Comparing Governments

Ireland v.s the United States

By: Lindsey Smith

Government/Constitutio
n- Leaders
The United States has a president-Barack Obama

They are elected and each term is 4 years, but can serve 2 terms.

Have to be a born a U.S. citizen, be at least 35 years old, and lived in the United States
for 14 years.
Ireland has a president- Michael D. Higgins
They are elected and each term is 7 years, but can serve 2 terms.
Must be a Irish Citizen and at least 35 years old

Law making body V.s.

Irelands law making body is The National Parliament (Oireachtas)
Congress
Has a unicameral Structure
Has 7-15 members
Congress has a bicameral structure
Has 535 members

Rights
In the United States, we have freedom of speech, press, religion, the
right to bear arms, and we are protected from cruel and excessive
punishment.

Rights
In Ireland, they do not have the right to bear arms. However, they
have freedom of religion, assembly, expression and speech but, the
Constitution states that the State should try to make sure that the
radio, the press and the cinema are not used to undermine public
order or morality or the authority of the State.They protected from
cruel and excessive punishment.

The united states Political

Party system
The United States has a two party system

Democrats- believe to make progress on issues like job creation, equal pay, education,
healthcare, and clean energy.
Republicans- believe to protect the rights of individuals, protect the free enterprise system,
reduce government to the lowest practical level and endorse and practice fiscal
responsibility.

Irish political party system

Ireland is a two party system
Fine Gael- belief in creating a fair and caring society where everybody is engaged in
democracy, and where there are no barriers to equal opportunity. They see health and
education as rights, not privileges.
Fianna Fil-stands both for the unity of the island and a commitment to the historic
principles of European republican philosophy, namely liberty, equality and fraternity.

Elections and Voting

In the United States you have to be a citizen of the United States, registered to vote,
and at least 18 years of age. There are 2 elections every year, we have both primary
and general elections.
In Ireland you have to be 18 or older to vote and you if you are a legal resident and
must also have been ordinarily resident in the State on 1 September in the year before
the Register comes into force.
They have 2 elections every year, they have both primary elections and general
elections like the United States.

The united states Taxes

We do charge
income tax in the United States,
it is based on the
and
government
finance
amount earned.
The United States government also makes money from payroll tax,
and business taxes.
The government spends 3% of their spending on education, 28% on
health care, and 21% on defense.

Irelands Taxes and

They do charge income tax infinance
Ireland
government
Ireland makes money by manufacturing, especially pharmaceutical
and healthcare makes them a lot of money. They also make money
off of building.
Ireland spends only 6% of their government spending on defense,
13% on education, and 18% on health care.

law
They do not use the death penalty in Ireland, capital punishment is
prohibited. In 2015 there were 81,274 crimes and 8,200,000 people
in prison.
Irelands court is separated in divisions, each dealing with their own
issues. For Example there is Commercial Court, High Court, Circuit
Court, etc...

law
There are two systems of punishments, capital and civil crimes.
Capital crimes are more serious, and could result into using the
death penalty in some states and one or more years in prison. Civil
crimes are less serious and range from a fine up to a year in prison.
There were 2,220,300 people in prison in the US in 2013.

Current Relations with the

United
The United States
States and Ireland are alliances
Irish and American leaders connect about
education, politics, business and the arts for the
benefits of both countries.