FREE ESSAY ON POLITICAL STATE OF COUNTRIES

POLITICAL STATE OF COUNTRIES

The political state of countries today is always changing and developing into new and
hopefully more efficient methods of running a country. In comparing and contrasting the
political setup of two countries a good understanding of the different systems is easily
seen. The fall of Communism in many parts of the world has triggered countries like
Russia to create new political systems and political parties. This also changes the
functioning of the economy and the military. Likewise in India, changes are almost seen
daily in the ruling of the country. Comparing and contrasting these two countries
involves many areas including the political parties, legislative branch and the executive
branch. These topics can be compared and contrasted since The Russian Federation and the
country of India are alike yet different in many ways. These two countries both have had
a difficult time transitioning into a Democratic political system. 
In Russia the transition to Democracy was very difficult since this country did not have
an established party system and the old system only allowed Communism (Palmer, 344). The
major parties to come to light include: Liberal Democratic, Russia's Choice, Yabloko,
Communist Party, Women of Russia, Our Home, Agrarian, Party of Russian Unity and the
Democratic. The most radical reformers like Russia's Choice want a quick change to
capitalism and just want the economic gain. This group could care less about the
negatives involved in the rapid changes. The moderate reformers like the Our Home, the
Women of Russia Party and the Yabloko also want capitalism, but in a more moderate way.
(Palmer, 345) The communist party is also still running and trying to get back in power.
The past comes to haunt many interested in putting communism back into effect. The
supporters argue that a new reformed Communist Party would provide secure employment,
good lifestyles and economic prosperity. The communists get support only when the outlook
for the economy is bad and fear of unemployment is affecting many workers. (Palmer, 346)
The last of these parties is the fascist party called the Liberal Democratic Party. This
party platform stated in 1993 elections, "calling for a strong army, continued government
management of Russia's industries, liquidation of the 5000 gangs that control the
economy, arm sales to any country or group that wants the buy them, deportation of
non-Russians, avoiding mistakes of Hitler in dealing with the West, "nuking" the Japanese
if they continued to pressure Russia to give back some small islands occupied since the
end of World War II, a strong dose of anti-Semitism, and finding husbands for all
unmarried women." (Palmer, 346)
Like Russia, India has several parties in its Democratic system including: The Congress
Party, The Bharatiya Janata Party, and The Third Front. India for a long time was
considered a single party Democracy and the Congress party ruled for about fifty years.
(Palmer, 453) The Congress party used these four items to gain support: charisma of Nehru
and Gandhi, the independence movement, the party's broad base in the local way of life
and the ability to take in a great range of regional, ideological and communal groups.
(Palmer, 453) The Bharatiya Janata Party is a rising group that ranks second to the
Congress party and asserts that the majority needs to rise above in India. (Palmer, 453)

The executive branch in The Federation of Russia includes a very powerful presidential
cabinet. The president is the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces, and has the job
to maintain the Constitution and the integrity of the State. (Palmer, 334) If either is
threatened the president has the ability to declare a state of emergency and rule by
decree only. (Palmer, 334) The president also nominates and can remove government heads
and judges. The Russian president is given tremendous power unlike the president of
India. The Indian president does have the power of commander-in-chief of all the armed
forces but resides as a more symbolic position. The Indian constitution calls for the
advice of the Prime Minister in times of emergencies. (Palmer, 445) The president in
Russia is also the chief bureaucrat unlike the Indian president who relies on the Prime
Minister to do those functions. The Prime Minister of Russia resides over the cabinet and
many national security and secretive ministries report to the President rather then the
Prime Minister. (Palmer, 336) The same minister in India has a main job of proposing
legislation to the Parliament, move it through the process and to direct the programs
approved by the parliament. (Palmer, 446) This Prime Minister also leads a group called
the Council of Ministers. Which includes the cabinet, non-Cabinet members and deputy
ministers. (Palmer, 446) The cabinet members hold the more secretive and important
positions like Defense, Foreign Affairs and Finance. The other non-cabinet members have
lower importance jobs that do not affect the national security and have less political
influence. (Palmer, 446) Since the Council of Ministers becomes quite large it cannot
easily meet in one place in a large group, so the ministers split into committees. The
committees then report back directly to the Prime Minister without meeting with all the
other committees. This in turn gives a majority of power to the Prime Minister because he
is the only person that knows what all the committees say. (Palmer, 446) This is the
major difference between India's executive branch and The Federation of Russia. In Russia
the majority of power rests in the traditional place of the president. Yet, India puts a
majority of power into the hands of the Prime Minister.
The Legislative branch in The Federation of Russia includes two houses just like that of
India. These include the State Duma and the Federation Council where the State Duma is
dominant. (Palmer, 336) The Indian houses are the Lok Sabha and the upper house of Rajya
Sabha. These two systems are similar since both legislatures can vote a "no confidence"
vote to dissolve these houses and start new. Only that in The Federation of Russia does
the Prime Minister also dissolve unlike that in India and the Duma can do it without the
Federation Council's approval. (Palmer, 336, 447) The State Duma is the dominant house
and focal point like the Lok Sabha. The State Duma has much power in the budget-making
process in Russia. The Federation Council has special powers that include: confirmation
of a state of emergency, approval of the use of Russian troops on foreign soil, and
acceptance of nominations for judges and the public prosecutor. (Palmer, 337) More power
rests with the president in this system and legislation cannot be easily forced upon a
Russian president. (Palmer, 337) The Lok Sabha in India also elects the prime minister
and the Council of Ministers serves this house. (Palmer, 447) According to Palmer the
parliamentary procedures regarding passing a bill are very similar to those of Great
Britain and get several readings before becoming a law. (Palmer, 447) The Rajya Sabha is
the upper house of this Parliament and has almost the same powers of the Lok Sabha except
the power to dissolve the government. (Palmer, 448) The Federation of Russia and the
country of India have similar Parliaments that provide their country with legislation and
have the power to check the president. In Russia the power is held more with the
president unlike India's system where the power is with the Prime Minister.
Bibliography
Palmer, Monte. (1997). Comparative Politics: Political Economy, Political Culture, and
Political Independence. Itasca, Illionis: F.E. Peacock Publishers, Inc.