USPS Political and Legal Barriers Research Paper - 1

USPS Political and Legal Barriers - Research Paper Example Canada, on the other hand consists of three territories and ten provinces (Kemp, 2010). It covers 9.98 million square kilometers, and its population consists of Paleo-Indian and aboriginal societies. Canada is also a developed nation (just like the United States). It is one of the wealthiest nations and is ranked the eighth highest in terms of per capita income and Human Development Index. It has the highest measurement of civil liberties, living standards, education and government transparency. The parliamentary system of Canada’s governance is within the constitutional monarchy. The monarchy lays the foundations of the legislature, judiciary and executive branches. Queen Elizabeth II is the sovereign and serves as the head of state; however the Governor General, who is the Queen’s representative, conducts several federal duties in the country. However, the functions of such royal figures is limited since their executive powers are subject to the control of the cabinet, the committee made up of Ministers of the Crown who are responsible to the House of common and headed by the Prime Minister who is the overall head of Canadian government. The prime minister, who is the leader of a political party that has majority members in the house of common, is usually elected by the governor general (Mankiw, 2008). His office has significant power to influence major legislations and parliamentary approval. It heads major government agencies and the Crown corporations. Th e leader of the opposition party then becomes leader of Loyal Opposition and checks the government. The members of parliament are usually elected by simple majority at an electoral district in a general election that is done every four years or when a vote of no confidence against the government is made by the house of common. This election is usually called out by the governor in general through consultation with the Prime Minister (Romney, 1989).