United States of America vs Australia

Politics and democracy are a collective venture – the result of what we do together as a society. However, what can be achieved is greatly influenced by the structures of the democratic systems that we live in. In this comparison of the government systems of the United States of America and Australia it is worth noting that whilst both the USA and Australia are a federation of states, the USA is a republic and Australia, both at the Commonwealth and State levels, is a constitutional monarchy. 

The Presidential system in the United States operates under a “true” separation of powers, where power is separated between executive, judiciary and the legislature and the executive and legislature are both separately elected. In nations such as Australia, which follow the model of the Westminster system, the people elect the legislature, and from that, the political party that wins the majority of seats becomes the executive.

In addition, when it comes to elections, the individual state legislatures in the United States have great power as to how to vote, who can vote, how votes are counted and how disputes over results are handled. This is not the case in Australia where the Australian Electoral Commission (and the state electoral commissions) maintain an impartial and independent electoral system.   

These are just some of the similarities and differences between these two democracies. Below is a comparison of features for these two systems of government. 

 

THE HEAD OF STATE

The Head of State in the USA is the President of the United States.

This position:

• is directly Elected (via the Electoral College)
• has strong executive powers
• actively leads executive government
• appoints the Executive (Secretaries of State)
• holds legislative veto

The Head of State in Australia is the Governor-General and in NSW, the Governor. Each state has their own Governor.

These positions:

• are the Queen’s Representative
• are appointed by the Government
• hold reserve powers of intervention
• formally appoint the Prime Minister/Premier after an election
• formally appoint the executive government (Ministers) on the recommendation of the Prime Minister/Premier
• are part of Legislature (approve Bills)
• have a ceremonial and community role

 

THE EXECUTIVE

Another difference between these two democratic nations occurs in the way the Executive branch of Government is formed.

In the USA the Executive (Cabinet):

• is appointed, not elected – they cannot be Members of Congress
• develops policy, originates some legislation introduced into Congress
• controls the daily business of government
• heads government departments/agencies
• is responsible to the President, subject to Congressional veto powers

In Australia (and each of the States), the Executive (Ministry):

• are elected Members of Parliament (and members of the party in Government)
• is appointed by the Governor (on the Prime Minister’s/Premier’s recommendation)
• develops policy
• controls the daily business of government
• heads government departments/agencies
• answers to or is responsible to Parliament (concept of “Responsible Government”)                   

 

THE LEGISLATURE

There are many similarities in the Legislatures of each nation. 

In the USA, the Legislature (Congress):

• is a bicameral legislature (two houses of parliament with equivalent powers)
• is elected by universal suffrage (non-compulsory voting)
• includes a Senate with equal representation from every State
• includes a House of Representative with representation via electorates 
• has veto/approval powers over the Executive
• initiates most legislation
• makes laws – all legislation must pass both Houses of Congress

In Australia, the Legislature:

• is bicameral (two houses) based on the “Westminster model” inherited from the United Kingdom
• the Lower Houses are based on electorates/population equally distributed
• in the Federal Parliament, the Senate has equal representation from every State (this was borrowed from the Constitution of United States)
• In NSW, the Legislative Council is one electorate representing the whole state, elected via a system of proportional representation
• is elected by universal suffrage with compulsory voting: 3-year terms for the Commonwealth and 4-year fixed terms in NSW
• makes laws – Government initiates most legislation 
• requires that all legislation must pass both Houses in the Commonwealth Parliament. This is the same in NSW with the exception of Appropriation Bills which need only be passed by the Legislative Assembly (Lower House)
• is where Government is formed by the party with control of the Lower House (therefore executive normally has control unless in Minority Government where they gain support of some other Members not in their party to govern)
• is where Ministers are questioned by Parliament at Question Time and must answer to Parliament for their actions (Responsible Government)

 

THE JUDICIARY

The creators of the Australian Constitution also borrowed aspects of the United States Judiciary when creating the Commonwealth of Australia at Federation in 1901. The Judiciary of NSW remains, in structure, largely as it was inherited from the United Kingdom.

The main features are: 

• High Court (Commonwealth): the supreme judicial body that can adjudicate on constitutional and legislative matters
• Supreme Court (NSW): can adjudicate on state constitutional and legislative matters
• System of Federal, State and Local Courts
• Judges appointed by Government
• Judicial independence of Commonwealth Judges established by the Australian Constitution
• Judicial independence of State Judges established by convention

In the United States the main features of the Judiciary are:

• Supreme Court: the supreme judicial body which can adjudicate on constitutional and legislative matters
• System of Federal, State and Local Courts
• Judges appointed by President subject to Senate approval
• Judicial independence established by Constitution
• Some State and local Judges elected
• Judicial independence established by Constitution

 

CONSTITUTIONS

Both United States and Australian law combine Constitutional and Statute Law (Law passed by Legislatures) and Common Law (‘Judge-made Law’). Some of this body of law was ‘inherited’ from Britain.

UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

• Intended as an ‘inspirational’ statement of national aspirations/philosophy
• Establishes a Federal system
• Outlines system and rules
• Establishes strong separation of powers
• Guarantees rights of citizens (Bill of Rights)
• Specific powers to federal Government, rest to states (10th Amendment)
• Can be changed by Congress (by 2/3 majority)
• High Court interprets application of laws and Constitution

 

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA CONSTITUTION

•  Federal System
• Outlines system and rules, but much depends on conventions and on High Court interpretations
• Establishes basic law
• Establishes separation of judicial powers
• Establishes very few citizens’ rights
• Specific powers to Federal Government, rest to state
• Can only be changed by citizen referendum (double majority)

NSW CONSTITUTION

• Sovereign State
• Outlines system and rules, but much depends on conventions and provisions of Australian Constitution
• Establishes basic law
• No specific statement of separation of powers
• No direct statement of citizens’ rights
• Most sections can be changed by Parliament but some sections (e.g. Legislative Council) can only be changed by referendum of the people of NSW
• Contains specific detail about some aspects of the system