World Political Systems

7/27/2019 World Political Systems

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Sr. No. Country Head of the State

1 United States of America President

2 Cuba President

3 Brazil President


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4 United Kingdom Constituional Monarch

5 Switzerland President


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6 France president


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7 Germany president

8 Russia President


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9 Japan prime minister

10 Iran Supreme Leader of Iran


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11 Israel President

12 South Afrcia president


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13 Australia monarchy(Queen Elizabeth II)

14 China President


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15 India President


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Profile of the Country

Population - More than 300 Million, 50 states. Disputes between the agrarian Southand industrial North over the expansion of the institution of slavery and states' rights

provoked the Civil War of the 1860s. The North's victory prevented a permanent splitof the country and led to the end of legal slavery in the United States. By the 1870s, its

national economy was the world's largest. The SpanishAmerican War and World War

I confirmed the country's status as a military power. It emerged from World War II as

the first country with nuclear weapons and a permanent member of the United NationsSecurity Council. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union leftthe United States as the sole superpower. The country accounts for 41% of globalmilitary spending and is a leading economic, political, and cultural force in the world.

Population-11.2Million, Official language: Spanish, Officially the Republic of Cuba is anisland country in the Caribbean. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country'scapital. To the north of Cuba lies the United States (90 miles away) and the Bahamas,Mexico is to the west.Cuba has a 99.8% literacy rate,an infant death rate lower than

some developed countries, and an average life expectancy of 77.64.

Brazil is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, bothby geographical area and by population with over 192 million people. It is the onlyPortuguese-speaking country in the Americas.


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The United Kingdom consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotlandand Wales. There are three devolved national administrations, each with varying

powers based in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh, the capitals of Northern Ireland,Wales and Scotland respectively. Associated with the UK, but not constitutionally partof it, are three Crown Dependencies. The United Kingdom has fourteen overseasterritories. These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in 1922,encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empirein history.

Population-7.8million, Landlocked country. in its full name the Swiss Confederation isa federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal

authorities. The Swiss Confederation has a long history of neutralityit has not been

in a state of war internationally since 1815and did not join the United Nations until

2002.Switzerland comprises three main linguistic and cultural regions: German,

French, and Italian, to which the Romansh-speaking valleys are added.


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Franceofficially theFrench Republic is aunitarysemi-presidentialrepublic inWesternEuropewith severaloverseas territories and islandslocated on othercontinentsand in

theIndian,Pacific, andAtlanticoceans.France has its main ideals expressed in theDeclaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The French Republic is defined asindivisible, secular, democratic and social by its constitution. France is one of theworld's most developed countries,it possesses the world's fifth largest economymeasured by GDP, the ninth-largest economy measured by purchasing power parityand is Europe's second largest economy by nominal GDP. France is the wealthiestEuropean (and the world's 4th) nation[20] in aggregate household wealth. Franceenjoys a high standard of living as well as a high public education level, and has alsoone of the world's highest life expectancies. France has been listed as the world's"best overall health care" provider by the World Health Organization.


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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany is a federal parliamentaryrepublic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city

is Berlin. It has the world's fourth largest economy by nominal GDP and the fifth largestby purchasing power parity. It is the second largest exporter and third largest importerof goods. The country has developed a very high standard of living and acomprehensive system of social security.population-82million

Russia has the world's 11th largest economy by nominal GDP or the 6th largest bypurchasing power parity, with the 5th largest nominal military budget. It is one of the

five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile ofweapons of mass destruction. Russia is a great power and a permanent member ofthe United Nations Security Council

population-142.9million


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Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honsh,

Hokkaid, Kysh and Shikoku, together accounting for ninety-seven percent of

Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 millionpeople. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo andseveral surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over30 million residents.A major economic power,Japan has the world's third-largesteconomy by nominal GDP and fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It isalso the world's fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer.

Iran officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is the 18th largest country in the world interms of area at 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 79million.It is a country of particular geopolitical significance owing to its location in the

Middle East and central Eurasia. In 1953 Iran became an authoritarian regime,following a coup d'tat instigated by the UK and US. Growing dissent with foreigninfluence culminated during the Iranian Revolution which led to establishment of an

Islamic republic on 1 April 1979.


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The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic in the Middle East. Israel is definedas a Jewish and Democratic State in its Basic Laws and is the world's only Jewish-

majority state.Israel is a developed country, an OECD member,and a representativedemocracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universalsuffrage.The economy, based on the nominal gross domestic product, was the 41st-largest in the world in 2010,with a very high standard of living, which is the highest inthe Middle East.population-7.7million

South Africa is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by theWorld Bank,one of only four countries in Africa in this category (the others being

Botswana,GabonandMauritius).It has the largest economy in Africa, and the 28th-largest in the world.About a quarter of the population is unemployedand lives on lessthanUS$1.25 a day.


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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country inthe Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent as well

as the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and PacificOceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. A highly developedcountry, Australia is the world's 13th-largest economy and has the world's fifth-highestper capita income. Australia's military expenditure is the world's 13th-largest. With thesecond-highest human development index globally.population-21million

Officially thePeople's Republic of China(PRC), is the world'smost-populous

countrywitha population of over 1.3billion. TheEast Asianstate coversapproximately 9.6million square kilometres (3.7million square miles) in total area andis the world'ssecond-largest country by land area,and thethird- or fourth-largest intotal area, depending on the definition of total area.Since the introduction of market-based economic reforms in 1978, China has become the world's fastest-growing majoreconomy.As of 2012, it is the world's second-largest economy, after the United States,by both nominal GDP and purchasing power parity (PPP), and is also the world'slargest exporter and second-largest importer of goods.


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seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populouscountry with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world.


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Constitutional System

The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation. It is a constitutionalrepublic and representative democracy, "in which majority rule is tempered by

minority rights protected by law".The government is regulated by a system ofchecks and balances defined by the U.S. Constitution, which serves as thecountry's supreme legal document. In the American federalist system, citizens areusually subject to three levels of government, federal, state, and local; the local

government's duties are commonly split between county and municipalgovernments.

Presidential System, The Constitution of 1976, which defined Cuba as a socialistrepublic, was replaced by the Constitution of 1992, which is guided by the ideas ofJos Mart, Marx, Engels and Lenin. The constitution describes the CommunistParty of Cuba as the "leading force of society and of the state".

The Brazilian Federation is the "indissoluble union" of three distinct politicalentities: the States, the Municipalities and the Federal District. The Union, thestates and the Federal District, and the municipalities, are the "spheres ofgovernment." The Federation is set on five fundamental principles: sovereignty,citizenship, dignity of human beings, the social values of labour and freedom ofenterprise, and political pluralism. The classic tripartite branches of government(executive, legislative, and judicial under the checks and balances system), isformally established by the Constitution. The executive and legislative areorganized independently in all three spheres of government, while the judiciary isorganized only at the federal and state/Federal District spheres.


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The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchyand a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of

London. The United Kingdom has anuncodified constitution. TheConstitution ofthe United Kingdomthus consists mostly of a collection of disparate writtensources, includingstatutes, judge-madecase lawand international treaties,together withconstitutional conventions. As there is no technical differencebetween ordinary statutes and "constitutional law" theUK Parliamentcan perform"constitutional reform" simply by passingActs of Parliamentand thus has thepolitical power to change or abolish almost any written or unwritten element of theconstitution. However, no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannotchange.

Presidential System: The Federal Constitution adopted in 1848 is the legalfoundation of the modern federal state. It is among the oldest constitutions in theworld. A new Constitution was adopted in 1999, but did not introduce notablechanges to the federal structure. It outlines basic and political rights of individualsand citizen participation in public affairs, divides the powers between the

Confederation and the cantons and defines federal jurisdiction and authority.There are three main governing bodies on the federal level. the bicameralparliament (legislative), the Federal Council (executive) and the Federal Court.


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Presidential System


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Presidential System

Presidential System

According to the Constitution of Russia, the country is a federation and semi-presidential republic, wherein the President is the head of state[87] and the PrimeMinister is the head of government.


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parliamentaryrepresentative democraticmonarchy, where Prime Minister ofJapan is thehead of government.

Presidential System. The Leader of the Revolution is responsible for delineationand supervision of the general policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran.TheSupreme Leader is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, controls the military

intelligence and security operations; and has sole power to declare war orpeace.The heads of the judiciary, state radio and television networks, thecommanders of the police and military forces and six of the twelve members of

the Guardian Council are appointed by the Supreme Leader.The Assembly ofExperts elects and dismisses the Supreme Leader on the basis of qualificationsand popular esteem.The Assembly of Experts is responsible for supervising theSupreme Leader in the performance of legal duties.


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Israel operates under aparliamentary systemas a democratic republicwithuniversal suffrage.Amember of parliamentsupported by a parliamentary

majority becomes the prime ministerusually this is the chair of the largest party.

The prime minister is thehead of governmentand head of thecabinet.Israel isgoverned by a 120-member parliament, known as theKnesset. Membership of theKnesset is based onproportional representationofpolitical parties,with a2%electoral threshold, which in practice has resulted in coalition governments.

TheRepublic of South Africais a constitutional democracywith a three-tier system of government and an independentjudiciary, operating in

a nearly unique system that combines aspectsofparliamentaryandpresidentialsystems.
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Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political systemwhich functions as a federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional

monarchy. The federation comprises six states and several territories.

Single-party socialist republic.

The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by theCommunist Party of China.


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India is a federation with a parliamentary system governed under the

Constitution of India, which serves as the country's supreme legal document. It is

a constitutional republic and representative democracy, in which "majority

rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law". Federalism in India definesthe power distribution between the federal government and the states. Thegovernment abides by constitutional checks and balances. The Constitution ofIndia, which came into effect on 26 January 1950, states in its preamble that India

is a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. India's form of government,traditionally described as "quasi-federal" with a strong centre and weak states, hasgrown increasingly federal since the late 1990s as a result of political, economic,and social changes


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Government

The Federal Govt. is comprised of three branches, Legislative:The bicameral Congress, made up of the Senate (100

members)and the House of Representatives (435), makesfederal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the power ofthe purse, and has the power of impeachment, by which it canremove sitting members of the government.

Executive: The president is the commander-in-chief of themilitary, can veto legislative bills before they become law, andappoints the members of the Cabinet (subject to Senateapproval) and other officers, who administer and enforcefederal laws and policies.Judicial: The Supreme Court and lower federal courts, whosejudges are appointed by the president with Senate approval,interpret laws and overturn those they find unconstitutional.

The First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba isconcurrently President of the Council of State (President ofCuba) and President of the Council of Ministers (sometimesreferred to as Premier of Cuba). Members of both councils are

elected by the National Assembly of People's Power. ThePresident of Cuba, who is also elected by the Assembly,serves for five years and there is no limit to the number ofterms of office.

The form of government is that of a democratic republic, witha presidential system. The president is both head of state andhead of government of the Union and is elected for a four-yearterm, with the possibility of re-election for a second successiveterm.


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QueenElizabeth IIis the head of state of the UK as well as offifteen other independentCommonwealth countries. The

monarch itself is symbolic rather than political, and only has"the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, and the rightto warn".Thecabinetis traditionally drawn from members ofthe Prime Minister's party in both legislative houses, andmostly from the House of Commons, to whichthey areresponsible. Executive power is exercised by the primeminister and cabinet, all of whom are sworn into thePrivyCouncil of the United Kingdom, and becomeMinisters of theCrown.

There are three main governing bodies on the federallevel.thebicameralparliament (legislative), theFederalCouncil(executive) and theFederal Court(judicial). TheFederal Council constitutes the federal government, directsthe federal administration and serves as collective Head of

State. It is a collegial body of seven members, elected for afour-year mandate by the Federal Assembly which alsoexercises oversight over the Council. The President of theConfederation is elected by the Assembly from among the

seven members, traditionally in rotation and for a one-yearterm; the President chairs the government and assumesrepresentative functions. However, the president is a primusinter pares with no additional powers, and remains the head ofa department within the administration.


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The French Republic is aunitarysemi-presidentialrepublicwith strong democratic traditions.Theconstitutionof the Fifth

Republic was approved byreferendumon 28 September1958.It greatly strengthened the authority of the executive inrelation toparliament. The executive branch itself has twoleaders: thePresident of the Republic,who ishead ofstateand is elected directly by universal adult suffrage for a 5-year term (formerly 7 years),and the Government, led by thepresident-appointedPrime Minister.


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TheFederal Republic of Germanyisafederalparliamentaryrepublic, based onrepresentative

democracy. TheChancelloris thehead of government, whilethePresident of Germanyis thehead of state, which is aceremonial role with substantialreserve powers.Executivepoweris vested in theFederal Cabinet (Bundesregierung),and federallegislative poweris vested in theBundestag(theparliament ofGermany) and theBundesrat(the representativebody of theLnder, Germany's regional states).

The Government of the Russian Federation exercisesexecutive power in the Russian Federation. The members of

the government are the prime minister (Chairman of theGovernment), the deputy prime ministers, and the federalministers.The prime minister is appointed by the president of

the Russian Federation and confirmed by the State Duma. Heor she succeeds to the presidency if the current presidentdies, is incapacitated, or resigns. Legislative power is vestedin the two chambers of the Federal Assembly of the RussianFederation, while the President and the government issuenumerous legally binding by-laws.


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Japan is aconstitutional monarchywhere the power of theEmperoris very limited. As a ceremonial figurehead, he is

defined by theconstitutionas "the symbol of the state and ofthe unity of the people". Power is held chiefly by thePrimeMinister of Japanand other elected members of the Diet,while sovereignty is vested in the Japanese people.The PrimeMinister of Japan is the head of government and is appointedby the Emperor after being designated by the Diet from amongits members. The Prime Minister is the head of the Cabinetand appoints and dismisses the Ministers of State.

After the Supreme Leader, the Constitution defines thePresident of Iran as the highest state authority.The Presidentis elected by universal suffrage for a term of four years and

can only be re-elected for one term.Presidential candidatesmust be approved by the Guardian Council prior torunning.The President appoints and supervises the Council of

Ministers, coordinates government decisions, and selectsgovernment policies to be placed before the legislature.EightVice-Presidents serve under the President, as well as acabinet of twenty two ministers, who must all be approved bythe legislature.


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Israel operates under a parliamentary system as a democraticrepublic with universal suffrage.A member of parliament

supported by a parliamentary majority becomes the prime

ministerusually this is the chair of the largest party. The

prime minister is the head of government and head of thecabinet. Israel is governed by a 120-member parliament,known as the Knesset. Membership of the Knesset is basedon proportional representation of political parties,with a 2%electoral threshold, which in practice has resulted in coalitiongovernments.Parliamentary elections are scheduled every four years, butunstable coalitions or a no-confidence vote by the Knesset candissolve a government earlier. The Basic Laws of Israelfunction as an uncodified constitution. In 2003, the Knesset

began to draft an official constitution based on these laws.The president of Israel is head of state, with limited and largelyceremonial duties.

South Africa is aparliamentary republic, although unlikemost such republics thePresidentis bothhead of

stateandhead of government, and depends for his tenure ontheconfidenceofParliament. The executive, legislature andjudiciary are all subject to the supremacy of theConstitution,

and the superior courts have the power to strike downexecutive actions and acts of Parliament if they areunconstitutional.After each parliamentary election, the NationalAssembly elects one of its members as President; hence thePresident serves a term of office the same as that of theAssembly, normally five years. No President may serve morethan two terms in office. The President appoints a DeputyPresident and Ministers, who form the Cabinet. The President

and the Cabinet may be removed by the National Assembly bya motion of no confidence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nicolas_Sarkozy_(2008).jpg


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Australia is aconstitutional monarchywith afederaldivision of powers. It uses aparliamentary systemof

government withQueen Elizabeth IIat its apex as theQueenof Australia, a role that is distinct from her position as monarchof the otherCommonwealth realms. The Queen resides in theUnited Kingdom, and she is represented by her viceroys inAustralia (theGovernor-Generalat the federal level and bytheGovernorsat the state level), who by convention act on theadvice of her ministers. Supreme executive authority is vestedby theConstitution of Australiain the sovereign, but the powerto exercise it is conferred by the Constitution specifically to theGovernor-General.

The primary organs of state power are the National People'sCongress (NPC), the President, and the State Council.Members of the State Council include the Premier, a variablenumber of vice premiers (now four), five state councilors(protocol equal of vice premiers but with narrower portfolios),and 29 ministers and heads of State Council commissions.

During the 1980s there was an attempt made to separateparty and state functions, with the party deciding general policyand the state carrying it out. The attempt was abandoned inthe 1990s with the result that the political leadership within thestate are also the leaders of the party, thereby creating a

single centralized locus of power.

Under the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, theNPC is the highest organ of state power in China. It meetsannually for about 2 weeks to review and approve major new

policy directions, laws, the budget, and major personnelchanges. Most national legislation in China is adopted by theStanding Committee of the National People's Congress. Mostinitiatives are presented to the NPCSC for consideration by theState Council after previous endorsement by the CommunistParty's Politburo Standing Committee. Although the NPCgenerally approves State Council policy and personnelrecommendations, the NPC and its standing committee hasincreasingly asserted its role as the national legislature andhas been able to force revisions in some laws.


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The federal government comprises three branches:

Executive: The President of India is the head of state and is

elected indirectly by a national electoral college for a five-yearterm.The Prime Minister of India is the head of governmentand exercises most executive power.Appointed by thepresident,the prime minister is by convention supported by the

party or political alliance holding the majority of seats in thelower house of parliament.The executive branch of the Indiangovernment consists of the president, the vice-president, and

the Council of Ministersthe cabinet being its executive

committeeheaded by the prime minister. The prime minister

and his council directly responsible to the lower house of theparliament.

Legislative: The legislature of India is the bicameral

parliament.It operates under a Westminster-styleparliamentary system and comprises the upper house calledthe Rajya Sabha ("Council of States") and the lower called theLok Sabha ("House of the People").The Rajya Sabha is a

permanent body that has 245 members who serve instaggered six-year terms.Most are elected indirectly by the

state and territorial legislatures in numbers proportional to theirstate's share of the national population.All but two of the LokSabha's 545 members are directly elected by popular vote;they represent individual constituencies via five-yearterms.The remaining two members are nominated by thepresident from among the Anglo-Indian community, in casethe president decides that they are not adequatelyrepresented.

Judiciary: India has a unitary three-tier judiciary, consisting of


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Party System

Two Party : Democratic Party and Republican Party. For elective offices atmost levels, state-administered primary elections choose the major party

nominees for subsequent general elections. Since the general election of 1856,the major parties have been the Democratic Party, founded in 1824, and theRepublican Party, founded in 1854. Since the Civil War, only one third-party

presidential candidateformer president Theodore Roosevelt, running as a

Progressive in 1912has won as much as 20% of the popular vote.Within American political culture, the Republican Party is considered center-right or conservative and the Democratic Party is considered center-left orliberal. The states of the Northeast and West Coast and some of the GreatLakes states, known as "blue states", are relatively liberal. The "red states" ofthe South and parts of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains are relativelyconservative.

Nopolitical partyis permitted to nominate candidates or campaign on theisland, though the Communist Party of Cuba has held six party congressmeetings since 1975. In 2011, the party stated that there were 800,000members, and representatives generally constitute at least half of the Councils

of state and the National Assembly. The remaining positions are filled bycandidates nominally without party affiliation. Other political parties campaignand raise finances internationally, while activity within Cuba byoppositiongroupsis minimal and illegal.

Brazil has amulti-party systemfor most of its history. Voting is compulsory forthe literate between 18 and 70 years old and optional for illiterates and thosebetween 16 and 18 or beyond 70.Together with several smaller parties, fourpolitical parties stand out:Workers' Party(PT),Brazilian Social DemocracyParty(PSDB),Brazilian Democratic Movement Party(PMDB),andDemocrats(DEM).


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Multi-party system.Three Major Political parties- Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrats.

The Swiss government has been a coalition of the four major political partiessince 1959, each party having a number of seats that roughly reflects its shareof electorate and representation in the federal parliament. The classicdistribution of 2 CVP/PDC, 2 SPS/PSS, 2 FDP/PRD and 1 SVP/UDC as itstood from 1959 to 2003 was known as the "magic formula". In the2007

Federal Council electionsthe seven seats in the Federal Council weredistributed as follows: 2Social Democrats (SPS/PSS), 2Liberal Democrats(FDP/PRD), 2Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), 1Christian Democrats(CVP/PDC).


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French politics are characterised by two politically opposed groupings: oneleft-wing, centred around theFrench Socialist Party, and the other right-wing,

centred previously around theRassemblement pour la Rpublique (RPR)andnow its successor theUnion for a Popular Movement (UMP).The executivebranch is currently composed mostly of the UMP.


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There is a multi-party system. Since 1949, the party system has beendominated by the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party

of Germany with all chancellors hitherto being member of either party.However, the smaller liberal Free Democratic Party (which has had membersin the Bundestag since 1949) and the Alliance '90/The Greens (which hascontrolled seats in parliament since 1983) have also played important roles

Russia has a multi-party system with one dominant party (United Russia).Presently there are four parties that make up the federal parliament, the State

Duma:.United Russia. Communist Party of the Russian Federation

.Liberal Democratic Party of Russia

.A Just Russia


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For many years Japan was a one party dominant state until 1993 with theLiberal Democratic Party as the ruling party. They lost office and then soon

regained power. The 2009 elections handed the first non-LDP victory to theDemocratic Party of Japan. Due to the majoritarian parallel voting system it isunlikely that Japan will develop a multi-party system, but there is speculationthat after 2009, Japan will develop a two-party system.

After the banning of the last two Opposition parties in 1983, parties andcandidates usually have operated in loose alignments within two maincoalitions, the conservative (osool-garayan) and the reformist (eslah-talaban)

both of them coming from the former single-party Islamic Republic Party. Since2009, only the conservatives have been allowed to participate and prominentreformist parties have been banned and their members jailed.


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multi party

(Politics of Israel is dominated by Zionist parties. Theytraditionally fall into three camps, the first two being the largest: Labor Zionism(social democrat), Revisionist Zionism (conservative) and Religious Zionism.There are also several non-Zionist Orthodox religious parties, non-Zionist left-wing groups, as well as non-Zionist and anti-Zionist Israeli Arab parties.)

Since the end of apartheid in 1994, South African politics have beendominated by the African National Congress (ANC), which has been the

dominant party with 6070% of the vote. The main challenger to the rule of the

ANC is the Democratic Alliance. The National Party, which ruled from 1948 to1994, renamed itself in 1997 to the New National Party, and chose to merge

with the ANC in 2005. Other major political parties represented in Parliamentare the Congress of the People, which split from the ANC and won 7.4% of thevote in 2009, and the Inkatha Freedom Party, which mainly represents Zuluvoters and took 4.6% of the vote in the 2009 election.


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There are two major political groups that usually form government, federallyand in the states: theAustralian Labor Party, and theCoalitionwhich is a

formal grouping of theLiberal Partyand its minor partner, theNational

Party.Independent members and several minor partiesincluding

the Greens and theAustralian Democratshave achieved representation in

Australian parliaments, mostly in upper houses.

The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by theCommunist Party of China.There are other political parties in China, referredto in China as democratic parties, which participate in the National People'sCongress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference(CPPCC).

While universal franchise is guaranteed in principle by the Constitution, inpractice the Communist Party of China maintains full control of the entireelectoral process. In practice, only members of the Communist Party of China,eight allied parties (the "democratic parties"), and sympathetic independentcandidates are ever elected in any election beyond the local village level.


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A parliamentary republic with a multi-party system, it has fiverecognised national parties, including the Indian National Congress and the

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and more than 40 regional parties.


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Electoral Process

The House of Representatives has 435 voting members,each representing acongressional districtfor a two-year

term. House seats areapportionedamong the states bypopulation every tenth year. As of the2000 census, sevenstates have the minimum of one representative, whileCalifornia, the most populous state, has fifty-three. The

Senate has 100 members with each state having twosenators, electedat-largeto six-year terms; one third ofSenate seats are up for election every other year. Thepresident serves a four-year term and may be elected to theofficeno more than twice. The president isnot elected bydirect vote, but by an indirectelectoral college system inwhich the determining votes are apportioned to the statesand theDistrict of Columbia.

Members of both councils are elected by the NationalAssembly of People's Power. The President of Cuba, who isalso elected by the Assembly, serves for five years andthere is no limit to the number of terms of office.

All members of the executive and legislative branches aredirectly elected.


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For elections to the House of Commons, the UK is currentlydivided into650 constituencieswith each electing a single

member of parliament bysimple plurality. General electionsare called by the monarch when the prime minister soadvises. TheParliament Acts 1911 and 1949require that anew election must be called within five years of the previousgeneral election.

TheSwiss Parliamentconsists of two houses: theCouncil ofStateswhich has 46 representatives (two from each cantonand one from each half-canton) who are elected under asystem determined by each canton, and theNationalCouncil, which consists of 200 members who are elected

under a system ofproportional representation, dependingon the population of each canton. Members of both housesserve for 4 years. When both houses are in joint session,they are known collectively as theFederal Assembly.

Through referendums, citizens may challenge any lawpassed by parliament and throughinitiatives, introduceamendments to the federal constitution, thus makingSwitzerland adirect democracy.


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France elects on its national level a head of state

the president and a legislature. The president of France is

directly elected by universal suffrage in two stages of voting.All parties take part in the first round, usually promoting theirown candidates. However, presidential hopefuls arerequired to present 500 endorsements signed by electedofficials in order to secure a place on the ballot. If nocandidate obtains an absolute majority of all valid votes castin the first round, then the top two candidates qualify for arunoff election, in which the candidate with the largestnumber of votes is elected to office for a term of five years.

The Parliament (Parlement) has two chambers:

.The National Assembly (Assemble Nationale) has 577

members, elected for a five-year term in single seat-constituencies directly by the citizens.The NationalAssembly is composed of 577 members elected every five

years in single-member constituencies by the runoff votingsystem. Candidates who obtain both an absolute majority ofvalid votes cast and a vote total equal to at least one quarter

of the registered electorate are elected in the first round.Otherwise, a runoff election is held among candidatespolling a number of votes greater than or equal to one-eight(12.5%) of the electorate; if fewer than two candidates meetthis requirement, the runoff is held between the top twocandidates. In the second round, the candidate that obtainsthe largest number of votes is elected to office.

.The Senate has 348 members, 328 of which are elected

for six-year terms by an electoral college consisting ofelected representatives from each dpartement, 8 of whichare elected from other dependencies, and 12 of which areelected by the French Assembly of French Citizens Abroad


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The Parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG)consists of a lower house, the Bundestag, whose members

are directly elected by universal adult suffrage, and an upperhouse, theBundesrat, composed of representatives

appointed by theLnder.The Bundestag is composed of

598 members elected for a four-year term of office.Thecomposition of the Bundestag is determined by the Mixed

Member Proportional (MMP) system - also known aspersonalized proportional representation - which combineselements of the single-member constituency plurality systemwith PR. Under this system, the country is divided into anumber of single-member constituencies (Wahlkreisen)equal to half the total amount of seats in the Bundestag.Each German casts two votes, namely a first vote(Erststimme) for a constituency candidate, and a secondvote (Zweitstimme) for a party list. Party lists are closed, so

electors may not choose individual candidates in or alter theorder of such lists. Of the two votes, the second vote is themost important, since it is the one that determines thecomposition of the Bundestag.

On the federal level, Russia elects a president as head ofstate and a legislature, one of the two chambers of the

Federal Assembly. The president is elected for, at most, twoconsecutive six-year terms by the people (raised from fouryears from December 2008).The Federal Assembly

(Federalnoe Sobranie) has two chambers. The State Duma(Gosudarstvennaja Duma) has 450 members, elected forfive-year terms (also four years up to December 2008), all ofthem by proportional representation.The Federation Council(Sovet Federatsii) is not directly elected; each of the 83federal subjects of Russia sends 2 delegates to the FederalCouncil, for a total of 166 members.


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The Japanese political system hasthree types ofelections:general elections to theHouse of

Representativesheld every four years (unless the lowerhouse is dissolved earlier), elections to theHouse ofCouncillorsheld every three years to choose one-half of itsmembers, and local elections held every four years foroffices in prefectures, cities, and villages.At national level,the Diet (Kokkai) has two chambers. TheHouse of Representatives (Shugi-in) has 480 members,elected for a four year term, 300 members in single-seatconstituencies and 180 members by proportionalrepresentation in 11 block districts. In this system, eachvoter votes twice, once for a candidate in the localconstituency, and once for a party, each of which has a list

of candidates for each block district. The localconstituencies are decided by plurality, and the block seatsare then handed out to the parties proportionally (by theD'Hondt method) to their share of the vote, who then appointmembers from their lists. Often the parties assign the blockseats to unsuccessful single-seat candidates.

The House of Councillors (Sangi-in) has 242 members,elected for a six year term, 146 members in multi-seatconstituencies (prefectures) and 96 by proportional

representation on the national level. Half of the House ofCouncillors comes up for election every three years.

After the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the Senate wasabolished and the Iranian legislature thus becameunicameral. In the 1989 revision of the constitution, the

National Consultative Assembly became the IslamicConsultative Assembly. The Iranian Parliament or People'sHouse, is the national legislative body of Iran. The

Parliament currently has 290 representatives, changed fromthe previous 272 seats since the 18 February 2000 election.


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The parliament of the State of Israel, the Knesset, iscomposed of 120 members directly elected by universal

adult suffrage for a four-year term of office. Knesset seatsare filled by proportional representation (PR) in a single,countrywide electoral constituency. Political parties oralignments of two or more parties submit lists of candidates,and may form surplus vote agreements, that is combinetheir lists for the distribution of Knesset seats. The lists areclosed, so voters may not choose individual candidates in oralter the order of such lists. Voters cast a ballot for a singlelist.

Knesset seats are distributed on a nationwide basis amongparty lists that pass a qualifying threshold, originally equal to

one percent of the vote, and subsequently raised to 1.5% (in1992) and two percent (in 2006). The number of votes wonby each qualifying list is divided by an electoral quota,calculated by dividing the total number of votes cast forqualifying lists by 120 (the number of Knesset seats), andthe result of this division, disregarding fractions, is the initial

number of seats obtained by each list. Any seats thatremain unallocated after the application of the electoralquota are distributed among lists or combination of lists

according to the largest average method

Elections in South Africa take place on national, provincial,and local levels. South Africa is a multi-party democracy

with the African National Congress in power with asignificant majority since 1994. A system of proportionalrepresentation, incorporating party lists, is in place which

makes it possible for small parties to achieve representationin parliament.

The parliament has two chambers, and elects the president.The National Assembly has 400 members, elected for a fiveyear term. The National Council of Provinces has 90members, elected for a five year term by the provincialparliaments. The National Assembly and Provincial Councils

are elected when General Elections are held.


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Australia is by far the most well established and best knownexample ofAlternative Vote (AV) in action. The system was introducedby the Nationalist government in Australia in 1918 to replacethe existing first-past-the-post (FPTP) system after it

became clear that several aligned conservative candidatesall standing in the same electorate could split their votebetween them under first-past-the-post, thus handing victoryto the less popular but more disciplined Labor Party forces.Its introduction was thus intimately related to the need tocounter the possibilities of vote splitting and to encourageand reward collaboration or coalition arrangements betweenparties. This ability to aggregate aligned interests, ratherthan divide them, has long been a (largely unrecognised)

feature of Australian electoral politics, but it has not beenuntil relatively recently that the full potential of preferencedistribution as an instrument for influencing policy decisions

has been made clear.The Chinese electoral system is hierarchical, wherebylocal People's Congresses are directly elected, and allhigher levels of People's Congresses up to the NationalPeople's Congress are indirectly elected by the People'sCongress of the level immediately below.

Governors, mayors, and heads of counties, districts,townships and towns in turn elected by the respective localPeople's Congresses.[2] Presidents of people's courts andchief procurators of people's procuratorates are elected bythe respective local People's Congresses above the county

level.[2] The President and the State Council are elected bythe National People's Congress.

There have been some moves toward political liberalization,in that open contested elections are now held at the village

and town levels, and that legislatures have shown someassertiveness from time to time. However, the Party retainseffective control over government appointments: in theabsence of meaningful opposition, the CPC wins by defaultmost of the time.


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The Parliament of India comprises the head of state the

president of India and the two Houses which are the

legislature. The President of India is elected for a five-yearterm by an electoral college consisting of members offederal and state legislatures. Parliament of India has twochambers. The House of the People (Lok Sabha) has 548members, 543 members elected for a five-year term insingle-seat constituencies and two members appointed torepresent the Anglo-Indian community (as envisaged by theConstitution of India, as of now the members of Lok Sabhaare 545, out of which 543 are elected for 5-year term and 2members represent the Anglo-Indian community). The 550members are elected under the plurality ('first past the post')electoral system.

Council of States (Rajya Sabha) has 245 members, 233members elected for a six-year term, with one-third retiringevery two years. The members are indirectly elected, thisbeing achieved by the votes of legislators in the state andunion (federal) territories. The elected members are chosenunder the system of proportional representation by means of

the Single Transferable Vote. The twelve nominatedmembers are usually an eclectic mix of eminent artists(including actors), scientists, jurists, sportspersons,

businessmen and journalists and common people.


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Remarks

TheElectoral Collegeconsists of the electors appointed by each state who

formally elect thePresidentandVice President of the United States. Since 1964,there have been 538 electors in each presidential election.Article II, Section 1,Clause 2of the Constitution specifies how many electors each state is entitled tohave and that each state's legislature decides how its electors are to bechosen.U.S. territoriesare not represented in the Electoral College. The Electoral

College is an example of anindirect election, as opposed to adirectelectionbyUnited States citizens(such as for members of theUnited States Houseof Representatives). The voters of each state, and theDistrict of Columbia, vote forelectors to be the authorized constitutional participants in a presidential election.Electors are free to vote for anyone eligible to be President, but in practice pledge tovote for specific candidates and voters cast ballots for favored presidential and vicepresidential candidates by voting for correspondingly pledged electors.

Single party regime since 1959 led by Fedel Castro and now by his brother RaulCastro.

Fifteen political parties are represented in Congress. It is common for politicians toswitch parties, and thus the proportion of congressional seats held by particularparties changes regularly. The largest political parties are theWorkers' Party(PT),Democrats (DEM), Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB-center),BrazilianSocial Democratic Party(PSDB), Progressive Party (PP), Brazilian Labor Party(PTB), Liberal Party (PL), Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), Popular Socialist Party(PPS), Democratic Labor Party (PDT), and the Communist Party of Brazil(PCdoB).[167]


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The UK is adeveloped countryand has the world'ssixth-largest economy. It wasthe world's first industrialised countryand the world'sforemost powerduring the

19th and early 20th centuries. The UK remains agreat powerwith leadingeconomic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence.It isarecognisednuclear weapons stateand itsmilitary expenditure ranks third orfourthin the world.The UK has been apermanent memberof theUnitedNationsSecurity Councilsince its first session in 1946.

Swiss citizens are subject to three legal jurisdictions: the commune, canton andfederal levels. The 1848 federal constitution defines a system of direct democracy(sometimes called half-direct or representative direct democracy since it is aided bythe more commonplace institutions of a parliamentary democracy). The instrumentsof Swiss direct democracy at the federal level, known as civic rights (Volksrechte,

droits civiques), include the right to submit a constitutional initiative and areferendum, both of which may overturn parliamentary decisions. By calling afederalreferenduma group of citizens may challenge a law that has been passedby Parliament, if they can gather 50,000 signatures against the law within 100 days.

If so, a national vote is scheduled where voters decide by asimple majoritywhetherto accept or reject the law. Eight cantons together can also call a referendum on afederal law.


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Under the runoff system, a simple majority in the first round does not guaranteevictory in the second round: in 1974, 1981 and 1995, the winner of the first round of

presidential balloting went down to defeat in the runoff election.


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The constitutional and electoral arrangements in the Federal Republic ofGermany have as their fundamental goal the safeguarding of democracy against a

recurrence of totalitarianism, Nazi or otherwise. There were several reasons forwhich the Weimar Republic of 1919-33 succumbed to the right-wing extremism ofAdolf Hitler: a lack of legitimacy among important sectors of German society, aflawed constitution, and finally an electoral law based upon a very extremeimplementation of proportional representation (PR), which guaranteedparliamentary representation to even the smallest of political groups, and in turnproduced highly fragmented legislatures in which it was very difficult to form stablecoalitions.

Since the fall of the USSR, there have been five elections for the presidencyand five for parliament.

Since Vladimir Putin became President of Russia there has been increasinginternational criticism of the conduct of Russian elections. European institutions whoobserved the December 2007 legislative elections concluded that these were not

fair elections. There is overwhelming influence of the president's office and thepresident on the campaign and abuse of administrative resources.


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For many years Japan was aone party dominant stateuntil 1993 with theLiberal Democratic Partyas the ruling party. They lost office and then soon

regained power. The 2009 elections handed the first non-LDP victory totheDemocratic Party of Japan. Due to the majoritarianparallel votingsystem it isunlikely that Japan will develop amulti-party system, but there is speculation thatafter 2009, Japan will develop atwo-party system

The politics of Iran take place in a framework of theocracy guided by an Islamist ideology. The December 1979 constitution, and its 1989 amendment, define thepolitical, economic, and social order of the Islamic Republic of Iran, declaring that

Shi'a Islam of the Twelver school of thought is Iran's official religion.


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Parliamentary elections are scheduled every four years, butunstable coalitions or ano-confidence voteby the Knesset can dissolve a

government earlier.

Since the end ofapartheid, South Africa's politics has been dominated by theAfrican National Congress(ANC). The ANC is the ruling party in the national

legislature, as well as in eight of the nine provinces, having received 65.9% of thevote during the2009 general electionand 62.9%[1]of thepopularvote in the2011municipal election. The main challenger to the ANC's rule is theDemocratic

Alliance, led byHelen Zille, which received 16.66% of the vote in the 2009 electionand 24.1%[1]of the popular vote in the 2011 election.


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The most recent federal election was held on 21 August 2010 and resulted in thefirst hung parliament in over 50 years. Gillard was able to form a minority Labor

government with the support of independents.

The People's Republic of China, along with Vietnam, North Korea, Laos,and Cuba), is one of the five remaining Communist states in the world. but simplecharacterizations of China's political structure since the 1980s are no longerpossible. The PRC government has been variously described as communist andsocialist, but also as authoritarian, with heavy restrictions remaining in many areas,most notably on the Internet, the press, freedom of assembly, reproductive rights,

and freedom of religion. Its current political/economic system has been termed byits leaders as "Socialism with Chinese characteristics".


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electoral reforms undertaken

TheBipartisan Campaign Reform Act(BCRA) of 2002, also known as"McCain-Feingold", after its sponsors, is the most recent major federal law on

campaign finance, which revised some of the legal limits on expenditures set in1974, and prohibited unregulated contributions (commonly referred to as "softmoney") to national political parties.However, this act was weakened when inCitizens United v. Federal Election Commission, on Jan, 2010, the US Supreme

court ruled that the McCain-Feingold Act of 2002, the US federal law thatregulates the financing of political campaigns, was in violation of corporations'and unions' First Amendment rights. Under the January 2010 ruling, corporationsand unions are no longer barred from promoting the election of one candidateover another candidate

no significant reforms were undertaken

Presidential electionsinBraziltake place under a two-round majority

run-off system, with candidates competing for votes throughout the countrys

8,511,965 sq km area. Following a constitutional amendment approvedinJune1997, presidents are now allowed to run for re-election once.The rulesgoverning legislative elections have remained essentially unchanged since theywere first established in 1946.


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The United Kingdom has generally used first-past-the-post (FPTP) for manyyears, but there have been several attempts at reform. However there has been

no significant change in the voting pattern in the field of electoral reform. In the2010 UK General Election campaign, the possibility of a hungparliament and the earlier expenses scandal pushed electoral reform up theagenda, something long supported by the Liberal Democrats. There wereprotests in favour of electoral reform organised by Take Back Parliament TheConservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government held a referendum onintroducing AV for the Commons on 5 May 2011, which was defeated.

Party leadership selection in the UK is a restricted system unlike US andCanada. Since 1997, the UK Conservative party has given its generalmembership the final vote between two candidates for party leadership.However, the two candidates are always selected by Conservative Members of

There are no significant electoral reforms that have taken place.

Problem: considering the size and history of Switzerland direct democracy is

suited there. However, in countries like India it cannot be replicated on the samescale due to change in political realities here. In switzerland also they at times

face problems due to the system of refrendum to change laws. For example,women franchise was introduced here as late as 1970s. it was passed byparliament much earlier but it took many years for the cantons to approve it.thusmany a times people here resist change and it is not easy to introduce one.


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-Originally, an electoral college chose the president indirectly, but a 1962amendment to the constitution established the popular election of the presidentby runoff voting.-The president governs in tandem with the parliament, a weaker two-prongedlegislative body comprising the Senate and the National Assembly. While theoffice of the president shares powers on issues of legislation, it enjoys a greatdeal of individual authority. Presidential power was greatly expanded after thedevelopment of France's nuclear deterrent in 1960.-A subsequent constitutional amendment in 2000 reduced the president's term ofoffice from seven to five years.-France was the first country to legislate for gender parity in political life. The Act

of 6 June 2000 promotes equal access for men and women to electoralmandates and elective offices. It was applied for the first time in the March 2001municipal elections. The second provision adjusts the public subsidy paid topolitical parties to the gap between the number of men and the number ofwomen fielded by each party in parliamentary elections, penalizing parties whichdo not field enough female candidates.


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The founding fathers of the West German Basic Law (Constitution) recognisedtwo substantial points. First, Political parties themselves must function

democratically before they could be expected to run the system democratically.Second, blind trust in the free play of forces could prove disastrous. Since thebegin functioning of political parties were in the minds of constitution makers ofGerman Republic. The Constitution of West Germany, adopted on 23rd May,1949, provided political parties first time a proper position and function. It says:a. The political parties shall participate in the forming of the political will of thepeople. They may be freely established. Their internal organization must conformto democratic principles. They must publicly account for the sources of theirfunds.b. Parties which seek to impair or abolish the free democratic basic order orendanger the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany shall beunconstitutional. The Federal Constitution Court shall decide on the question of

constitutionality.Apart from the constitution, the law on political parties (Parteiengesetz) has nowbecome one of the most important guidelines to policy formation. It comprises 41articles under seven sections:a. Constitutional status and functions of the partiesb. Internal organisation

c. Nomination of the candidates for electionsd. Principles and purview of election expensese. Rendering of the accounts

f. Implementation of the ban on unconstitutional partiesg. Concluding provision on, for example, the introduction of tax relief for donationand party dues.

The Law on Presidential Elections, ratified in May 1995 which set rigorousstandards for fair campaign and election procedures, was hailed by international

analysts as a major step toward democratization. Under the law, parties, blocs,and voters' groups register with the Central Electoral Commission of Russia(CEC) and designate their candidates. These organizations then are permitted to

begin seeking the 1 million signatures needed to register their candidates; nomore than 7 percent of the signatures may come from a single federaljurisdiction. The purpose of the 7 percent requirement is to promote candidacieswith broad territorial bases and eliminate those supported by only one city orethnic enclave.The Law on Presidential Elections requires that the winner receivemore than 50 percent of the votes cast. If no candidate receives more than 50percent of the vote (a highly probable result because of multiple candidacies),the top two vote-getters must face each other in a runoff election. Once the

results of the first round are known, the runoff election must be held within fifteendays. A traditional provision allows voters to check off "none of the above,"meaning that a candidate in a two-person runoff might win without attaining amajority. Another provision of the election law empowers the CEC to request thatthe Supreme Court ban a candidate from the election if that candidate advocatesa violent transformation of the constitutional order or the integrity of the RussianFederation.


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Due to corruption, parochial politics and incentives for high campaign spendingelectoral reforms became a necessity in Japan. In 1994 Japan replaced its old

electoral system, the single nontransferable vote (SNTV), with a new, mixedmember system for the lower house of the Japanese Diet that combines pluralityvoting in single-member districts (for 300 seats) with regional, closed-listproportional representation (PR) for the remaining 200 seats.

During the period of Md. Khatami it was tried by some organisations.Their main agenda was for greater freedom. However no reforms suggestedcould take form of law.


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The new electoral law includes two major provisions that are supposed tostrengthen the Prime Minister in the process of forming a coalition following a

general election. First and foremost, the Prime Minister is elected directly by theeligible voters. Voters enter two ballots in the poll. On the first ballot, they vote forthe party of their choice and on the second they vote for their most preferredcandidate for Prime Minister. Under the old electoral law, following the election,the President of Israel called all the newly elected Knesset members andconsulted with them before asking one of them to try to form a coalition. Inpractice (with a single exception), the president asked the head of the largestparty to attempt forming a coalition government. Under the new law, the PrimeMinisterial candidate receiving more then fifty percent of the votes is popularlyand directly elected. If no candidate receives more than fifty percent of the votes,a second round is held.To further strengthen the power of the Prime Minister and ensure the stability of

coalition governments, the new law diminished considerably the potency of thelong-standing parliamentary institution of vote of no confidence. Under the newlaw an absolute majority of Knesset members (61 members) is required toapprove a vote of no confidence, compared to the old rule where a simplemajority of the members present in the plenary was sufficient to pass such avote. Most significantly, however, under the new law, if an absolute majority

supports a vote of no confidence, not only is the government ruled out of power,but the Knesset is dissolved as well.

After the 1992 referendum, deciding to end apartheid, universal suffrage wasimplemented allowing people of all races to take part in the first democratic

elections in 1994.Since 1994 all adult South Africans have in principle possessed the franchiseand the right to vote is entrenched in the Constitution, however various logistical

challenges still exist as is common with all democracies.


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In the mid 1970s the High Court, for the first time, became the catalyst formajor electoral reforms. In the landmark McKinlay and McKellar cases, theCourt altered the basis of the drawing of the boundaries of House ofRepresentatives electorates by making it clear that the constitutional requirementthat States be represented in the House by numbers of members "in proportionto the respective numbers of their people" was a binding one, which the

Parliament could not avoid implementing. The long term effect of these rulingshas been a much greater frequency of redrawing of electoral boundaries in thoseStates which have been affected by population flows.The most recent round of significant reforms came in 1983. The newly electedLabor government eschewed the confrontational style which had limited thesuccess of its predecessor, and established a parliamentary committee, the JointSelect Committee on Electoral Reform (now the Joint Standing Committee onElectoral Matters) which became the focal point for changes to the electoralsystem in the last decade. The Committee's work gave rise to such changes as

the printing of party affiliations on ballot papers, the introduction of party financinglaws, and the creation of the independent Australian Electoral Commission. TheCommission has worked closely with the Committee to seek to maintain an

effective implementation of the will of the Parliament in the electoral field.The Chinese National People's Congress (NPC) in 2010 approved anamendment to the electoral law mandating equal representation for rural andurban citizens. China's prior electoral law provided four times as manycongressional representatives to residents of urban districts than residents ofrural ones. This ratio was an improvement over the previous one that had beenin place since 1953, which provided eight times as many representatives for

urban districts over rural ones.


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1. IN June 2002, the EC on the direction of the Supreme Court, issued anorder under Article 324 that each candidate must submit an affidavit regarding

the information of his/her criminal antecedents; assets (both movable andimmovable) of self and those of spouses and dependents as well; andqualifications at the time of filing his/her nomination papers for election to the LokSabha, the Rajya Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies.2.To eliminate the mushrooming of parties, the EC had to take some rigoroussteps. The Commission now registers a party which has at least 100 registeredelectors as its members and is also charging a nominal processing fee of Rs10,000 to cover the administration expenses which it will have to incur oncorrespondence with the parties after their registration.3.The Commission has fixed legal limits on the amount of money which acandidate can spend during the election campaign. These limits have beenrevised from time to time. During 2004 elections, the ceiling limits for Lok Sabha

seats varied between Rs 10,00,000 to Rs 25,00,000. For Assembly seats, thehighest limit was Rs 10,00,000 and the lowest limit was Rs 5,00,000. The EC, byappointing expenditure observers keeps an eye on the individual accounts ofelection expenditure made by a candidate during election campaign. Thecontestants are also required to give details of expenditure within 30 days of thedeclaration of the election results.

4.9. In the realm of corporate financing, the Indian Companies Act prior to 1969did not make any specific provision for donation by companies, but in 1969 a lawwas brought into force, banning any company contribution to the election arena.

Later, Section 293, an amendment brought about in 1985, permitted companiesto make contributions to charitable and other funds up to 5 per cent of theiraverage profit of the three previous years. This amendment, brought in with theview of curbing the parallel practice of black marketing in the business-politicsnexus (rampant in the era of briefcase politics), has in fact turned volte-face andhas been replaced by a lack of transparency and nepotism.

Documents

World Political Systems