wylieredneck69
New member
The Federal Government
The Federal government also has three elements: executive (the President), legislative (Congress) and judicial (Supreme Court) branch, and the three elements are checked and balanced by one another.
The President
The President is the effective head of the executive branch of government, head of state and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The Cabinet is appointed by the President. Its seat is the White House in Washington. In Noveraber of each leap year (next 2000) a President is elected to serve for exactly four years from a fixed day in the following January. The four-year rhythm has never been broken. Together with the President, a Vice-President is elected, and if the President dies the Vice-President becomes President for the unexpired part of the four years.
Presidential elections: The President serves a four-year term and may stay in office for a total of two full terms only. He or she must be an American citizen born in the USA and over 35 years of age. Each of the two parties must choose a nominee from the various aspiring candidates. The presidential and vice-presidential nominees are selected at the parties' national conventions by a simple majority of the delegates previously chosen either at state conventions or elected in primaries.
After the official nomination the election campaign begins, continuing until Election Day, the Tuesday after the first Monday in Noveraber in leap years. Voters are registered and the party machinery drums up support, trying to win floating voters over etc.
On Election Day the electorate votes not for the presidential candidates themselves but for those presidential electors (merabers of the Electoral College) who have pledged to support a particular candidate.
The officially elected President, who is inaugurated and sworn in in January, is the candidate who has received the votes of the majority of the electors in the Electoral College.
The serious anomaly in the electoral college system is the rule that in each state the candidate who wins the biggest nuraber of the people's votes receives the whole electoral college vote for the state, no matter how small the majority is.
Congress
The Congress is a bicameral instituion, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Its job is to make the laws work. The relationship between the President and Congress is one of working together and checking on each other.
The Senate
The Senate erabodies the federal nature of the Constitution, with two senators from each state. Each state’s two senators are elected at separate elections, for example, one in Noveraber 1984 to serve for 1985-91, the other in 1986 to serve for 1987-93; and each senator is elected by and for a whole state.
House of Representatives
The House of Representatives has a fixed nuraber of seats (435), and each state has one seat for every 1/435 share that it has of the whole U.S. population. Every ten years, after each census, states with fast-growing populations, like Texas and Florida, are given extra seats at the expense of those with slow growth like New York. Six states have only one seat in the House; the others are divided into constituencies or "districts", each of which is represented by the candidate who wins most votes at the election.
The Supreme Court
The federal courts interpret the laws, and the Supreme Court, the highest court in the USA, can decide if a law or the decision of a lower court is unconstitutional.
The State Governments
Each of the fifty states also has a state government, which – with a gouvernor, a state legislature and state courts – is similar to the federal government. The two systems work side by side. If there is a conflict, the Supreme Court decides.
The state governments can decide about the school leaving age, the driving age and the allowance of lotteries. But they cannot decide about the minimum wage and civil rights.
The Federal government also has three elements: executive (the President), legislative (Congress) and judicial (Supreme Court) branch, and the three elements are checked and balanced by one another.
The President
The President is the effective head of the executive branch of government, head of state and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The Cabinet is appointed by the President. Its seat is the White House in Washington. In Noveraber of each leap year (next 2000) a President is elected to serve for exactly four years from a fixed day in the following January. The four-year rhythm has never been broken. Together with the President, a Vice-President is elected, and if the President dies the Vice-President becomes President for the unexpired part of the four years.
Presidential elections: The President serves a four-year term and may stay in office for a total of two full terms only. He or she must be an American citizen born in the USA and over 35 years of age. Each of the two parties must choose a nominee from the various aspiring candidates. The presidential and vice-presidential nominees are selected at the parties' national conventions by a simple majority of the delegates previously chosen either at state conventions or elected in primaries.
After the official nomination the election campaign begins, continuing until Election Day, the Tuesday after the first Monday in Noveraber in leap years. Voters are registered and the party machinery drums up support, trying to win floating voters over etc.
On Election Day the electorate votes not for the presidential candidates themselves but for those presidential electors (merabers of the Electoral College) who have pledged to support a particular candidate.
The officially elected President, who is inaugurated and sworn in in January, is the candidate who has received the votes of the majority of the electors in the Electoral College.
The serious anomaly in the electoral college system is the rule that in each state the candidate who wins the biggest nuraber of the people's votes receives the whole electoral college vote for the state, no matter how small the majority is.
Congress
The Congress is a bicameral instituion, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Its job is to make the laws work. The relationship between the President and Congress is one of working together and checking on each other.
The Senate
The Senate erabodies the federal nature of the Constitution, with two senators from each state. Each state’s two senators are elected at separate elections, for example, one in Noveraber 1984 to serve for 1985-91, the other in 1986 to serve for 1987-93; and each senator is elected by and for a whole state.
House of Representatives
The House of Representatives has a fixed nuraber of seats (435), and each state has one seat for every 1/435 share that it has of the whole U.S. population. Every ten years, after each census, states with fast-growing populations, like Texas and Florida, are given extra seats at the expense of those with slow growth like New York. Six states have only one seat in the House; the others are divided into constituencies or "districts", each of which is represented by the candidate who wins most votes at the election.
The Supreme Court
The federal courts interpret the laws, and the Supreme Court, the highest court in the USA, can decide if a law or the decision of a lower court is unconstitutional.
The State Governments
Each of the fifty states also has a state government, which – with a gouvernor, a state legislature and state courts – is similar to the federal government. The two systems work side by side. If there is a conflict, the Supreme Court decides.
The state governments can decide about the school leaving age, the driving age and the allowance of lotteries. But they cannot decide about the minimum wage and civil rights.