progetto CLIL

1. The UK, the USA and the Italian
political system

2. The UK political system
The UK is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy. It means that there is a King or a
Queen as head of the State, he or she can reign only with the support of Parliament. It consist of the
House of Commons , the House of Lords and the Sovereign currently Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen
delivered a famous speech in the House of Lords. It’s drawn up by the Government and explains the
legislative program and policies for each parliamentary session. The house of Commons consists of 650
Members of Parliament (MPs) elected by people in general elections every five years. The MPs belong to
the Government or to the Opposition. The Government sits on the right ride, the opposition on the left. The
party in power has a maximum of five years the chief of the House of Commons is the Speaker, elected by
MPs. The main power of the House of Commons is to make laws and to discuss political issues. The
House of Lords consists of 1,165 members including the two archbishops of Canterbury and other non-
elected members who came from the aristocracy, from the Church of England, or highly respected
politicians who served in the House of Commons. The House of Lords is presided by the Lord Chancellor.
All members of the House of Lords revise bills from the Commons. The two largest political parties are the
Conservative Party and the Labor Party, also known as New Labor. The third largest party is the Liberal
Democrats.

5. The differences between Italian and American’s political systems
From a political point of view Italy and U.S.A. are different. Italy is a parliamentary republic; it means that
the Parliament has some important functions. The Italian Constitution establishes three institutions: the
Parliament, the Government and the Judiciary. There are three powers: legislative, executive and judiciary.
The legislative power is exercised by the Parliament, it means that the Parliament makes laws: they are
rules that are important in every region. Italian Parliament is made up of two Cameras: the Senate and the
“Camera dei Deputati”. People elect the representatives every five years. The Government exercises the
executive power, it means that it has to apply rules. It’s made up of the “Presidente del Consiglio” and his
Ministers. Judiciary exercise the judiciary power, it’s made up of judges and it punishes who doesn’t
respect laws. The Head of State is the President of the Republic; he controls the Parliament, the
Government and the Judiciary’s acts, he nominates the “Presidente del Consiglio”, he signs laws and he
can dissolve the parliament. The U.S.A. are a presidential republic, it means that a lot of powers are in the
hand of the President. The political system is a bicameral system too; it is divided into the House of
Representatives and the Senate. The legislative branch is made up of the two houses of the U.S.
Congress. It meets in the Capitol in Washington. In the Italian Senate there are 315 senators. In the
“Camera dei Deputati” there are 630 people but the Congress includes two branches: in the Senate there
are 100 representative and in the Camera of representatives there are 435 representatives. In the
Congress every two years the Camera’s representatives are re-elected but in Italy the senators and the
Camera’s members are in office for 5 years. The executive branch is in the hand of the President that is
Head of State and Head of Government, he commands the armed forces and he has some powers in
foreign affairs. At the end, the most important difference is that the U.S President has more powers than
the Italian President.

9. The mainly 5 differences between the Italian, the American’s and the British political
system
1- Italy is a parliamentary republic; the UK is a constitutional monarchy and the USA are a presidential
republic.
2- The Italian And the British Head of State have the same powers and they have a symbolic power but in
the USA the President has a lot of powers in his hands.
3- The Italian “President del Consiglio” has less powers than the “Prime Minister” of the UK.
4-In Italy and in the UK the Heads of the States aren’t controlled by judges but in the USA the work of the
President is controlled by judges.
5- In Italy Camera’s members are in office for five years; the Mps in the UK are in office for five years too
but in the USA Camera’s representatives are in office for two years.

10. I think that…
In my opinion the best government is a presidential republic because here the president is elected by
people but I think that he can’t have a lot of powers. Some judges have to control him and its work and he
must do what is better for people. The president has to respect the rules that are established on the
Constitution and he has to control the acts of the Parliament and the Government. The Parliament has to
be made up of elected people and their parties. All parties can nominate their president who has the role to
keep calm during debates. The president of the parliament organizes laws and he sends them to the
President that can change them. The judiciary power is exercised by the judges who control President’s
work. The government and the parliament’s members have to change every five years and they can’t be
re-elected. At the end I think that politicians who follow this opinion can change everything in their state.