right is
exercised by
common man
through
referendum.
Constituent Indian states are Cantons are
States semi-autonomous sovereign insofar
with ability to as their
make sovereignty is not
independent laws limited by the
with regard to Federal
state list and Constitution, they
concurrent list exercise all rights
BUT to limit all which are not
this Union govt transferred to the
has Governors, Confederation
Art.249, 250 &
356.
Civil Service Politically neutral Politically neutral
“officially” institution
Party Systems Multi-Party Multi-Party
System System

PEOPLE’s REPUBLIC OF CHINA

China is the Unitary Socialist Republic and functions under Constitution of 1982.
It is a socialist state under the people's democratic dictatorship and is led by the
Communist Party, the vanguard of the working class. The constitution opposes the
separation of powers by executive, legislature and judiciary. National People's
Congress is the highest organ of state authority power.

I. PRESIDENT OF CHINA

The President of the People's Republic of China is the head of state of China. He
holds a ceremonial office.

[He is not Commander-in-Chief of PLA; PLA comes under the Central Military
Commission]

POWERSHe promulgates statutes adopted by the National People's Congress. He

appoints the Premier of the State Council, Vice-Premiers, other State Council
members and all ambassadors to foreign countries, upon the NPC's decision.

[In practice, President exercise much more power by virtue of being the General
Secretary of the Communist Party who is generally responsible for establishing
general policy and direction of the state which are implemented by the Premier of
the People's Republic of China, the head of government]

ELECTION The President is elected by the National People's Congress which also
has the power to remove the President from office by a simple majority vote. He is
elected by Presidium of NPC which is headed by the general secretary of the
Communist Party and in practice and the general secretary is chosen as President
(So, he choose himself as president).

He is elected for term of 5 years and limited to two consecutive terms.

QUALIFICATIONS Citizens of the People's Republic of China who have the right
to vote and who have reached the age of 45 are eligible for election as President.

VICE-PRESIDENT

The Vice President of the People's Republic of China assists the President in his
work.

The Vice President of the People's Republic of China may exercise such functions
and powers of the President and the President may entrust to him.
In the event that the office of the President of the People's Republic of China falls
vacant, the Vice President of the People's Republic of China succeeds to the office of
President.

He is elected by NPC for term of 5 years and limited to two consecutive terms.

Mode of election, dismissal and qualifications are same that of President.

II. STATE COUNCIL

The State Council is the chief administrative authority of China.

It is composed of 

the Premier; the Vice Premiers; the State Councillors; the Ministers in charge of
ministries; the Ministers in charge of commissions; the Auditor General; and the
Secretary General.

The State Council is responsible to the National People's Congress, or when the
National People's Congress is not in session, to its Standing Committee. The State
Council follows the system of premier responsibility in work while various
ministries and commissions under the State Council follow the system of ministerial
responsibility.

It meets once every 6 months and b/w its meetings, it is guided by a standing
committee. The standing committee of State Council includes the premier, one
executive vice premier, 3 vice premiers, and 5 other state councillors.

The State Council controls the Ministry for National Defense but doesn’t control the
People's Liberation Army (PLA), which is instead controlled by the Central Military
Commission.

FUNCTIONS

 to formulate administrative measures and regulations and monitor their

implementation;
 draft legislations for submission to its Standing Committee or the NPC ;
 Prepare the economic policy and the budget;
 to conduct foreign affairs and conclude treaties and agreements with foreign
states;
  to decide on the imposition of martial law in parts of provinces, autonomous
regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government;
 To exercise unified leadership over the work of local organs of state
administration at various levels throughout the country.

PREMIER

The Premier of the State Council is the head of the State Council of China. He
oversees the various ministries, departments, commissions and statutory agencies
and announcing their candidacies to the National People's Congress for Vice-
Premiers and State Councillors.

ELECTION The Premier is nominated by the President and then formally

approved by the National People's Congress for 5 year term. In practice, the
candidate is chosen by an informal process within the Communist Party of China.
He can be removed by NPC.

III. NATIONAL PEOPLE’s CONGRESS

The National People's Congress is the highest legislative body of China. It is the
largest parliament in the world with 2,987 members. It is the unicameral parliament
with no second chamber. The NPC meets for about two weeks each year and the
daily power is exercised by the Standing Committee of the NPC which contains
about 150 members.

ELECTION Election of deputies to the National People's Congress is conducted

by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

The ruling Communist Party of China maintains effective control over the
composition of National People's Congress. By limiting the number of candidates
in proportion to the number of seats available, the Party blocks unacceptable
candidates. However, approximately 1/3 of the seats are reserved for non-
Communist Party members which includes technical experts and members of the
smaller allied parties.

The NPC consists of about 3,000 delegates who are elected for 5 year term by the
provincial people's assemblies through indirect election.
Deputies are elected by the people's congresses of the country's 23 provinces, 5
autonomous regions and the 4 municipalities directly under the Central
Government, the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau and the
armed forces. The size of each college of delegates is related to the number of
electors in the constituency (proportional system)

QUALIFICATION all citizens of China who have reached the age of 18 have the
right to stand for election.

PRESIDIUMThe Presidium of the NPC is a 178-member body of the NPC. It

nominates the President and Vice President of China, the Chairman, Vice-Chairman,
and Secretary-General of the Standing Committee of the NPC, the Chairman of the
Central Military Commission, and the President of the Supreme People's Court for
election by the NPC.

NPC STANDING COMMITTEE

The permanent organ of the National People's Congress is its Standing Committee,
which is responsible to the National People's Congress. It functions as the highest
body of state power.

The NPC Standing Committee is composed of the Chairman, Vice-Chairmen, the

Secretary-General and other members who are elected from among the deputies at
the first session of every National People's Congress. The members of the NPC
Standing Committee generally include:

(a) Representatives from the Communist Party of China;

(b) Representatives from various democratic parties and patriots and democrats
without party affiliation;

(c) Representatives of people's organizations;

(d) Representatives of the People's Liberation Army; and

(e) Representatives of minority ethnic groups with a population of over 1 million

each.

[How Standing Committee is chosen is not specified in constitution, if don’t believe

me then look www.hkhrm.org.hk/english/law/const04.html ]

According to the Constitution and the Organic Law of the National People's
Congress, the NPC Standing Committee exercises the following functions and
powers:
1. Legislative right According to the Constitution, the National People's Congress
and its Standing Committee jointly exercise the legislative right, including enacting
and amending statutes, with the exception of those which should be enacted by the
National People's Congress. Consequently, except for the Constitution and basic
laws, The NPC Standing Committee undertakes a large amount of legislative work.

2. Right to supervise the enforcement of the ConstitutionThe Constitution gives

the supervisory right also to the NPC Standing Committee in addition to the
National People's Congress. As a permanent body of NPC, this ensures it can carry
out regular supervision of the enforcement of the Constitution.

3. Right to supervise the work of other state organsThe NPC Standing Committee
supervises the work of the State Council, Central Military Commission, Supreme
People's Court; annulling those administrative decisions or orders of the State
Council that contravene the Constitution or the statutes of the state.

4. Power of appointment and removalWhen the National People's Congress is not

in session, the NPC Standing Committee selects the vice-chairman of the Central
Military Commission (CMC controls People's Liberation Army) and members of the
commission according to the nomination of the chairmen of the Central Military
Commission; appoints and removes vice-presidents and judges of the Supreme
People's Court (SPC), members of SPC's Judicial Committee and the president of the
Military Court.

IV. SUPREME PEOPLE’s COURT

The highest court in the judicial system is the Supreme People's Court and it is
directly responsible to the NPC and its Standing Committee and therefore not free of
interference.

It supervises the administration of justice by the people's courts at various levels

(Basic people's courts at district level < intermediate people's courts at Prefecture-
level < higher people's courts at Provincial-level < the Supreme People's Court).

COMPARISION B/W INDIA-CHINA’s POLITICAL

SYSTEMS.
FEATURES INDIA CHINA INFERENCES(if
any)

Type of system Quasi-federal Unitary State

state/Unitary
State with Federal
features
President Nominal Head Real Head(in Indian President <
practice) Chinese President
Vice-President Yes Yes
Prime Real Head Premier Indian PM >
Minister/Other Chinese Premier
Polity Democratic Socialist Republic
Republic
Government Parliamentary Communist
system system
Lower House Lok Sabha National People NPC is the maai-
Congress baap in Chinese
constitutional
structure.
Upper House Rajya Sabha No
Civil & Political Yes, through Very Limited, India won.
Rights PART III of right to life and
Indian property are
Constitution allowed in 1982
Constitution but
not freedom of
speech and
association, even
Press is
controlled.
Judiciary Supreme Court is The Supreme Supreme Court of
independent of People's Court is India > Supreme
Executive under the NPC.. People's Court, in
interference. its functions.
Judicial Review is
exercised by
Supreme Court &
High Court
Constituent Indian states are Except Special Indian state govts
States semi-autonomous Administrative are more
with ability to Regions (SARs) independent than
make such as Hong Chinese provincial
independent laws Kong and Macau, govts as the latter
with regard to no autonomy. are appointed by
state list and the central
concurrent list government
 BUT to limit all
this Union govt
has Governors,
Art.249, 250 &
356.
Civil Service Politically neutral Politically
“officially” controlled
institution
Party Systems Multi-Party Chinese
System constitution
allows Multi-
Party System but
in reality
Dominant One
Party System
exists.

SOURCES

1. Comparitive Politics Dr. S.C. Singhal

2. www.electionresources.org
3. www.iuscomp.org/gla/statutes/BWG.htm for Germany.
4. www.vescc.az/constitution/france-constitution-eng.html for France.
5. www.bk.admin.ch/dokumentation/02070/02480/04712/index.html?lang=en
for Switzerland.
6. http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/constitution/constitution.html for China.
7. http://www.hkhrm.org.hk/english/law/const01.html for China.
8. Google + wiki for statistics.

PERSONAL INFO

Shrey Khanna