Political system in the USA

1.

POLITICAL SYSTEM IN THE USA
Translation of Socio-political Texts

2.

INTRODUCTION
The United States is - by size of electorate - the second
largest democracy on the globe (India is the largest and
Indonesia comes third).
The American political system is clearly defined by basic
documents:
the Declaration of Independence of 1776;
the Constitution of 1789.
These two form the foundations of the United States
federal government.

3.

INTRODUCTION
The Declaration of Independence establishes the
United States as an independent political entity.
The Constitution creates the basic structure of the
federal government.

4.

US CONSTITUTION
At the heart of the US Constitution is the principle known
as 'separation of powers‘ (‘checks and balances’)
The power is spread between three institutions of the state
the executive (President and Cabinet);
the legislative (House of Representatives and Senate);
the judiciary (Supreme Court and circuit courts).
None of the institutions has too much power and no
individual can be a member of more than one institution.

5.

US CONSTITUTION
The members of those branches are deliberately granted
by the Constitution different terms of office.
the President has a term of four years;
members of the Senate serve for six years;
members of the House of Representatives serve for
two years;
members of the Supreme Court effectively serve for
life.

6.

US PRESIDENCY
The President is the head of the executive branch of the
federal government of the United States.
The president is:
the head of state;
the head of government;
the military commander-in-chief;
chief diplomat.

7.

US PRESIDENCY

8.

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
The House of Representatives is the lower
chamber in the bicameral legislature known
collectively as Congress.
The House consists of 435 members, each of whom
represents a congressional district.

9.

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
House seats are apportioned among the states by
population according to each decennial (every 10
years) census.
Every state must have at least one member.
Seven states have only one Representative each (Alaska,
Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota,
Vermont and Wyoming). Typically a House
constituency would represent around 700,000 people.

10.

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
The House of Representatives:
can initiate and pass legislation, although to become law
any legislation has to be approved by the Senate as well;
must introduce any bills for the purpose of raising
revenue;
has a key role in any impeachment proceedings against
the President or Vice-President;
chooses the president if no presidential candidate
receives enough electoral votes.

11.

THE SENATE
The Senate is the upper chamber in the Congress.
It has been the dominant chamber and indeed today it
is perhaps the most powerful upper house of any
legislative body in the world.
The Senate consists of 100 members, each of whom
represents a state.
Each state has two Senators, regardless of population.

12.

THE SENATE
This equality of Senate seats between states has the
effect of producing huge variations in constituency
population.
This fact may lead to gross over-representation of
the smaller states and serious underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities.

13.

THE SENATE
The Senate can initiate and pass legislation which has to
be approved by the House of Representatives as well.
The Senate must give 'advice and consent' to many
important Presidential appointments including Cabinet
members, Supreme Court and federal judges, and
ambassadors.
It has the responsibility of ratifying treaties.
The Senate has a key role in any impeachment
proceedings. Once the House of Representatives has laid
the charges, the Senate then conducts a trial on these
charges.

14.

THE SUPREME COURT
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United
States.
It consists of nine Justices: the Chief Justice of the United
States and eight Associate Justices.
The Justices are nominated by the President and confirmed
with the 'advice and consent' of the Senate.
The court deals with matters pertaining to the federal
government, disputes between states, and interpretation of
the Constitution.

15.

POLITICAL PARTIES
The Unites States has two major national political parties,
the Democratic party and the Republican party.
There are several reasons for the resilience of America’s twoparty system.
In order to win a national election, a party must appeal to a
broad base of voters and a wide spectrum of interests.

16.

POLITICAL PARTIES
The two major parties have tended to adopt centrist
political programs.
Each party has both conservative and liberal wings.
The Democratic Party traditionally supports organized
labour, minorities, and progressive reforms.
The Republican Party supports limited government
regulation of the economy, lower taxes, and more
conservative (traditional) social policies.

17.

THE CABINET
President’s Cabinet includes Vice President (Mike Pence)
and the heads of the 15 executive departments.

18.

THE CABINET
The Attorney General is the head of the Department
of Justice and chief law enforcement officer (главно
правоприлагащо лице) of the Federal Government.
The Attorney General represents the United States in legal
matters generally and
gives advice and opinions to the President and to the heads
of the executive departments of the Government when so
requested.

19.

THE CABINET
The secretary of state's duties are principally concerned
with foreign policy, and is considered to be the U.S.
government's minister of foreign affairs.
Mike Pompeo is at present the secretary
of state.
The secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States
Department of the Treasury which is concerned with all financial
and monetary matters relating to the federal government.