By Hayley Knepper THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT AND THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

 Barack Obama is currently the United States president  The president is elected into power  Obama has served 2 terms at 4 years each  To become president you have to be 35 years of age, natural born US citizen, and live in the United States for 14 years  Our lawmaking body is congress, it is bicameral  535 people are in our congress  Our Bill of Rights gives us the freedom of speech/ press, Religion, and the right to bear arms UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT TYPE

 Constitution Monarchy  Nicola Sturgeon is the current minister  Elected  Life term  Any member of the parliament can be elected, almost always the leader of the largest party  Scottish Parliament  Bicameral  129 members  Has freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and can only carry firearms if you are lawful authority of if there is a reasonable excuse SCOTLAND GOVERNMENT TYPE

 United states  A two-party system  Democrat and Republican are the two major parties and the symbols are a donkey and elephant respectively  Democrats believe in reform and Republicans believe in tradition POLITICAL PARTIES (USA)

 Multiparty system  Conservatives- Stick with traditional government views  Greens- For reform in ecology and a healthy environment  Labour- For working Scots and middle class  Scottish Liberal Democrats- Believes in equality first  Scottish National Party (SNP)- Campaigns Scottish Independence POLITICAL PARTIES (SCOTLAND)

 Voting age is 18  You must be a United States citizen to vote  There are both primary and general elections held every even year ELECTIONS AND VOTING (USA)

 You can register at 16, but you can’t vote until you are 18  There are general elections, local elections, and European elections  Local elections are every 4 years  Elections for the European parliament are held every 5 years ELECTIONS AND VOTING (SCOTLAND)

 We charge an income tax, a payroll tax, a corporate income tax, an excise tax, and customs duty.  We also borrow money from other nations and our own reserve.  In 2011, America spent about $718 billion dollars on military expenses  $632 billion on education  And $2.8 trillion on overall healthcare TAXES AND GOVERNMENT FINANCE (USA)

 Westminster controls taxes in Scotland, however there is an income tax  Scotland also makes money because of it’s exports to Europe  The UK has a budget of about £43 billion for spending on military  Healthcare spending is about £135 billion in one year  Education spending is £92 billion in one year TAXES AND GOVERNMENT FINANCE (SCOTLAND)

 Homicide rate per 100,000 people in 2010 is 4.8  Violent crimes such as rape have a rate of 26.8 people, 113 for robbery and 241 for aggravated assault per 100,000 people  There are 707 inmates per 100,000 people  The death penalty continues to be used across many states in the country  You are innocent until Proven guilty in the courts LAW (USA)

 Homicide rate per 100,000 people in 2012 is 1.0  Violent crimes such as rape have a rate of 20 people, 60 for robbery and 117 for aggravated assault per 100,000  There are 146 inmates per 100,000 people  The death penalty is no longer used  The law is derived from the Romans  Uses a separate law system than England and Wales  You are either ‘not guilty’, ‘guilty’, or ‘not proven’ after a trial LAW (SCOTLAND)

 The United States a great ongoing relationship with the United Kingdom  The UK considers America to be their most important ‘bilateral’ relationship  Trade often occurs between the two nations CURRENT RELATIONS

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