Political System of the USA

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Political System of the USA
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The United States is a federal constitutional
republic.Power is divided between a
central/national government and the States. The
national government is referred to as the Federal
Government
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Branches of the US government
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Legislative branch

• House can propose tax laws Senate can improve
  Presidential ap-
• House can impeach the President
  pointments
• Representatives must be 25 years old,
  Senate approves treaties with foreign
• Representatives must be a citizen for
  governments
• 7 years. Senate tries President after
  impeach-
• Representatives serve a 2 year term. ment
• Members must be 30 years old
• 
  Members serve
  a 6 year term
  

Congress
Makes Laws
House of Representatives (435 members)
Senate (100 members)
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Executive branch

• Must be 35 years old
• Must be a US citizen by birth.
• Must be a US resident for 14 years
• President has power to approve/ veto laws
• Must make treaties with foreign government
• President nominates judges to Supreme Court

President, Vice President, Cabinet
Enforces Laws
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Judicial branch

• Serve for life
• Can declare laws unconstitutional
• Can settle disputes involving the US
• Chief Justice of The Supreme Court presides over
  the impeachment trial of the President

Supreme Court and Federal Courts
Interprets Laws
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Central Documents

• the Declaration of Independence (1776),
• the Constitution (1787),
• the Federalist Papers (1788),
• the Bill of Rights (1791),
• Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" (1863)

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Bill of Rights

• The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the
  first ten amendments to the United States
  Constitution. These limitations serve to protect
  the natural rights of liberty and property.

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The powers of the federal government are limited
by the Constitution which 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.
• The 50 states are divided into counties
  (parishes in Louisiana and boroughs in Alaska).
  Each county has its court.

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Political Parties of the USA

• The modern political party system in the United
  States is a two-party system dominated by the
  Democratic Party and the Republican Party. These
  two parties have won every United States
  presidential election since 1852 and have
  controlled the United States Congress since at
  least 1856. Several other third parties from time
  to time achieve relatively minor representation
  at the national and state levels.

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Democratic Party

• The party's socially liberal and progressive
  platform is largely considered center-left in the
  U.S. political spectrum. The party has the
  lengthiest record of continuous operation in the
  United States, and is one of the oldest political
  parties in the world. Barack Obama is the 15th
  Democrat to hold the office of President of the
  United States.

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Republican Party

• Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in
  1854, it is often called the GOP (Grand Old
  Party). The party's platform generally reflects
  American conservatism in the U.S. political
  spectrum and is considered center-right

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Major Third Parties

• The Constitution Party is a conservative United
  States political party. The Constitution Party
  advocates a platform that they believe reflects
  the Founding Fathers' original intent of the U.S.
  Constitution, principles found in the U.S.
  Declaration of Independence, and morals taken
  from the Bible.

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• The Green Party has been active as a third party
  since the 1980s. Greens emphasize
  environmentalism, non-hierarchical participatory
  democracy, social justice, respect for diversity,
  peace and nonviolence.

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• The Libertarian Party
• was founded on December 11, 1971. The political
  platform of the Libertarian Party reflects that
  group's particular brand of libertarianism,
  favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire
  markets, strong civil liberties, minimally
  regulated migration across borders, and
  non-interventionism in foreign policy that
  respects freedom of trade and travel to all
  foreign countries.

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Sources

• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_the_Unite
  d_States
• http//www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/Americanpolitical
  system.html
• http//www.theusgov.com/
• http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/americas/04/
  us_election/govt_system/html/introduction.stm
• http//usgovinfo.about.com/od/rightsandfreedoms/u/
  gov101.htm
• http//study-english.info/political004.php
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_parties_in_
  the_United_States