Introduction
The development of the legislative system of the United States has evolved from a monolithic approach to a more dynamic system of Federalism defined through constitutional provisions in the Bill of Rights. This system’s ultimate feature is a separation of powers and functions to ensure absolute fairness and the unfettered carriage of justice. Separation of powers provides clear indications to the powers and limitations of each wing of the government namely the legislature (to make laws), the executive (to enforce laws) and judiciary to interpret laws (Schaible, 2013). The purpose of this is to eliminate all forms of ambiguous and arbitrary conduct among those who administrate and regulate the same. This ensures that all those subject to the lex loci are treated as equals before the law. The following paragraphs will analyze and contrast the federal legislative system of the United States with that of the United Kingdom.
U.S. Legislative System- An Analysis
A federal system of government refers to a two-tier form of governance. This usually implies a federal government forming one tier which governs and regulates legislative action on a federal level and various state governments that govern and regulate legislative action within their respective jurisdictions (Mergel, 2013). The United States federal legislative system is especially unique as each state has its own constitution and its own supreme court (to represent a unique feature in the judicial system as well). These sufficiently handle all legislative actions that are confined to their jurisdiction apart from subject matters that are reserved for the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal Government. An example of this is federal law enforcement which is overseen by the Federal Bureau of Investigation which has exclusive jurisdiction over various subject matters which cannot be handled by state law enforcement.
Contrast
The United Kingdom also follows a similar bicameral system of governance however it is significantly different from the structure of the United States legislative system. The structural framework of the legislature in the United Kingdom follows a hierarchical system. This has the sovereign who is the Queen at the head of the legislative functions. However there are two more important governing bodies which form the basis of the federal system of governance. These are- the Upper House which is the House of Lords and the Lower House which is the House of Commons (Kellermann, 2016). In case of legislative action in the United Kingdom a bill is introduced into the lower house and is voted on, it then moves to the upper house where it is further voted on and modified. Once it passes through these processes it receives royal assent and obtains the force of law. In the United States the state governments enacts law within their legislative jurisdictions and the Federal government enacts laws on a federal level based on their exclusive jurisdiction (Wiles, 2015).
Conclusion
To conclude a federal structure of government always refers to the two-tiered system of governance but it does not ideally imply that the structure would be constant for all jurisdictions that follow such a framework. Layered governmental agencies can be structured based on the needs of that particular jurisdiction.
Reference
Kellermann, M. (2016). Electoral vulnerability, constituency focus, and parliamentary questions in the House of Commons. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 18(1), pp.90-106.
Mergel, I. (2013). Social media adoption and resulting tactics in the US federal government. Government Information Quarterly, 30(2), 123-130.
Schaible, W. L. (Ed.). (2013). Indirect estimators in US federal programs (Vol. 108). Springer Science & Business Media.
Wiles, W. W. (2015). Federal Reserve System. System.
