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Essay on australia voting system
Different levels of government in Australia
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The Role of the Governor-General
The Governor-General represents the Australian head of state, Queen Elizabeth II. Between them they have important formal powers. Some of these powers include the power to:
h approve legislation passed by the two Houses of Parliament;
h command the navel and military forces;
h Exercise the general 'executive' power of the Commonwealth.
Many of these powers reflect an earlier, more active role taken by the monarch. In almost all cases today, however, these powers are carried out on the advice of the government of the day. In some instances, the head of state can exercise powers without, or against this advice.
¡§All countries have a head of state. This person represents the country as a whole, especially when visiting overseas countries. In some countries, the same person is both head of state and leader of the government. In others, including Australia, there is a separate head of state. Many federal countries, again including Australia, also provide a head of state at the second level.¡¨ (Australian politics, 1997)
the Governor-General is given power specifically in a number of other sections of the Constitution. The most important of these are:
to adjourn and dissolve the House of Representatives
to issue writs for general elections (the formal process by which elections are called)
to dissolve both Houses of the Commonwealth Parliament
to appoint Ministers, including the Prime Minister
to appoint judges
to submit Constitution Alteration Bills to referendum
Almost all the powers of the Governor-General are exercised only on the advice of government. This is done through a committee called the Federal Executive Council, usually just referred to as the Executive Council. Nowadays, the Executive Council is largely a formality, attended by only two or three Ministers or more junior parliamentary secretaries, where advice is formally given to the Governor-General. By convention, major decisions about the advice to be given to the Governor-General are made by Ministers individually or as a group, in Cabinet. (CCF, Rolehead, 1999)
The head of state may play a number of roles. These include ensuring the smooth running of parliamentary government by, for example, appointing a new government after an election; participation in ceremonial and social occasions and representation of a country internationally, promoting its diplomatic, cultural or economic interests.
For practical reasons, the Commonwealth and State constitutions provided from the beginning for the Queen to be represented in Australia by other people.
The President of the United States is instrumental in the running of the country. He serves as the chief executive, chief diplomat, commander in chief, chief legislator, chief of state, judicial powers, and head of party. Article II of the Constitution states that the President is responsible for the execution and enforcement of the laws created by Congress. He also is tasked with the authority to appoint fifteen leaders of the executive departments which will be a part of the President’s cabinet. He or she is also responsible for speaking with the leaders the CIA and other agencies that are not part of his cabinet because these agencies play a key role in the protection of the US. The President also appoints the heads of more than 50 independent
I believe that Australia should not become a republic. I think that there would be no point in becoming a republic, because we live without the intervention of the Queen at the moment, so becoming a republic would achieve nothing. If we were to become a republic, we would lose the support of England in times of war, famine or other disaster. I think that becoming a republic would achieve nothing, lose our links with England and waste the parliament's time when they should be concerned with more important issues.If we were to become a republic, the governor general would be replaced by a president who would have the same powers and responsibilities as our Governor General, so only the name and the person holding the position would change, wasting important parliament time and achieving absolutely nothing.
Australia is currently a constitutional monarchy, meaning that the Queen is our current head of state. We also have a written constitution, which limits the Queen and other authorities power. The governor general, who is appointed on the advice of the prime minister, represents the Queen.
When the term “monarch” is used, the first thing that comes to mind is a bombastic king and queen with unlimited power. The reality is, this is not always true. The definition of a monarch is “someone who is the head of a state government, either in reality or symbolically” (Nederman 2). Such a government is known as a monarchy. A monarch usually either inherits sovereignty by birth or is elected. Either way, a monarch typically rules for life or until abdication. Depending on the type of government in place, the “monarch’s true power varies from one monarchy to another” (Nederman 2). They may be complete tyrants, known as an absolute monarchy. On the other hand, they may be ceremonial heads of state who exercise little or no power and are only a figure head which is known as a constitutional monarchy (Nederman 2). These different types of governments have all been around for about the same amount of time. However, some are more renowned than others.
The United States and the Netherlands are run by two different types of governments. While the United States is a republic, the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. But there is a big difference between a republic and a constitutional monarchy. In a republic, the people of the country elect a chief of state, which is commonly called the president. The people of the republic also elect representatives to help govern the nation (Merriam 627). On the other hand, in a constitutional monarchy with a parliament, as the Netherlands does, the monarch, whether it be a king or queen, is the head of state, but not the head of government. The head of government is placed in the hands of the prime minister. As in many cases, a constitutional monarchy may also have houses or chambers to help with legislation (“Background”). According to Richard Tames in Monarchy, a constitutional monarchy is a:
"THE RELIGION OF THE QUEEN - TIME FOR CHANGE." University of Queensland Law Journa (2011): n. pag. Web.The British monarchy is a system of government in which a traditional monarch is the sovereign of the United Kingdom out of the country territories, and holds the constitutional position of head of state. According to the article, the Queen's powers are exercised upon the suggestion of her prime minister. Moreover, she firmly reserves powers which she may exercise at her own discretion. The Queen has many theoretical personal advantages and disadvantages. One disadvantages was that UK prohibits her from get married with a catholic member either being a roman catholic. However, with the exception of the appointment of the major minister, which is done with every prime minister, there are few positions in modern British government where these could be justifiably exercised; they have rarely been exercised in the last century. These powers could be exercised in an emergency such as a constitutional
The President of the United States is considered to be the most powerful person in the world. However, the President is not given the full power, as we think they are given. The President’s legislative powers are defined by a checks and balances system among the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch of the American Government. What are the President’s legislative powers? The two main legislative powers the President has is to pass or sign a bill and to veto a bill. However, even if the President vetoes a bill, Congress can still override that veto by a two-thirds vote from both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The government of Australia is Constitutional Monarchy and a Federal Parliamentary. According to the Australian Government website, they call it a Constitutional Monarchy because the country was established with a constitution and the Head of State was Queen Victoria (Irving). Queen Victoria was the Queen of England at the time. They also call it a Federal Parliamentary because their Constitution was the birth of their nation and it created a federal system of government (Irving). When a government is deemed a Parliamentary it has a Parliament and means that they elect a Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister of Canada has an integral role within the Canadian parliament. In the political Parliamentary system of Canada, the Prime Minister wields the executive responsibility. He is accountable for an assortment of administrative, managerial, and supervisory decisions in effect across the country. The executive role is the branch of government that is generally responsible for creating laws, and enforcing the regulations to ensure these laws are observed.
Some big positions of the government that have high roles to do are the Speaker of the House, the Senate President Pro Templore, majority and minority leaders, and party whips. In main positions of government, the ones elected have some very significant roles. Important roles for the Speaker of the House are to watch over the daily sessions of the Senate, preserve order in the chamber, state parliamentary motions, and rule on parliamentary questions, appoint committee chairs and members, refer bills to committee, to sign legislation, and act as the official person that speaks for the House or Assembly. The President Pro Tem of the Senate doesn 't have as many roles as the Speaker of the House, but its roles are just as important. The main roles chosen to the president pro tem include: control over the Senate
The U.S. Constitution states that the President has four main powers. These powers are referred to as “expressed powers”. They are being the Commander In Chief, having the ability to make treaties, appointing cabinet members, and to give pardons and reprieves. The President becomes the Commander in Chief of the armed forces
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.
The President was elected to run the country and therefore, has the most power of any individual. However, he cannot make a majority of the decisions alone and must make sure he keeps the approval of others in order to keep his job. The Constitution struck a fairly proper balance between empowering and limiting power of the President of the United States, but limited the power more so than empowering. Although the Constitution claimed the President as the leader of the Unites States, he is not able to single-handedly make decisions that affect our country. He is a large influence in a majority of the decisions in the government of the United States. However, he does not have complete authority over others and many of the decisions are required to have the consent of Congress or other government officials.
The Australian Legal System has a rich and detailed history dating from 1066. Law is made in Parliament. We have four sources of law and three courts with different jurisdictions that interpret the law when giving out justice. Important doctrines act as the corner-stones of our legal system. There is a procedure in the courts for making appeals. Separation of powers exists between officials in the courts, the parliament and the Executive. Everyone in Australia is treated equally under the Rule of Law, no matter their office or status. The Law is always changing as society changes, but it can never be perfect and cannot please everyone.
During the development of the political system, the tasks and the competences of the monarch were limited. Currently, the competencies are more or less formal, but they intervene in all aspects of power. Even though, the Queen Elizabeth the Second has no more political and executive power, she is considered to be very important by the people in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Therefore, there is the same Queen for the United Kingdom, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.