Essay: Parliament vs. Congress

Though in a broad and basic sense law-making in Great Britain and the United States share some similarities, the passing of laws, the system of elections, the role of political parties, and many other features are intrinsically different. Both the British Parliament and the American Congress are made up of two houses: the House of Lords and the House of Commons in the former, and the Senate and the House of Representatives in the latter; however, the way these houses interact with each other is one of the aspects they differ substantially in these two countries.

In the Parliament the Lords has next to no power compared with the Commons. The latter is the one which drafts, composes and reviews bill proposals, leaving the Lords with just the task of discussing and spotting inconsistencies, but never with the possibility of challenging them. In the Congress, however, the Senate and the Representatives must agree on all legislation before it goes to the president for him or her to act on it.

There are about 650 members in the Commons, and 92 is the limit for the members in the Lords. In the Congress there are 435 representatives and 100 senators. Directly voted by the people, the members of Parliament represent during their five-year term one of the many constituencies the country is divided into. The Lords are chosen through the life peerage system, means by which experienced politians get to continue their career. Conversely, the senators and the representatives are chosen separately, and by the people to perform their duties during their six and two-year term respectively.

As regards parties, both systems are almost always dominated by two parties. In Britain the two most popular ones are the Labors and the Conservatives, and the one that takes the majority of seats in the Commons promotes its leader to the position of head of state, whereas the runner-up presents itself as an alternative government. In the Congress the two big parties are the Republicans and the Democrats, but here the legislative branch does not promote the leader of the winning party as president.

While it is true that these two systems have many features in common, they are nonetheless used universally across numerous law-making bodies from other countries as well. Thus, a further exploration of these systems will only accentuate the different and unique characteristics that have evolved over each countries differing history.