each country within the international system is unique because it possesses a unique political, economic, and social culture. Uganda is a former British colony and a member of the Commonwealth. Uganda obtained its independence from the British in 1962 after a long armed struggle. However, the political leadership of the country was faced with upheavals as the democracy of the country struggled to stabilize. Notable, in the struggle for the stabilizing of democracy in Uganda was an elite named Milton Obote. Obote overthrew Idi Amin Dada, a dictator who had ruled Uganda with an iron fist (Seddon 526). Despite efforts of Obote to free Uganda from authoritarian rule, Idi Amin was able to topple him to clinch the leadership of the country once more.
One the problems that faced Uganda during the rule of Idi Amin was the massive abuse of human rights within the country. Idi Amin is also causal to the economic problems that are facing Uganda currently. This is because Amin ordered most of the Asian population that was conducting business to leave the country during his leadership. This was a big blow to the country's economy in that Asians were integral in the liberalization and privatization of the major economic sectors. Under the current leadership, Uganda's economy is begun to get back to its feet. Some of the factors that have been attributed to the current growth of the Ugandan economy are the newly established East African community which has increased foreign investors from neighboring countries like Kenya and Tanzania. This has been made possible by the reduction of barriers between East African countries with the aim of creating a common market for all the countries in the region.
Comparing Uganda to the United States, there is a big difference in terms of political history. This is because the United States is a state that is not founded on a feudal past. The United States is a country that was established by immigrants who were running aware from monarchies in England. Therefore, the model with which the United States was established is unique to any other part of the world. This brings in the idea of American exceptionalism which made the United States to assume a more isolationist approach to world politics in the period before the First World War (Zinn 49).
In terms of the economy, the United States has enjoyed economic prosperity for many years. The economy of the United States is currently ranked the best in the world. The US economy faced a downturn back in 1929 owning to the global economic regression that faced much of Europe. The other notable recession that is notable in US history took place in the 1970’s. During this time, the United States was faced with oil shocks. The United States had to increase the amount of oil that the country was importing. This was because the domestic oil production in the United States could not meet the local demand. This caused shortage of oil causing the country too really on other countries to meet the local demand. The economy of the United States showed allot of stability between 1980 and early 1990’s. During Clinton’s regime, the country enjoyed economic stability that has not been experienced in the near past. Scholars attribute the success of the US economy due to the fact that there was no major military expedition that the United States participated in during this time. The current involvement of the United States in major wars like Iraq by George Bush and the current war in Afghanistan has cost the US taxpayers allot of money(Murray 34). The aftershocks of the wars that the United States is that American will continue to pay more money in that the veterans and casualties in these wars have to be compensated by the US government. The government generates it money through taxes and therefore it will be a long time before the United States stops paying for these expenses.
Comparing Uganda with China, China has a much better economy compared to Uganda. China’s economy is ranked as being the second in the world. Though China’s currency is one of the poorest in the world, China’s entrepreneur culture has made it possible for China to compete with some of the world’s Great powers in terms of economic. The current success of China in terms of its economics does not mean that China has not had a feudal past. China fell to communism during the cold war, a model which China has preserved to date. Though China’s political structure is communist, the economic model of the country incorporates both socialism and capitalism. It is interesting to see how China has excellently combined these economic models to come up with a strong economy. Before the inception of China as a country, the country was faced with periods of Conquest bearing in mind that the Soviet Empire was quickly exerting its dominance of the region. Though China is an independent country, there are still wrangles of whether Taiwan is part of the country or whether it is an independent entity outside the sphere of China’s governance(Sheng 11).
Looking at the political structures of Uganda, the United State, and China; Uganda is a democracy that has a parliamentary system. The political structure of Uganda draws heavily from the British system. This is reasonable due to the fact that Britain was its colonial power. The President of Uganda is both the head of state and head of government. This is the same case in the United States. The U.S. president plays both the role of the head of state and the role of the head of government. However, the executive powers of the president differ in both countries. In Uganda, the power of the president in practice seems to infringe on the power of other arms of government. Though the written constitution stipulates otherwise the fact has been that the written principle have not been followed. This is understandable in that the level of democracy in Uganda is still young compared to the United States. It does not take a night to strengthen the democracy of the country. It takes time. Another difference that exists between the United States and Uganda is the fact that the United States has two houses of representatives. These houses are the Congress and the Senate. This enables a check on executive power in the president has to gain approval from both houses before accenting a bill. Otherwise he has to veto, a move that he has to account for on the floor of the house. Contrary to the U.S system the president of Uganda accented bills that are directly from the Ugandan parliament but based on the fact that Uganda has only one House of Representatives the thoroughness of policy making is not comparable to that of the United States. Comparing China to Uganda and the United States, China has both a president and a prime-minister. The president of china is the head of state in the country while the prime-minister is the head of government. This means that the Chinese president is more of a ceremonial figure compared to the president of the United States or Uganda. The freedom of the press in both China and Uganda is not comparable to that of the United States. China is more closed society compared to the United States in that the freedom of the process is more regulated (Pak 82).
Focusing on the social outlook of Uganda, the United States and China, China is a more closed society where the middle class is not vocal in directly scrutinizing the government regarding social coercion. This is evident because matters of the church and state in China are not separate. The Chinese government exerts direct control on the religion of its people. This includes make sure that the archbishops and other clergies with main religions are approved by government. This is a strategy by the executive to make sure that the government faces minimal opposition from the church. On the contrary, the United States is very vocal in terms of separating the matters of the sate and matters of religion. In the United States, the government does not have any hand or influences in extending favors to any religion. This is because the constitution of the United States stipulates that doing so would be establishing a state religion. This has resulted in a society that is more cautious about how matters of state and matters of religion are handled. Uganda doesn’t to give a clear line between matters of state and matters of religion. Despite the lack of a clear line, there has been no notable conflict between matters of state and matters of religion. One of the things that are common in all the three countries is that globalization is slowly transforming these countries. Through the social media people in these countries can communicate with the rest of the world making them to have a different perception about how they can take an active role in changing the politics of their respective countries.
Therefore, it is worthwhile to conclude that both Uganda and the United States are founded under the principles of democracy. However the strength of the observance of these two countries differs. Uganda has a weak democracy while the United States has a strong democracy. On the other hand, China has a more communist model but employs elements of capitalism in running it economy. The similarity that exists in these countries is that there is increased influence of the social media which is likely to change the political structure of these countries in the future.
Works Cited
Murray, Williamson. The Iraq War: A Military History. New York: Routledge
Publishers, 2005. Print.
Pak, Hyobom. China and the West: myths and realities in history . Routledge
Publishers: New York, 2004. Print.
Seddon, David. A political and economic dictionary of Africa. New York:
Routledge Publishers, 2005. Print.
Sheng, Lijun. China and Taiwan: Cross-Strait Relations Under Chen Shui-Bian.
Lanham, MD: Little Field & Rowman , 2002. Print.
Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. New York: Springer
Publishers, 2010. Print.
