| Canada 🇨🇦 | United States of America 🇺🇸 | |
|---|---|---|
| Government Type | Parliamentary democracy, a federation, and a constitutional monarchy. | Constitution based federal republic. |
| Capital City | Ottawa. | Washington D.C. |
| Administrative Divisions | 10 provinces and 3 territories. | 50 states. |
| Executive branch | Federal Ministry is chosen by the Prime Minister usually from among the members of his own party sitting in Parliament. | Cabinet appointed by the president with senate approval. |
| Head of government | Former PM: Stephen Harper. PM: Justin Trudeau. | Former president: Donald Trump Current president: Joe Biden. |
| Chief/head of State | Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II. | Former president: Donald Trump Current president: Joe Biden. |
| Role of head of state | Ceremonial. | Executive. |
| Executive legitimacy | Ministry is subject to parliamentary confidence. | Presidency is independent of the legislature. |
| Legislative branch | Bicameral senate: The monarch, the Senate and House of Commons. | Bicameral congress: Senate and House of Representatives. |
| Party system | Multi-party system. | Two-party system. |
| Judicial branch | Supreme Court of Canada (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, Nine justices nominated by the president and confirmed with the advice and consent of the Senate. They are appointed to serve for life. United States Courts of Appeal United States District Courts State and County Courts. |
| Legal system | Common law system, except in Quebec where civil law based on the French civil code prevails (bijural system). | Common law system based on English common law at the federal level. State legal systems based on common law except Louisiana, which is based on Napoleonic civil code. |
Political divisions of Canada and the United States
Prime Minister of Canada and President of the United States
Justin Trudeau 🇨🇦 and Joe Biden 🇺🇸.
Head of state of the United States and Canada
King Charles III is head of State of Canada 🇨🇦. Although he does not make important decisions himself, he is consulted for approval when decisions are going to be made. In the US 🇺🇸 the president has the role of both head of government and head of state.
Political compass of political parties in Canada and the United States
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 Congress/Parliament.
Since the US only counts with two parties: Democrats and Republicans, a political compass cannot be too useful. Instead, there is a visualisation of their ideologies. Democrats can be seen as the liberals and the Republicans can be seen as the conservatives.
Canada (left) & US (right)
