The political system of the USA

The Political System of the USA

The United States of America is a federal republic consisting of 50 states, with the District of Columbia as the seat of the national government. Each state has its own government and the state governments follow much the same pattern. The system of the federal, or national, government defined in the Constitution, is based on the separation of powers among three branches: the exectutive, the legislative and the judicial. This system provides a series of checks and balances because each branch is able to limit the power of the others. Before major changes can be made there must be agreement between all the branches.

The executive branch consists of the President, the Vice-president and government departments and agencies. The president has a powerful role: he or she can approve or stop laws proposed by Congress and can also suggest laws to Congress. In addition, the President appoints senior officials, such as heads of government departments and federal judges, though appointments must be approved by the Senate. The President is also Commnder-in-Chief of the military forces. The President is elected every four years to a four-year term of office, with no more than two full terms allowed. If the President is unable to continue in office, the job passes to the Vice-President who otherwise has little power. At present the USA is headed by the 44^th president of the USA, Barack Obama, a member of the Democratic Party.

There are 14 departments of government. The heads of these departments make up the Cabinet, a group which meets regularly to discuss current affairs and advise the President. Each department has its own area of activity. The Department of Defense, for example, runs the military services. The Department of Health and Human Services runs several programmes including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The State Department advises the President on foreign affairs and runs embassies abroad.

The legislative branch of government is the Congress. This has two houses, the Senate ['senɪt] and the House of Representatives [ˌreprɪ'zentətɪvz], sometimes called the upper and lower houses. Both meet in the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The main job of Congress is to make laws, but its other responsibilities include establishing federal courts and setting taxes. Although the Senate and the House of Representatives have similar powers, some jobs belong only to the Senate. These include approving treaties with other countries and confirming appointments made by the President. The most important responsibility for members of Congress is to represent their constituents. When deciding whether to vote for or against a new law, they are expected to put the interests of their state before those of their party. The Senate has 100 members, two from each state, both of whom represent the whole state. Senators must be over 30 and have been US citizens for at least nine years. They are elected for six years, and every two years two-thirds of the seats in the Senate are up for re-election. The House of Representatives, also known as the House, has 435 members, called Representatives [ˌreprɪ'zentətɪvz], Congressmen ['kɔŋgresmən] or Congresswomen. The number elected by each state depends on its population: a few states have only one representative, while California has 45. Larger states are divided into districts, each with one representative. Members of the House must be over 25 and have been US citizens for seven years. Elections are held every two years for every seat in the House. A Speaker of the House is elected from the majority party to lead to discussions. Both the Senate and the House have many committees [kə'mɪtɪz]. These play an important part in the process of law-making. Each deals with a certain subject, e.g. small businesses.

The judicial branch of government has three levels. The Constitution created the Supreme Court; below it are 13 courts of appeal, and below them are many federal district courts and special courts such as the Court of International Trade. The Supreme Court has nine members, called justices, who are appointed by the President. They are often referred to informally as the nine old men. The Supreme Court has the power to influence the law through the process called judicial review. If it decides that a law is unconstitutional, it must not be applied. The President appoints federal judges, and they then keep their jobs for the rest of their lives. This is so that they can remain independent, and not be afraid of losing their jobs if the government does not like their decisions.

There is one more very important part of the American political scene – the political parties. Today the United States has two major political parties – the Democratic party and the Republican party. Both parties have supporters among a variety of Americans. There are other smaller parties in the US, but none of them has enough popular support to win a presidential election.