Country Outline

Country	BRITAIN	The European Union	SOVIET UNION	RUSSIA	CHINA	NIGERIA	Mexico	Iran
	Non-written: Acts of Parliament and tradition Legitimacy: Gradual evolution of Absolute Monarchy into Constitutional Monarchy	ESCC: Paris 1951 EEC: Rome 1957 EC: CAP-EMS-COREPER 1967 EU: Maastricht 1991 Legitimacy: Gradual evolution and expansion through treaties Constitution?	Constitutions: 1918, 1924, 1936, and 1977 Legitimacy: Revolution 1917 Marxism-Leninism	1993 Yeltsin Constitution Legitimacy: Designed to guarantee citizen's civil rights through consent of the governed, referendum	The Common Program 1949 Constitutions: 1954, 1975, 1978, and 1982 Legitimacy: Revolution 1949 Marxism-Leninism-Maoism	Constitutions: 1960, 1963, 1979, 1989, and 1999 Legitimacy: Independence 1959 Military	1917 Constitution Legitimacy: Revolution 1910 Sonoran Mediation no re-election	1979 Constitution Legitimacy: Revolution 1979 Islam
	Unitary (devolution) Parliamentary Structure: Bicameral Function: Unicameral	Structure: Confederal Presidential/ Parliamentary Structure: Bicameral Function: Unicameral	Structure: Federal Function: Unitary Authoritarian One-party State	Structure: Federal Function: Unitary (President oversees Regional Representatives) Presidential/ Parliamentary Structure: Bicameral Function: Unicameral	Unitary Authoritarian One-party State	Federal Presidential system designed to replace the dysfunctional post-independence parliamentary model Bicameral	Federal Presidential Bicameral	Unitary Presidential Bicameral Theocracy supervised by Islamic Authorities
	Monarch Structure: Appoints PM, calls elections Function: Symbol of the Nation, Unity of the Commonwealth, Head of the Anglican Church	President European Commission 1 member from each country nominated by home nation approved by Council 5 year terms swear allegiance to Europe supervises EU bureaucracy puts new policy proposals on Council's agenda	Structure: President Function: General-Secretary of the CPSU	President 2 six-year terms (changed in 2007 from 4 year terms) Direct vote with Majority, 2 rounds unless 51% Nominates PM, Chairs Cabinet Dissolves Parliament Chief policymaker Foreign Policy appoints regional governors Rule by decree during declared state of emergency Veto power Nominates heads of bureaucracy, judges	Structure: President Function: Chairman/General-Secretary of the CCP	President Direct vote: must receive both a majority of popular vote and 25% of the vote in at least 12 states (as an attempt to lessen the impact of regionalism) Supreme Military Council or Federal Executive Council (during Military rule)	President sexenio (single six-year term) directly elected with plurality appoints the cabinet with the approval of the Senate no vice-president Presidential powers have weakened since 1980s	Structure: President 2 four year terms direct election with run-off for top 2 candidates Function: Rahbar (Grand Ayatollah)Supreme Spiritual Leader appointed for life--with annual review--by the Assembly of Experts veto power over all policies and appointments
	Prime Minister serves at discretion of majority party in Commons Dominant policy-maker (more powerful than the House of Commons?) Cabinet (Political, not technical)		Premier Presidium and the Council of Ministers	Prime Minister serves at the discretion of the President Nominated by President, approved by Duma; 3X rejection requires dissolution Cabinet members may report directly to President Cabinet may not reflect party strengths incompatibility clause State governors appointed by President; regional legislatures subordinate to Federal government through revenue distribution State Council members of governors of regions and speakers of regional legislatures meet directly with the President once every three months	Premier State Council serve 5 year terms nominated by National Party Congress; approved by National People's Congress	President predominates over other constitutional powers Control of federal bureaucracy (appointments, retirements; large opportunities for establishing patron-client relations) State governors with unicameral legislatures subordinate to Federal government through oil revenue distribution	President Control of federal bureaucracy and para-statal (semi-autonomous institutions) appointments State governors are elected for six years; each state has a local legislature and has the right to levy state-wide taxes; municipal presidents are elected every three years state governors and local mayors appoint state bureaucracy	Elected: President appoints and supervises cabinet--8 vice-presidents and 22 members--as well as local administrators with approval of Majlis and Assembly of Experts puts policy proposals to Majlis local elected councils under supervision of appointed mayor or governor and religious authorities Unelected: Council of Guardians 12 members 6 clerics appointed by Rahbar; 6 judges nominated by Supreme Court and approved by Majlis
	House of Lords 700 members (600 Life, 75 Hereditary, 25 Bishops) Symbolic power Lords may participate in Cabinet Scrutinizes, delays legislation Final Court of Appeal	Council of the EU represents national governments; representation scheduled by COREPER rotating presidency initiates all legislation (directives) qualified majority voting: population and wealth unanimous vote to overturn rejection by Parliament	Structure: Supreme Soviet (representation from regional and local soviets) Function: General-Secretary Politburo Central Committee of CPSU	Federation Council 178 members five year terms no formal political parties are allowed indirect appointment: formerly governors of regions and speakers of regional legislatures appointed themselves to these seats; current law forbids holding dual offices approves legislation, but negative vote can be overridden by lower house with simple majority Confirms state of emergency	Structure: National People's Congress (3000 representatives from regional and local congresses) Function: General-Secretary Standing Committee of the Politburo (15 members) Central Committee of CCP	Senate 109 members 4 year terms increased number of states aims at guaranteeing representation to smaller ethnic groups reflects tensions between the central government and the states	Senate 128-members 6 year term 96 seats are elected on a first-past-the-post basis, and 32 nationally by proportional representation	Assembly of Experts 86 members 8 year terms national list all candidates must be approved by the Guardian Council appoints and reconfirms Rahbar reviews, amends, approves, vetoes legislation from Majlis
	House of Commons 659 members term at discretion of Prime Minister 5 year maximum FPTP plurality elections from party list; no residence requirement Sovereign policy-making power Vote of No Confidence	European Parliament 732 members directly elected to 5 year terms		Duma 450 members term at discretion of Prime Minister, President 5 year maximum was 1/2 proportional from 2 round run-off party list with 5% cutoff; 1/2 FPTP from districts as of 2007 proportional from national party list with 7% cutoff and regional membership requirements Initiates and approves legislation overrules upper house with simple majority Vote of No Confidence -must be passed 2x, then President has power to choose to dissolve or appoint new Prime Minister		House of Representatives 360 members 4 year terms Tradition of inefficiency and corruption (patron-client relations; regional interests prevail over national priorities)	Chamber of Deputies 500-members 3 year term 300 seats are elected on a first-past-the-post basis and 200 by proportional representation	Majlis 290 members multi-member constituency voting with 25% minimum requirement all candidates must be approved by the Guardian Council reviews, amends, votes on legislation proposed by the President which must then be approved by the Upper House, the Council of Guardians, and the Rahbar
	House of Lords Common Law Cannot override acts of Parliament Conservative ex-post facto privilege of Prime Minister	European Court of Justice -one member appointed by each member country for up to 3 6-year terms Courts of First Instance Court of Auditors (finances)	Under the control of the Executive State Prosecutor; show Trials People's Courts Gulags	Supreme Court 19 judges appointed for life by President with approval of Senate Civil Code Constitutional Court Arbitrates between Legislative and Executive	Supreme People's Court Under the control of the Executive attempted creation of Civil Code system State Prosecutor; show Trials People's Courts Xia-feng	U.S.-inspired independent judiciary Common Law Supreme Court can, in theory, challenge the Executive. In practice, it has not	U.S.-inspired independent judiciary Civil Code system There are 68 district courts and a series of appellate courts with a Supreme Court; federal legal system, with states enjoying significant authority amparos	Public Court System Supreme Court; appeals Revolutionary Court system no appeals Clerical Court system no appeals Shari'a all courts appointed and supervised by Rahbar
	Examinations and Elite Educational Institutions Specialized Insulated from politics resist policy initiatives QUANGOs	COREPER EU Bureaucracy	Secretariat Cooption through Nomenklatura Self-serving Patron-client Corrupt	Power Ministries Nomenklatura holdovers: siloviki "shock treatment"	Secretariat Cooption through Nomenklatura Self-serving Patron-client Corrupt	Lack of experience; poorly trained Bureaucratic recruitment based on ethnicity Foreign presence (currently, IMF officials in Central Bank)	Federal Election Commission large opportunities for establishing patron-client relations at local, state, and federal levels	highly educated professional bureaucracy increasingly subject to the clergy Expediency Council resolves conflicts between Majlis and Guardian Council Military Revolutionary Guard all are appointed by and responsible to the Rahbar
	Labour Conservative Liberal Democratic Alliance	European People's Party European Democrats Party of European Socialists	Communist Party of the Soviet Union	United Russia Party Communist Party of the Russian Federation Rodina Liberal Democratic Party Yabloko Union of Right Forces	Chinese Communist Party 'Red' vs 'Expert' factionalism	Multi-party system (affiliation mostly determined along ethnic and religious lines) PDP (SouthWest) ANPP (North) APGA (SouthEast)	PAN PRI PRD	no official party affiliation is allowed in political campaigns, but factionalism remains: Second of Khordad (Reformers) Servants of the Reconstruction (Moderates) Followers of the Imam (Conservative)
	consociational groups: TUC CBI		intelligensia	oligarchs siloviki nomenklatura military youth movements disorganized pluralist organizations	PLA CAC CMC Falun Gong Student Democracy Movement rising wealthy class (Three Represents) Communist Youth League Fifth and Sixth generation of Leadership	The Military Dominated by Northern groups (Hausa-Fulani) Despite internal divisions, it is the most cohesive political group in Nigeria Dominated by patron-client relations between higher and lower ranking officials	increasing lobbying with strengthening of legislature CTM CNC CNOP Zapatisitas	City Mosques autonomous semi-public institutionssuch as the Foundation of the Oppressed the Liberation Movement the National Front the Tudeh Worker's House/Islamic Labor Party Office of Student Solidarity Islamic Women's Association
	European Union immigration constitutional reform Northern Ireland	deepening and broadening immigration		"vertical power" relationship with former Soviet countries Chechnya corruption and criminal violence oligarchs	agricultural reform corruption income inequity Taiwan Market-Leninism growing nationalism	Dispute of Sharia--fundamentalist Islamic law in North Rampant corruption inequitable distribution of oil revenue	corruption Chiapas emigration/border control with United States income inequity	international pressures from national security issues gender equality demographic issues: age
	Tony Blair Gordon Brown David Cameron Lord Mandelson	Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Nicholas Sarkozy Dominique de Villepin Segolene Royal		Vladimir Putin Dmitri Medvedev Yuri Luzkhov Vladimir Zhirinovsky	Jiang Zemin Hu Jintao Wen Jiabao Xi Jinping	Olesegun Obasanjo Muhammadu Buhari Chukwuemeka Ojukwu Atiku Abubakar Ibrahim Babangida	Andre Obrador Felipe Calderon Roberto Madrazo Commandante Zero	Grand Ayatollah Ali Khameini Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Imam Mohammad Khatami Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati