Three elements of the Federal government

The executive (The President and his administration), the legislative (The Congress) and the judicial. All of them are checked by one another. The function of the legislative branch is to make laws. Congress is the legislative branch of the USA. The Constitution divides Congress into two particles: a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Founders also felt that it was important to retain some control over the powers of Congress. As a result the Constitution specifically enumerates 10 things, some no longer relevant now, that Congress may not do. E.g. Congress cannot imprison people without due process of law except of emergencies, Congress cannot pass laws that retro-actively make a crime, and Congress cannot tax interstate comers. The Bill of Rights additionally forbids the Congress to encroach the rights of the individual.

Representatives are elected every 2 years. Today there’s one representative fro approximately every 621,000 people. These states reflect the geographical, social and economic diversity of the American people. Every 10 years after each census states with the fast-growing population are given extra seeds at the expense of those with slow-growing population. The Constitution says that each state must have at least one representative which must be at least 25 years of age, a US citizen for at least 7 years and he must live in the state from which he is elected. The internal organization of the House of Representatives is based on the system of committees and sub-committees.

The most powerful person of the House is the speaker. Elected by the house and is the leader of the party that represents the majority of seeds in the House.

Each party chooses its own floor leader and whips.

The Senate is composed of 100 members, 2 of each of 50 states. The Senate embodies the federal nature of the Constitution.

Committees.

The Senate is more conservative and stable than the House. Many senators are elected several times and therefore are more experienced politicians. The Senate embodies federal nature of the Constitution. The procedures and workings of the Senate are similar to those of House of Representatives, but smaller. There are few committees. The most important ones are: the appropriations committee, budget committee, foreign relations committee.

The Founders designed the Senate to be deliberative national body, more stable and insulated from popular sentiment. So according to legislators, senators serve 6-year term (representatives serve 2-year term). The Founders also designed the Senate to protect the interests of the states especially the states with small populations by giving each state the same number of representatives in the Senate. In the House states with larger population have more representatives.

Unlike the House the Senate does not limit the debate on any bill or for any one senator. This privilege allows senators to filibuster (оттягивать принятие закона, to make unlimited speeches). This filibuster can be ended only through the vote of 60 senators.

The individual seats of the Senate are numbered. The democrats sit on the right.

Every 2 years 1/3 of the Senate stands for election. The Constitution says that a senator must be at least 30 years of age and a citizen of the US for 9 years and should be a resident of the state from which he is elected.

The Vice President of the US serves as the President of the Senate but has a very limited role in the Senate and rarely attends its sessions. One of his duties is to break tie votes in the Senate. Thus the Senate elects a president pro tempora (lat. temporary president).

Whips gather information about their colleagues’ views on specific bills.

Congress has many powers and responsibilities, the most important being the law-making, which is a long and complicated process. It takes a large portion of both representatives and senators time. Practice shows that a very low percentage of bills become actually the law.

The procedure of passing the bill:

1) a member of Congress introduces a bill to the House or to the Senate or to the Senate;

2) the bill is assigned a number and is forwarded to an appropriate legislative committee;

3) the committee decides whether a need exists for such legislation and whether the bill meets the need;

4) the bill is discussed by the committee, and the committee may conduct hearings or consult other experts from outside;

5) after considering the bill the committee may approve and pass it on to the full House and Senate or take no action, then the bill dies (as the majority of bills).

The approved bill is placed on the calendar of the House where it was introduced and it’s debated according to the rules of this chapter. During the debates the bill can be again amended and then voted on. After the final debate a vote is taken, and if the majority votes for the bill, it goes to the other chamber of the Congress, and there it is considered under the same basic procedures. If the bill is passed by both houses, it is submitted to the President, and here the President can either sign or veto it. If the Houses offered amendments, which in some places contradict, the President calls for Conference committee, consisted of the representatives of the Houses to settle the differences.

The revised the bill is sent again to the House of Representatives, then to the Senate (or vise versa), and if both approve it, then the bill is sent to the President again. If the President signs bill, it becomes law. If the President vetoes the bill, it can become the law only of both Houses of Congress again pass it, this time by the 2/3 majority. Any bill that has not passed by the Congress session is considered dead. It can be reinforced, but only in the next Congress.

In addition to its role of law-making, Congress also has the authority to initiate bills to fund some federal programs, to set tariffs and taxes to provide for the national defense. Congress is also responsible for congressional investigations. Congress has the authority to investigate and oversee the execute branch and its agencies, such as the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice. Congress can summon senior officials to answer questions, it can order audits of agencies; can hold hearings to air grievances of the public. In some cases Congress holds hearings to raise public awareness of the issue. There were efforts to limit the growing authority of the execute branch. Most investigations, however, were little-known efforts.

Congressional work has become more complex. Congress has to rely on the advise and assistance of a large number of auxiliary agencies. One of them is the Congressional Budget Office – it’s a group of experts in economics and statistics, which provides information necessary for the legislator…..

Congress has a large staff. Some of them are personal assistants to representatives and senators. Others are on the staff of the numerous committees.

The General Accounting Office tracks fundings and expenditures of the government.

Lobbyists. Full-time lobbyists must be registered.

The relationship of the Congress with the execute branch is rather critical to the workings of the government. Sometimes frictions develop between Presidents. The President of the US, for instance, tends for swift action, but Congress, whose machine works very slowly, makes all movements slow. Congress reflects nation diversity.

The executive branch is responsible for administrating the laws passed by Congress. The President of the US and Vice President are the only officials elected by all citizens of the country. They both serve 4-year terms. The President shares power with Congress and the judiciary. The President who has no vote in Congress can in fact propose much legislators that become law. The President is the principle maker of the foreign policy.

The President has changed most of all in the last 200 years. At first Presidents served mostly as administrators carrying out the laws passed by Congress. But in time they have come to stand in the very centre of the government. The President has become very powerful.

Until 1951 there were no limits for the number of President’s terms. Only Roosevelt was elected for the 3^rd and 4^th term (the latter was cut by his death).

President is elected each leap year. Together with the President the Vice President is elected and can become the President in the case of the President’s death for the remaining term.

Presidential elections are held in two stages:

1) when people vote in November, they vote for the electors;

2) in December electors elect President and Vice President.

The President must be born in the USA, be at least 35 and must live in the USA for at least 14 years. Up to 1974 no President has resigned, and two attempts of impeachment had failed. In 1967 a new Constitutional Amendment was introduced. If a Vice President dies or resigns, a Senate elects a new one.

A Senate committee discovered some facts about President Nixon, which made people think about his impeachment. ……… Nixon resigned in 1974, Ford became the President automatically. The Senate elected Rockefeller as Vice President. ……

Most Vice Presidents during a second term regard the office as a useful base from which they can try to win their parties next candidature for the presidency.

In the USA today the President has many responsibilities. He appoints more than 3000 positions: ambassadors, White House personnel, members of boards. He oversees many components of the executive branch. The propose legislation to Congress, including the yearly federal budget. He directs foreign policy, commands the armed forces, negotiates and signs treaties. In fact it somehow happens that the US President has become a symbol of the nation and a head of state with ceremonial duties. The increasing power of modern Presidents doesn’t violate the Constitution. Executive authority has expanded because the President’s power in the Constitution is defined rather vaguely. Thus the executive branch has established a large number of agencies that carry out some of the executive functions. Many full-time government employees participate in defining, carrying out various functions. The heads of these departments are called secretaries.

The difference between departments and executive agencies is both historical and functional. Departments are authorized by Congress. The chiefs sit in the cabinet and concern large political issues,

Some executive agencies, such as CIA, are independent. They are not parts of the department.

The President also has primary responsibility of making foreign policy. He is the commander of the armed forces too. The President has the power to recognize new governments, to attend summit meetings with the heads of other departments. Executive agreements signed by the President have the force of law. But unlike treaties they don’t need the congressional approval. Most Americans think that it’s good to allow the President some freedom of action, because the President can respond quickly to the international challenges.

It is only Congress that has the greatest ability to limit the President’s power. Congress can check presidential power by refusing appropriate funds on a presidential initiative, whether it is domestic or international. Only Congress can write and pass the laws that the executive branch is obliged constitutionally to implement.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20