Government mozilla
The Unites States is a representative
democracy. [E1] [ES1]
[F1]
[I1]
The people vote for
government representatives, who are charged with the responsibility of
acting
in the people's interest.
The Constitution
[E1]
[E2]
[ES1]
[F1] [I1]
defines the powers of national and state
governments, the functions and framework of each branch of government
and the
rights of individual citizens.
The principle of limited
government is basic to the Constitution. When the Constitution was
first
written in 1787, many Americans feared that th power could become
concentrated
in the hands of a few. Several features were created to guard against
this
possibility:
1. the
federal organization of government;
2. the
separation of powers among different
branches of government
3.
a system of checks and balances to restrict
the powers of each branch.
1. Federal
Government
The Constitution gives
power to the central authority, the Federal
Government. [E1]
[ES1]
to
act as a representative of all states in foreign policy and deal with
the
issues that involve the whole country, such as immigration, defence,
commerce.
On the other hand, each state has its own constitution and legislates
independently on a number of matters.
National Government
It taxes
people for defence and the general welfare;
it controls trade with foreign nations and among the states; coins
money and
controls its value; declares war; commands the Armed Forces; makes
foreign
policy; appoints judges and other national officials; tries cases under
the
Constitution and federal law; explains the law.
State Government [E1]
[ES1]
A state
Congress makes local laws, a Governor,
elected by popular vote, heads the
executive
power and State Courts administer justice.
The State Government taxes people for state purposes (e.g. state
highways);
makes laws for all matters not controlled by the National Government
(e.g.
trade, welfare, police protection, education, courts of law inside the
state)
Local Government
It taxes
people for local purposes (e.g. paying the
fire fighters and police); Makes laws for all matters not controlled by
national and state governments (e.g. traffic rules).
2. Separation
of powers
Besides the division of
power between state and national governments, power is also limited by
the
separation of power among three branches: legislative, executive and
judicial.
Legislative branch [E1]
The
function of the legislative branch is to make
laws. It is made up of representatives elected to Congress. Congress
is comprised of two groups: the House of Representatives (the House)
and the
Senate.
candidates
for the House of Representatives are
elected for 2-year terms of office; candidates for the Senate are
elected for
6-year terms.
Executive branch [E1]
The President [E1] [E2]
[E3] [ES1] [F1]
[I1]
is the chief executive of the country and has wide powers. The
president is
elected to a four-year term and can be re-elected to a second term. The
vice-president,
who is elected with the president, must preside over the Senate and
must assume
the presidency if the president dies, becomes disabled or is removed
from
office.
Judicial branch [E1]
The third
branch of government is the judicial. It is
exercised at federal level by the Supreme Court,
which is composed of
nine members, all appointed by the President on the advice and with the
consent
of the Senate.
3. System of
checks and balances
The division of government
power among three separate but equal branches provides for a system of checks
and balances [E1]
[E2].
Each branch checks or limits the power of the
other
branches.
Separation
of powers and Checks and Balances
Political Party system [E1]:
The United
States has had only two major parties throughout his history. When the
nation
was founded, two political groupings emerged: the Federalists and
Anti-Federalists. Since then, two major parties have alternated in
power: Democratic
[E1][ES1] and Republican [E1][ES2].
