Elections and Political Parties in Central & Eastern Europe Research Paper

Elections and Political Parties in Central & Eastern Europe - Research Paper Example The modern values of democracy can only be properly protected and advanced through well-established political systems. Politics is a non-violent way of advocating for the rights and freedoms of individuals needed to ensure that each person gets the opportunity to express him/herself and achieve the objectives that he/she has set for him/her. Countries in Central and Eastern Europe have some of the most elaborate and well developed political systems in the world. These old democracies have citizens with a very high appreciation for the values of democracy1. However, the political systems adopted by various countries have huge variations in procedures and the values they emphasize upon. To demonstrate these differences, we have picked two countries; Germany and Ukraine to examine the differences between their political systems. Germany is one of the most interesting republics when studying political systems. During the cold war that lasted from 1950s to 1990, it was divided into two pa rts; East Germany under the socialist political system and west Germany under the capitalist system. Even its capital Berlin had a wall dividing it into east and west regions. However, after the end of cold war and reunification of Germany, it is now under a strong capitalist political system, being a multiparty democracy. During the times of the cold war, the political system was made of only three parties. However, nowadays, with the formation of various coalition parties, the voters have a wide choice of parties to choose from2. However, it resembles most of the major economies in that its parties can be divided into two groups based on the ideologies they adopt. The two groups are either center right or center left. Each of the groups is made up of a number of smaller parties and coalitions. It is very common to find coalition governments taking over power after elections in Germany. Besides the political parties, there are other major components of the German system of governme nt. These components include the executive headed by the president. The president serves the country for a term of five years and can only lead for two terms. The second component is the lower house called the Budegstag. It has members representing voters and elected every 4 years. This house is headed by a chancellor elected from among the members. The third component is the upper house called Bundesrat. Unlike in most other countries, members of the German upper house are appointed from the cabinet rather than being elected by the voters. Each state appoints a representative to the upper house and has the liberty of recalling him/her whenever they wish. It is also worth noting that the representation of states in the upper house is not equal. Like in almost every other country, the German political system has a judiciary responsible for enforcing its laws. It is the main protector of the German constitution. Ukraine was one of the countries under the former USSR. It gained its ind ependence after the collapse of the USSR in 1991. After this, it went through many political transformations into its current position. The Ukrainian parliament is the most powerful organ of governance that the country has. The parliament adopted a document called the declaration of state sovereignty. The declaration stated that the parliament was the only organ with the powers to speak on behalf of the state. Besides parliament, the presidency is the next most important component of the political system in Ukraine. The president has powers to appoint representatives to various international forums and people to represent the president in various occasions and functions. The president is elected in an election held every five years. A president is allowed two terms in office each five years long. Next to him is the prime minister responsible for dealing with various executive functions of the government. The prime minister also heads the council of ministers3. The