Poland The United States Leaders Poland The United

Poland The United States

Leaders Poland The United States Prime minister Beata Szydlo President Barack Obama President Andrzej Duda years The president is elected, and prime minister appointed. 8 The president is elected Presidents are elected once every 5 years can last 4 to 8 The president’s term years, no longer than 8. To become president of Poland, you must submit of age and be a US To be a president, you must be 35 years 100, 000 signatures supporting your run for office. citizen for 14 years. Prime ministers must propose a composition of a cabinet, And if their vote fails the president will select another prime

Lawmaking The lawmaking body in Poland is the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, which is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The lawmaking body of the US is The United States Congress. It is a bicameral structure. It consists of the upper house, senate, and lower house. The upper and senate have 100 members together, and the lower house have 460. There are 435 house members, and 100 in the senate. The US is a bicameral structure, it has the house of representatives and the senate.

Rights and Freedoms Poland Freedom of religion, press, belief, and Philosophy. They do have the right to bear arms in Poland, but if they would like to carry they would have to obtain a permit. Acquiring a weapon other than one for hunting is very hard. Weapons are very controlled in Poland. Citizens are protected from cruel and excessive punishment. The United States Freedom of press, speech, and religion Citizens have the right to bear arms. Citizens are protected from cruel and excessive punishment.

Party system Poland The United States Multiple parties system Two party Biggest parties include: Biggest Law and Justice Party (PIS) Citizens Platform (PO) Democratic The Democratic party believes in affordable health care, tax on the rich, safe abortions, and that corporations have too much influence. Republican The League of Polish Families (LPR) The League of Polish Families opposes abolishing the draft, legalizing soft drugs, gay marriage, and abortion.

Elections and voting Poland’s minimum voting age is 18 years old. The minimum voting age in the US is 18. Poland has parliamentary, presidential and local elections. Parliamentary elections are the most common. The US has primary elections and general elections for presidency. Presidential elections in poland are held once every 5 years. Presidential elections are held once every 4 years.

Taxes and Government Finance Poland does charge income tax, at 40%. Poland has a general corporate profits tax rate of 19%. They use a system called “Value added taxes” (VAT). There are four VAT rates, 22% on some goods and services, 7% on processed foods and construction materials, 3% on unprocessed foods, and 0% on exported goods and services. There are some VAT exempt, like insurance and healthcare. Primary, secondary, and most university education is free in Poland. Lower schools are financed by local budgets, higher and vocational schools from the state budget. The defense budget in 2005 amounted to $5. 16 billion. The United states does charge income tax. They also charge property taxes, sales tax, and have a tax on things like oil, petrol, alcohol and tobacco. In calendar year 2013, military spending declined from $671 billion to $619 billion. The US spends more than $12, 000 for each high school student. Each year the US spends about $7, 960 person for healthcare.

Law Poland is ranked 63 rd in the world for highest crime rates. The united states is ranked 44 th in the world for the highest crime rate. Poland’s prison population is 77, 371 as of 2014. The prison population for the US as of 2014 is 2, 220, 300. Poland abolished the death penalty. Poland has supreme courts that supervise the adjudication of general and military courts, common courts for general trial cases, administrative courts specializing in administrative law, and military courts empowered to determine the guilt of armed forces members. The US still uses the death penalty for capital crime. The United states has a supreme court which has the power to decide on appeals, district courts which are the general trial courts, and circuit courts who have the power to appeal.

Current Relations with the United States The relationship between the two has been close and cooperative. The US and Poland back each other on things such as Poland’s accession to NATO, and Poland’s entry into the EU (European Union). The US and Poland work together on democracy promotion, counterterrorism, and NATO capabilities.