Comparing Governments Poland vs America

1. Comparing GovernmentsPoland vs America Courtney Tharp

2. poland Vs America • President- János Áder President Barack Obama • 5 year terms 4 year terms • appointed by Parliament Elected • To become president you must; • Must be 35 must be 35 • Must have the right to vote be born in USA • Must win 2/3 percent of legislative vote lived here for the last 14 years

3. poland vs America • Law making body; • Both legislative • Poland has a unicameral system • United States has a bicameral system • Poland has 386 members • United States has 535 members

4. Rights • Like America, poland has the right to bear arms, but recently their laws have become more strict. • Same-sex marriage is still illegal in Polandlike some places in America, but they offer “registered partnerships” which is very much like a marriage.

5. Political parties • Poland has a multiparty system, their main groups though are the FIDESZ, which is what their current president’s party is. FIDESZ is a very conservative group. MSZP is another main party, it is a social democratic party. Their other main one was Jobbik, which is a nationalist party. • America has a two-party system, although they have many different parties, the two main ones are democrats and republicans.

6. Voting • At least 18 year old Polandianscitizens with Poland residence one vote for a party-list • one vote for a constituency candidate • At least 18 year old Polandiancitizens with Polandianresidence registered as minority voter one vote for a constituency candidate • In America you must be at least 18 years of age to vote. • Polandelection’s are held every 5 years compared to America’s every 4 year election.

7. Elections • In America we hold primary elections, and then have the actual election for the positions. • In Poland, they hold elections of the national assembly for the vote of president, and then the people vote to elect local authorities.

8. Taxes • In 2010 the new government made a number of changes including cutting business and personal income taxes, but imposed "crisis taxes" on financial institutions, energy and telecom companies, and retailers. • Individuals pay a flat rate of 16% in Poland for taxes • You must pay tax on your worldwide income in Poland. • The criteria for paying taxes; family place of residence, property ownership and whether you spend over 183 days per year in the country. • In America they take a certain percentage out of your check and you can then file every year and receive an income tax with money back, as long as you don’t owe the government money.

9. Spending • Poland on average spends 1,038,000,000 on their military, America spends about 682,478,000,000 • Poland spends on average $124.6 billion on education in their country • America spends about $16.24 trillion on education

10. Crime rates • Assault victims • 2.4% • Ranked 3rd. Twice as much as United States • 1.2% • Ranked 9th. • Assaults • 797 • Ranked 1st. 1% more than United States Car thefts: Ranked 1st. 2 times more than United States • 714.4 • Ranked 9th. • Car thefts • 139,094 • Ranked 7th. • 1.25 million • Ranked 1st. 9 times more than Australia • Poland is one of the world's major suppliers of licit opiate products; government maintains strict controls over areas of opium poppy cultivation and output of poppy straw concentrate; major consumer of cocaine and amphetamines

11. Works cited • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_United_States • http://www.esnetwork.eu/join-esn/countries/hungary/ • http://www.kormany.hu/en/hungary/the-hungarian-state/the-president-of-the-republic • http://www.nsd.uib.no/european_election_database/country/hungary/parties.html • http://standuptohate.blogspot.com/2010/04/whats-behind-hungarys-far-right-jobbik.html • http://www.ohgeez.com/political_page.htm