Political and Economic Differences

Political & Economic Differences

The author of this paper is asked to answer to five major questions. The first is why there is a difference in terms of political systems from country to country. The second question is how the legal systems of different countries differ. The third question asks the author to explain the economic differences of different countries. The fourth question asks the author to discuss and explain different macro-political and economic changes that occur around the world. Finally, the author is asked to explain how transitioning economies are moving towards market-based systems.

Questions Answered

As for why there are different political systems in different countries, the reasons depend on the actual situation at hand. The system in place in the United States fairly closely matches the way things were set up at its inception and a lot of that was based on escape from brutal government rule where the British monarch was ruling by edict rather than listening at all to their people. This is why the United States, and many to most other democracies, focus on popular vote and representation from all the different states and other districts or states in the country. The United States has federal, state and local governments and most (but not all) of the governments operate on the will of the people in what they do. There are some dimensions of government like the judiciary and such that are intentionally kept separate from the people and their reach. Even with that broad similar, what drives the people and, by extension, the government can vary widely.

Some governments trend very liberal and are socialist or even borderline-communist in nature whereby the control over incomes, property and such is very strict. This stands in contrast to more conservative countries that delegate property and freedom more to the people rather than the will of the state. Then there are governments that rule by oppression, brutality and/or dictatorship. Good examples of this would be Egypt under Mubarak, Iran and many other Muslim-ran countries, and so forth. The government sets the rules and they generally do not accept any deviation from the state-mandated lifestyles choices like religion, work options, family -- raising standards and rules and so forth.

As noted by the textbook and many other sources, the driving ideology of the leaders of its country, which may or may not jive with that of the voters, is usually what dictates how a country acts and behaves. Some countries try to act for good while others are not nearly as cordial. Russia often uses its nuclear arsenal and other resources to be a stumbling block or deterrent to the United States and they often help or inhibit action against countries that are clearly enemies to the world. Even the United States is considered corrupt and evil by much of the world including its own citizens. Many countries are quite polarized, with the United States being a great example, or they can be more monolithic like most Muslim countries. Even Muslim countries and other areas/sections of the world where blunt religious rule is common, though, have detractors and freedom-seeking people that go against the grain of the country. Each country is different and for different reasons (Hill, 2013).

As for the second question, that pertaining to legal systems, some countries have independent judiciaries that are untouchable in some respects so as to maintain their independence and prevent undue influence. With some other governments, though, the primary rules of the government and the judiciary work hand in hand and often to nefarious ends. Most countries have at least basic civil and criminal court rules and procedures but the depth, breadth and overall procedures of the courts can vary a lot from country to country and even within single countries. For example, some criminal trials in the United States are handled by judges making the final call while most others are jury-determined. In other cases, the defendant can choose which they prefer.

As for levels of economic development exist for each nation, it all comes down to where a country gets its income, how wealthy the nation is (and how much tax revenue is collected) and the infrastructure of that nation. If all three are strong, then the economy will probably do pretty well. If any of the three (or more than one) are lacking, it can cause progress and development to be slower than desired or what would otherwise be possible. Some countries, like the United States, have very diverse economic streams of income including high-tech processing and procedures as well as the service sector in addition to other staples like manufacturing and energy production. However, other countries are limited in what they can offer due to their limited real estate or resources. Nigeria, as one example, is heavily reliant on petroleum exports and Central to South America relies heavily on agriculture in many to most areas.

Changes that take place around the world can vary quite a bit. For example, the United States is currently very reliant on foreign oil but the development of fracking and shale oil in general has changed the landscape quite a bit and the United States could be energy-independent in a generation or so. The existence of countries/regions like southeast Asia and China could mitigate this, but this could have a huge and wide-ranging effect on areas like the Middle East that make much or most of their income from export oil to other countries. Other shifts that can happen are due to shifts in political spectrum power like that of a lot of countries that shift from a Socialist or even Communist regime to a more conservative or even fascist one or vice versa. The absence of a government or turmoil in general, like in Egypt, the Ivory Coast and Somalia, is yet another example.