The American Political System

1
The American Political System

• Made by Cecilie

2
The American Political System

• Is clearly defined by basic
• documents
• The Declaration of Independence of 1776
• The Constitution of 1789
• Separation of powers, the power is spread
  between three institutions of government

• The executive,
• The legislature,
• The judiciary
• No one institution has too much power and no
  individual can be member of more than one
  institution.
• Checks and balances

3

• The President has a term of 4 years
• Members of the Senate serve for 6 years
• Members of the House of Representatives serve 2
  years
• Members of the Supreme Court serve for life

• Benefit power is spread and counter-balanced
• Weakness makes government slow and complicated

4
The Presidency

• The President is
• Head of state
• Head of government
• Military commander-in-chief
• Chief diplomat
• The President may be impeached by the majority in
  the House or removed from office by 2/3 majority
  in the Senate for treason, bribery, or other
  high crimes or misdemeanors

• Broad constitutional powers
• To make treaties
• To nominate and receive ambassadors
• To pardon criminals convicted of offences against
  federal government
• Enact execute orders
• Appoint Supreme Court justices and feredal
  judges.

5
The Congress

• The House of Representatives
• The lower chamber
• Consists of 435 members
• Work of the House is done through 19 standing
  committees

• The Senate
• The upper chamber
• The dominant chamber
• 100 members, each state has 2 Senators
• Work is done through 16 committees
• Less partisan and more individualistic than the
  House of Representatives

6
The Supreme Court

• Consists of 9 members
• Equal weigth
• Nominated by the President
• Matters to the federal government, disputes
  between states and interpretations of the
  Constitution

• Great political role
• The federal judicial system
• The Supreme Court
• Courts of appeal
• District Courts

7
Political Parties

• Dominated by 2 political parties
• The Democratic Party (1824)
• The Republican Party (1854)

8
The Federal System

• The powers of the federal government are limited
  by the Constitution.
• Leaves a great deal of authority to the
  individual states.
• Each state has an executive, a legislature and a
  judiciary.
• The head of the executive is the Governor who is
  directly elected.

• The legislature consists of a Senate and a House
  of Representatives (the exception is the state of
  Nebraska which has a unicameral system).
• The judiciary consists of a state system of
  courts.