Section B　Government and Politics of the United States of America

The United States is one of the youngest countries in the world and yet it has the world's oldest constitution and political party (the Democratic Party).

1. The Constitution

The Constitution of the U. S. is the supreme law of the land, which means that when state constitutions or laws passed by state legislatures or by the national Congress are found to conflict with the federal Constitution, these laws have no force. It was completed on September 17, 1787, and was later ratified by special conventions in each state. It created a federal union of sovereign states, and a federal government to operate that union. It was officially adopted on March 4, 1789 and has served as a model for the constitutions of other numerous nations.

The Constitution consists of a preamble, seven original articles, and twenty-seven amendments. The preamble states its purpose, and the first three Articles of the Constitution establish the rules and separate powers of the three branches of the federal government: a legislature, the bicameral Congress; an executive branch led by the President; and a federal judiciary headed by the Supreme Court. The last four Articles frame the principle of federalism. The first ten constitutional amendments ratified by three-fourths of the states in 1791 are known as the Bill of Rights, which contains such liberties as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of press, the right of peaceful assembly, and the right to petition the government to correct wrongs, etc.. The Constitution has been amended seventeen times (for a total of 27 amendments) and its principles are applied in courts of law by judicial review.

One of the obvious characteristics in the Constitution is "checks and balances" . The government consists of three branches: the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary, and each branch has its distinct powers and can check or block the actions of the others. They maintain a balance and no branch can take action on the supposition that it is more powerful than the other two. Checks and balances prevent any one branch from accumulating too much power and encourage cooperation between branches as well as comprehensive debate on controversial policy issues. In addition, the Constitution specifies exactly which power the central government has and which power is reserved for the state government.

2. The American Government

The form of government is based on three main principles: federalism, the separation of powers and respect for the Constitution and the rule of law. Government, both at the federal and state level, is divided into three branches. The legislative branch makes law; the executive branch applies and enforces the law; the judicial branch interprets the law. The federal government is the central government of the U. S., and three equal and separate branches are checked and balanced by one another. The federal government and state governments keep independent from each other. The powers of the federal government are only exemplified in the Constitution, and the other powers are all given to the state governments. The state governments follow much the pattern as the federal government.

The Legislative Branch

Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government, the law-making and the supreme legislative body of the nation, and it is composed of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The Senate consists of 100 members, 2 from each of the 50 states regardless of population, which assures that the small states have an equal voice in one of the houses of Congress. The Senators must be at least 30 years old, citizens of the U. S. for at least 9 years, and residents of the state from which they are elected. Senators serve for six years after they are elected, and every two years one-third of the Senate stand for reelection.

The House of Representatives, commonly known as the House, has 435 voting members plus a non-voting representative from Puerto Rico, Guam and the District of Columbia respectively. The Representatives must be at least 25 years old, citizens of the U. S. for at least 7 years, and residents of the state from which they are elected. Each representative serves a two-year term of office. Besides, the number of representatives in each state depends on its population as reported in the most recent national census which is made every ten years. Therefore, states with a larger population have more representatives than states with a smaller one.

Congress convenes in regular session each January 3, and it holds two annual sessions each term. Sessions are held in the Capitol Building in Washington, and the chief function of Congress is to make laws. A bill becomes law after it is introduced and passed in Congress, and it has to go through many procedures. Once the bill is approved by both houses, it goes to the President for approval. The President may either sign it into law or veto it. If the President vetoes a bill, but Congress still wants to have the law, then Congress can override the veto by a two-thirds majority.

The Executive Branch

The executive branch consists of the President and those to whom the President's powers are delegated. The Constitution vests executive power in a president, and also provides for the election of a vice president, who succeeds to the presidency in case of the death, resignation, or incapacitation of the President. The President is the head of the executive branch of the government which includes 14 departments and many independent agencies. The heads of the departments, chosen by the President and approved by the Senate, form a council of advisers known as the President's "cabinet" .

The President should be a native-born American citizen at least 35 years old and a resident of the U. S. for at least 14 years. He is elected by the people through the Electoral College to a four-year term, and limited to two terms. Throughout American history Franklin D. Roosevelt was the only president who served more than two successive terms (1933-1945). The President is the head of state and government, as well as the military commander-in-chief and chief diplomat. The President's status makes him the most important figure as the first citizen of the U. S., and his wife is called the First Lady.

The President has powers to manage national affairs and the working of the federal government. He can issue rules, regulations, and instructions called executive orders. He can also appoint the heads of all executive departments and agencies, together with hundreds of other high-ranking federal officials. As the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, he has the power to raise, train, supervise and deploy American armed forces. In addition, he is primarily responsible for foreign relations with other nations. Although Secretary of State is the official spokesperson for U. S. foreign policy, he or she just advises the President on foreign affairs, and the final decision is always made by the President. Besides, the President often represents the U. S. abroad in consultations with other heads of state through his officials, and negotiates treaties with other countries. However, the President's powers are not unlimited. For instance, his appointment of the head and senior officials of the executive branch agencies, and his treaties with other countries are subject to the confirmation by the Senate. The President cannot exercise his rights to do whatever he wants, and the President may be impeached by a majority in the House and removed from office by a two-thirds majority in the Senate for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors" . All these avoid the tyranny of a person or a group that is too powerful.

The Judicial Branch

In the U. S. there are two sets of courts: the federal court and the state courts. The federal court usually settles disputes between the center and the units; while the state courts deal with subjects of state or local importance. The state courts and the federal court exist side by side.

The judicial branch of the federal government consists of a series of courts, the Supreme Court, the courts of appeals, and the district courts.

The Supreme Court is the highest court of the U. S., and it is the only court specifically created by the Constitution. The Supreme Court consists of a Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices. They are appointed by the President with the approval of the Senate. Justices have their jobs for life, unless they resign, retire, or are impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate. The Chief Justice is the executive officer of the Court, and decisions are made by the majority, with each justice having one vote. The major powers of the Supreme Court are as follows: to interpret laws, to hear appeals from any federal court cases, to hear appeals from state court cases that involve the Constitution or national laws, to declare a law unconstitutional, and to declare a presidential act unconstitutional.

The courts of appeals (or circuit courts) are intermediate appellate courts of the federal court system, and it was created in 1891 to facilitate the disposition of cases and ease the burden on the Supreme Court. There are currently 13 courts of appeals, and they are considered among the most powerful and influential courts in the U. S., because the Supreme Court chooses to hear fewer than 100 of the more than 10,000 cases annually, and the courts of appeals serve as the final arbiter in most federal cases.

Below the courts of appeals are the district courts which are the general trial courts of the federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court. The district courts do not have juries or witnesses to testify and present evidence. Rather than determine guilt or innocence, these courts evaluate arguments about legal questions arising in the cases.

3. Political Parties

American politics have been dominated by a two-party system, which consists of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. In 1847, the famous American artist Thomas Nast drew a political picture with a donkey representing the Democratic Party and an elephant representing the Republican Party, and then the donkey and the elephant became the symbols of the two parties. In general, since the 1930s, the Democratic Party positions itself left-of-center in American politics while the Republican Party positions itself as right-of-center, and the two parties took office by turns.

The Democratic Party is one of two major political parties in the U. S., and it is the oldest political party in the world. The Democratic Party grew out of the "Anti-Federalists" that appeared after 1787 when the Constitution was made. The name "Anti-Federalists" was changed into "Democratic-Republicans" by Thomas Jefferson in 1791, and it was then changed into "Democrat" during Andrew Jackson's administration (1829-1837). It was the leading party before the Civil War, and represented the interests of the slave-owners. Now it stresses government regulation on the economy, takes full employment as a matter of national concern, and gives priority to controlling inflation and economic programs for those in need. The Democrats favor civil rights laws, a strong social security system, and less restrictive abortion laws. The former president of the U. S., Barack Obama, was the 15th Democrat to hold the office.

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the U. S., and it is often referred to as the Grand Old Party. Founded in 1854 by northern anti-slavery expansion activists and modernizers, the Republican Party rose to prominence with the election of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican to campaign on the northern principles of anti-slavery. Today, the Republican Party mainly represents the interests of big businesses, and it places great emphasis on the private sectors and objects to government intervention in business. The republicans stress the need for law and order, and self-reliance, favor reduction of public spending as well as taxes, and oppose complete governmental social programs and free choice of abortion. Besides, they favor a strong military posture and assertive stand in international relations. President Donald Trump is the 20th Republican to hold the office.

Any person has the liberty to decide which party he would like to be in and he can also change his membership at any time. All the party expenditures are covered by donations from their party members.

4. Elections

The U. S. has a federal government, with elected officials at the federal (national), state and local levels. On a national level, the head of state, the President, is elected indirectly by the people, through an Electoral College. All members of the federal legislature, the Congress, are directly elected. There are many elected offices at the state level, each state having at least an elective governor and legislature. There are also elected offices at the local level in counties and cities.

The focal point of American political life is the presidential election which is rather complex, and there are several steps in the election of President: primaries and caucuses (primary election), national party conventions, the campaign (popular election), and the Electoral College.

Primaries are statewide intra-party pre-election. The purpose is to give voters the opportunity to select directly their party's candidates, and the major task is to select delegates to the national party convention. The nominating process usually occurs in February of the election year.

Following the intense campaigning for primaries and caucuses all over the nation, in the summer each party holds a national convention to finalize the selection of one presidential nominee. Delegates to these conventions, chosen within each state, are generally pledged to cast votes for a particular candidate. In order to secure a party's nomination, a candidate must receive a majority of the votes from the delegates. If nobody gets the absolute majority on the first ballot, a second, or a third ballot is held.

After the convention, each party is represented by one candidate, and the whole party will help its candidate run for election all over the country. The general election is held on the Tuesday following the first Monday of November each election year. Presidential candidates run separate campaigns in different states, and they travel throughout the country, making public appearance and giving speeches. They have to face the rival in debates on television, and make the best use of their tongue to arouse public confidence in them. When a candidate wins the majority of electoral votes in a state, he gains all the electoral votes of that state, which is known as the "winner-take-all" principle.

However, the President is not elected directly by the voters. Instead, they are elected by "electors" who are chosen by popular vote on a state-by-state basis. The number of "electors" from each state is equal to the number of members of Congress, and each elector casts one Electoral College vote. On the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December after Election Day, the electors assemble in their state capitals, cast their ballots, and officially select the President of the U. S.. With 538 Electors, the winner of the election is the candidate with at least 270 Electoral College votes.

On January 20, the newly-elected President enters office in a formal ceremony known as the inauguration. The inauguration ceremony is traditionally held on the steps of the U. S. Capitol. The President takes an oath of office, and makes an inaugural address to outline the policies and plans of his administration.