Commonwealth of Nations

[Nathan]

How does the parliamentary system differ from a republican system?
Side bar question: are there nobles in the Commonwealth countries (similar to the UK), i.e. Lords, dukes, knights, barons, baronets, etc?

This website is very instructive:

http://www.royal.gov.uk/monarchandco...da/canada.aspx

Not all commonwealth contries are the same. They have their own parliaments and they have negotiated their relationship to the Monarch in different ways.

Canadians used to recieve British knighthoods and lordships but due to our liberal belief that all people are created equal under the law, Canadians are no longer legally entitled to accept hereditary British Peerage titles and remain Canadian Citizens. Lord Conrad Black famously relinquished his Canadian citizenship to accept Her Majesty's lordship.

Instead, Canadians of such merit are inducted into the Order of Canada, a three leveled program that is similar to modern knighthood but does not confer the title "Sir" etc...

I can't speak for other commonwealth nations and realms regarding peerage.

in a Parliamentary system, the leader of the party with the most seats effectively weilds executive power (power to declare war etc...). In a republican system the President is elected outside of the legislature. There is often conflict betwen the executive branch and legislative branch in republican systems.

In a Parlimentary System, the Prime Minister is like combination of the President and the House Majority Leader in the USA.

There is often a non-elected upper house in Parliamentary systems but this is not universal. Some have no upper house and others elect their upper chamber. In the UK the upper house is called the House of Lords and membership can be hereditary.

In Canada, the Prime Minister appoints Senators to sit in the Canadian Senate.

In Canada, the elected Parliament (the House of Commons) is supreme and the upper house is a chamber for sober second thought.