Political system of the USA

The Federal government is located in Washington D.C. All public officials of the nations as well as state governments must swear to abide by the constitution which was created to protect the democratic insterests of people and government. The institutions of all governments emerged from basic principles. In the USA the one basic principle is representative democracy, which defines a system in which the people govern themselves by electing their own leaders. The American government functions to secure the principle and to further the principles of the people.

Democracy in the USA is based on 6 ideas:

1) people must accept the principle of majority rule;

2) the political rights of minorities must be protectd;

3) citizens must agree to a system of rule by law;

4) the free exchange of opinions and ideas must no be restricted;

5) all citizens must be equal before law;

6) government exists to serve the people, because it derives its power from the people.

These ideals form the basis of the democratic system of the USA, which seeks to create a union of diverse people, places and interests. To implement its esential democratic ideas, the Usa has built its government on 4 elements:

1) popular sovereignty (the people are the alternate source of the government’s authority);

2) representative government;

3) checks and balances;

4) federalism (powers are shared by different levels of government).

Every government has its source of sovereignty. Most political structures of the USA apply the doctrine of popular sovereignty. In previous centuries the source of sovereignty in some country was monarchy.

Americans place the source of authority in the people, and in this idea the citizens collectively represent the nation’s authority. They express that authority individually by voting to elect leaders to represent them in government.

Representative government means that people delegate their powers to elected officials. In the USA candidates compete for the presidency. They compete for many state and local positions as well. By in term these elected officials represent the will of the people. They just guarantee that the government is accountable to its citizens. In a democracy the people exercise power through elections. It means that all adult citizens have the chance to give their voices and to influence government. With their vote they can remove officials who ignore their intentions or who betray their trust. Political leaders are accountable, they are agents of the people, and this accountability is an important feature of the American system of representative government.

In order to truly work, representative government must represent all people. Originally the only people allowed to vote and to be represented were white people who owned property – a small percentage of the population. Gradually voting rights were broadened to include white men without property, blacks, native Americans and even women.

The system of checks and balances. The legislative, the executive and the judicial branches of government restrain and stabilize one another through separated functions. The legislative branch (Congress) must pass bills before they can become law. The executive (The President) can veto bills passed. A 2/3 vote of the Congress can override the President’s veto. The Supreme Court can invalidate Congress’es decision by proclaiming them against the Constitution, which in turn can be changed by the Congress. The system of checks and balances makes no branch of government have superior power.

Federalism divides authority between the central government and the individual states. The states possess those powers which are not given to the National Government. Each state establishes its own justice system. There are certain powers which are called concurrent. These are powers which both the federal and the state government share (the power to tax, charter banks). This division of power helps to curb abuses by either the national or the state governments.

The US Constitution was written in 1787 during the Constitutional Converntion. The relations were rather tense between the state and the active central government and the continental congress. The Constitution was an effort to ease these tensions.

1788 nine states retified Constitution, and it became the law of the land. It constists of the preamble and 30 articles. 27 amendments have so far been added to the original text.

The Founders (Four Fathers) established the executive, the legislative, and the judicial branches. Article 1 is the longest article of the Constitution. As they were afraid to place too much authority in one institution, they divided the Congress.

Article 2 describes the powers of the offices, the manner of election and the qualification for the office.

Article 3 direct that the judicial power be placed in the Supreme Court or other courts as directed by Congress. This brief article also lists the kinds of cases that fall specifically under the juristidction of the Federal courts. Along with the preamble of the first 3 articles of the Constitution are th most familiar parts of the Constitution.

Article 4 sets up cooperative arrangements between the states and the Federal government Article 5 establishes procedures for amending the Constitution. The Founders developed the method for changing the Constitution so that it could be adapted to changing times. To maintain a balance between the power of the Federal government and that of the state government the amendment process requires approval by majorities of legislative bodies at both the state and federal level.

Only 2/3 of the majority of all houses can propose a constitutional revision. But the legislators of 3/4s of the state must retify the Amendment. Constitution also provides another amendment method, but it has never been used: 2/3 of the legislators can call a Constitutional convention to propose amendments to the constitution, and any agreement, proposed agreement must be retified by 3/4s of the states.

Article 6 establishes Supreme Court power.

Article 7 establishes procedures that were used in 17^th century.

No sooner was the Constitution accepted, than both individuals and states insisted on additions to protect people from possible abuses by the new Federal government. 1790 Congress and the states retified 10 Amendments know the Bill of Rights. These Amendments guarantee personal liberties and prevent the Government from infringing the rights.

Amendment 1 prohibits Congress from establishing the state religion. It also prohibits the Government from interfering with freedom of speech, the press. Other Amendments in the Bill of Rights grand the people with the right of speedy trials to be securing their homes and carrying weapons.

Besides the Bill of Rights there have been 17 Amendments of the Constitutions. The most important were the 15^th (gave blacks, women and 18-year-olds the right to vote), the 17^th (the people’s right to elect US senators), the 26^th (restricted the number of terms a President can serve to two terms). These Amendments extended the principles of democracy to more Americans and in case of the Presidents limited the power of the executive branch by restricting their term.

The Constitution and its main significance is that it embodies the principle that out of many different peoples one national society can be created. The Founders wanted unity and stability. They also wanted safeguard of the rights and liberties of state. They wanted to safeguard individuals by balancing power among individual states. The result is a system of shared functions designed to prevent any element from gaining too much power.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20