| Canada 🇨🇦 | United Kingdom 🇬🇧 | |
|---|---|---|
| Government Type | Parliamentary democracy, a federation, and a constitutional monarchy. | Constitutional monarchy. |
| Capital City | Ottawa. | London. |
| Administrative Divisions | 10 provinces and 3 territories. | 48 ceremonial counties. |
| Executive branch | Federal Ministry is chosen by the prime minister usually from among the members of his own party sitting in Parliament. | Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime minister. |
| Head of government | Former PM: Stephen Harper. Current PM: Justin Trudeau. | Former PM: David Cameron. Current PM: Boris Johnson. |
| Chief/head of State | Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II. | Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II. |
| Role of head of state | Ceremonial. | Ceremonial. |
| Executive legitimacy | Ministry is subject to parliamentary confidence. | Ministry is subject to parliamentary confidence. |
| Legislative branch | Bicameral senate: The monarch, the Senate and House of Commons. | Bicameral parliament: The Crown, House of Commons, and House of Lords. |
| Party system | Multi- party system. | Multi- party system. |
| Judicial branch | Supreme Court of Canada. The judges are appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister. Federal Court of Canada Federal Court of Appeal Tax Court of Canada Provincial/Territorial Courts. These are named variously Court of Appeal Court of Queen’s Bench, Superior Court, Supreme Court, and Court of Justice. | Supreme Court of the UK Senior Courts of England and Wales (comprising the Court of Appeal, The High Court of Justice, and the Crown Courts) Court of Judicature (Northern Ireland. Scotland’s Court of Session and High Court of the Justiciary |
| Legal system | Common law system except in Quebec where civil law based on the French civil code prevails (bijural system). | Common law system. Has non binding judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998. |
Political divisions of Canada and the United Kingdom
Prime Ministers of Canada and the United Kingdom
Justin Trudeau 🇨🇦 and Rishi Sunak 🇬🇧.
The King
King Charles III is head of State of both Canada 🇨🇦 and the UK 🇬🇧.
Although he does not make important decisions himself, he is consulted for approval when decisions are going to be made.
Political compass of political parties in Canada and UK
The number of political parties in a government can show how power is distributed: if it is either concentrated or dispersed. Is important to have in mind that the number of political parties does not say accurately how strong a democracy is. Also, this political compass shows the current parties in the Parliament.
Canada (left) & UK (right)
