Forms of Governments
The UnitedState is a federal constitutional nation headed by the president, who is the head of the state and the government (Hays, 1). With this system, judiciary and the congress equally share the national government’s power whereas the federal government shares dominion with the state governments. The US constitution grants both the federal and the state governments similar powers. Making laws, building infrastructure, setting up courts, borrowing money, and tax collection are among these concurrent powers enjoyed by the two governments (Hays, 1).
The main difference between the federal government and the state government is their operations (Hays, 1). State government controls the state and can create its laws that comply with the federal constitution. Similarly, the constitution mandates the federal government the right to control all the states combined under an autonomous constitution (Hays, 1).
Capitalism and socialism are two contrasting models that affect the way how states operate their governments (Sherman and Robert, 11). In a capitalist state, individuals own economic systems. Contrastingly, in a socialist state, the state owns and controls the economic systems. Similarly, under capitalism, state governments are required to enforce laws and regulations favorable to privately owned companies. However, under socialism, the state governments enforce laws emphasizing on equal distribution of wealth among the people. In the US, most states are capitalist. However, because socialist states heavily tax their citizens, critics view some of the US states such as Mississippi and Alaska as the most socialist states in the US (Sherman and Robert, 11).
The configuration of Texas and California states governments’ structures take the form of a pyramid. These governments consist of the executive, legislature, and judiciary (Hays, 1). Similarly, in both governments, the governor is the head of the executive. Governors are elected to serve for four-year terms. The main difference between these two governments is their judicial structures. California’s judicial system comprises of three levels among which are supreme courts, courts of appeal, and the appellate courts. On the other hand, Texas’ judiciary system is more complex than California’s system and comprises of local trial courts, appellate courts, Texas district courts, and supreme courts (Hays, 1).
| John Chamberlin | The Taliban |