What are the characteristics of political systems in Western countries?

1. Characteristics of urban administrative systems in Western countries:

The municipal systems in Western countries have many characteristics that are different from the municipal systems in socialist countries. This is not only because of their state systems. Different, but also due to the various specific national conditions that restrict the municipal system.

(1) Diversified forms of municipal systems

Municipal systems in Western countries are also different and have many forms. A city council in the UK is a city government. French mayors and municipal governments are not subject to the supervision of the city council in handling central affairs. As a representative of the central government, the mayor has certain powers to supervise the city council. Although Japan's mayor and city council are elected by citizens, the city council has greater power to supervise the city government. The forms of the American municipal system include the mayor-council system, the city committee system, and the city council-manager system. In addition to some forms of the United States, Germany's municipal system also has the city council council system, the city council supervisory committee system, etc.

There are many reasons for the diversification of municipal systems in Western countries. First of all, it is due to the different historical traditions of each country. The United Kingdom is known as the "Mother of Parliaments". In local areas, parliaments simply have monopoly of decision-making and administrative powers. France has always been a country dominated by centralization. Among the dual natures of city governments, the nature of being a subordinate agency of the central government is far better than that of being the executive organ of the city council, which makes its municipal system also have the color of centralization. Japan's political system and municipal system were designed under the guidance of the United States after World War II to establish a democratic government and prevent the resurgence of fascism, thereby expanding the power of the parliament and strengthening the city council's supervision of the mayor. Secondly, in a federal country, leading local governments is the exclusive power of the state government. The federal government has no right to intervene. States have the right to adopt state constitutions and laws to stipulate their own municipal systems. Therefore, states have different forms of municipal systems. , not surprising. Thirdly, due to the implementation of local autonomy in Western countries, within the scope of local autonomy affairs, the city council has the right to decide the division of powers with the municipal government, the organizational structure of the municipal government and the way to supervise the municipal government.

(2) Power is generated by election

Parties in Western countries dominate the city's decision-making power by running for city council seats; electees dominate the city's administrative power by being elected as mayors . The vast majority of mayors and city councilors in Western countries are members of a certain political party and hold office after election. However, there are also a small number of mayors and city councilors who took office after running as independents because some voters were tired of party politics. Mayors and city councilors belong to a political party and engage in politics on behalf of that party, making their actions subject to the party's platform, organization and discipline. On the surface, whether the mayor and city councilors are elected is decided by the voters. In fact, due to reasons such as campaign funds, media opinion guidance and ownership structure, their election is mainly decided by the rich.

(3) Powers are responsible to voters and mutual checks and balances

Mayors, city councilors and municipal judges are generally directly elected by voters, and administrative, legislative and judicial powers are each responsible to voters. , mutual checks and balances. In order to follow the so-called "judicial independence" principle, most judges in cities in Western countries are elected by citizens. In cities in the United States, Germany and Japan that implement the mayor-council system, the mayor and city councilors are elected by citizens respectively, and the mayor is not responsible to the city council. In terms of content, since universal suffrage and elections in Western countries are mainly controlled by the rich, on the surface mayors, councilors and city judges are elected by citizens, but in fact they are decided by those with more wealth; on the surface they are responsible for Voters are responsible, in fact, for those with more wealth. But from a formal point of view, the mayor, city councilors and city judges are all elected by citizens and belong to a direct democracy; they are directly responsible to the voters, which is better than the mayor and city judges who are directly responsible to the city council and indirectly responsible to the voters; cities The decision-making power, administrative power and judicial power are mutually checked and balanced, which is in line with the political law that "unrestricted power will lead to corruption".

(4) Independent and equal local governments

In Western countries, except for a very few large urban areas, most cities do not have jurisdiction over districts and counties, cities and counties, townships and towns. The government is an independent and equal local government. The reason why districts and counties are not under jurisdiction is first of all because the population of most cities is small, ranging from tens to hundreds of thousands. Similar to county-level cities in my country, there is no need to set up municipal districts. Secondly, as the population size of a few large cities expands, the urban population migrates to the suburbs, and the satellite towns of large cities increase. After the population of these satellite towns reaches a certain size, separate cities or towns are established, which are separate from the administrative regions of large cities. Detach. Again because of the tradition of local autonomy. From a historical perspective, counties existed before cities and had traditional local self-government powers. With the development of urbanization, cities and towns continue to appear within the jurisdiction of the county and are separated from the jurisdiction of the county. However, the county still mainly represents the interests of rural residents. It will not agree to be under the jurisdiction of the city, further reducing the original local autonomy authority.

(5) Urban interest groups are influential

The laws of Western countries allow interest groups registered with the government to carry out lobbying activities to the city council and municipal government. Interest groups in cities are relatively active, which limits the influence of political party organizations on national institutions in cities.

The role of interest groups in the municipal system is reflected in: reflecting their own interest requirements to the city's political party organizations and national institutions; mobilizing voters to support the candidates of the political party organizations to run for mayor, city councilors and city judges; guiding members of the interest groups to support and support City council resolutions, city government orders and municipal court decisions that are in their own interests; organization members use various forms to protest against decisions of city state agencies that are not in their own interests. Rich interest groups such as chambers of commerce and farmers’ associations dominate the city’s political party organizations and state institutions; while the city’s state institutions realize the interests of trade unions, women’s groups, teachers’ associations and consumer associations to a certain extent. The expression of group interests helps to alleviate the social contradictions of capitalism.

2. Characteristics of my country’s municipal system:

① The municipal system of cities across the country is relatively unified;

② The *** Municipal Party Committee is at the core of leadership in the municipal system status;

③The municipal government, municipal court, and municipal procuratorate are responsible to the Municipal People’s Congress and its Standing Committee;

④Social groups play an important participatory role in the municipal system;

⑤The city has absolute leadership over the districts and counties.