POLITICAL SYSTEM

IN THE UNITED STATES

The historical background of the countrys political system is the U.S. Constitution (1787),
the worlds oldest and shortest written constitution, being a remarkably stable document with
only 27 amendments (the first 10 of which are collectively known as the Bill of Rights) in
over 200 years. This document laid the foundations of representative democracy for the first
time in history, and has served as a model constitution for other nations.
At the heart of the US Constitution is the principle known as separation of powers,
meaning that power is separated between three branches of the state:
- the executive (President & Cabinet),
- the legislative (Congress including the Senate and the House of Representatives) and
- the judicial (Supreme Court), where
no one institution has too much power and no individual can be a member of more than one
institution. Separation of powers is regulated by the principle of checks and balances,
since each of the three branches of the state has some authority to act on its own, some
authority to regulate the other two branches, and some of its own authority, in turn, are
regulated by the other branches.
The document also ensures federalism, which means that the power is divided between the
central (federal) government and the state governments. The rule of law is the third
fundamental principle, according to which no state authority or individual, not even the
President of the US, is above the Constitution.
The Congress
The Congress is a bicameral legislative branch of the government. It consists of two houses:
the House of Representatives (the lower chamber) and the Senate (the upper chamber).
The 435 members of the House of Representatives are elected directly by the voters for a twoyear term, and House seats are apportioned among the states by population.
The Senate consists of 100 members, each of whom serves for a six-year term (one third of
the Senate stands for election every two years, i.e. only one third of the members is re-elected
at a time). Thus, every state regardless of its population is represented by two Senators.
The Congress (House and Senate) has several functions, such as: initiating and passing
legislation, levying taxes, declaring war, ratifying treaties.
The Presidency
The President (supported by the Vice-President) is the head of the executive branch of the
federal government. He (always a man so far in history) is both the head of state and the head
of government, as well as the military commander-in-chief of the armed forces and chief
diplomat.
To be a President, one has to
- be a natural-born citizen of the US,
- at least 35 years old, and
- have lived in the US for at least 14 years.

The President is elected for a fixed term of 4 years and (since 1951) may serve a maximum
of two terms (i.e. can be re-elected only once).
Formally, the President (together with the Vice-President) is elected indirectly, by an Electoral
College. The Electoral College represents each state on the basis of the number of members in
the Senate (two for each state, regardless of size) and the number of members in the House of
Representatives (proportional to population)
Being the chief executive of the administration, the President has broad constitutional
powers to manage national affairs and the workings of the federal government. He has the
right to:
- propose or veto bills,
- issue executive orders,
- appoint Cabinet members, Supreme Court justices, federal judges, ambassadors
- pardon criminals,
- make treaties,
- declare war for 60 days.
The Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land. Since 1869, it has consisted of nine
Justices: the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, who have equal
weight when voting on a case. Decisions are made by a simple majority. The court deals with
matters pertaining to the federal government, disputes between states, and interpretation of the
Constitution.
Below the Supreme Court, there is a system of Courts of Appeal, and, below these courts,
there are District Courts. Together, these three levels of courts represent the federal judicial
system.
Authority
Under federalism, authority is divided between the federal government and the government of
the individual states. Both have their distinct functions.
The federal government is responsible for matters of general concern, such as regulation of
commerce between the states, federal taxes, national defence and foreign affair, etc.
States are responsible for matters like local criminal code, marriage and divorce laws,
regulations relating to working conditions, property, industry, business, public utilities,
schools, etc. Measures on the level of states must be democratic in form and laws adopted
must not contradict or violate the federal Constitution or the laws and treaties of the U.S.
Each state is divided into counties with limited jurisdiction. Towns and villages within each
state have their own local authorities responsible for providing police and fire protection,
operating public utilities, establishing local health regulations, collecting local taxes, etc.
Political Parties

The American political system is dominated by two political parties: the Democratic Party
and the Republican Party (often known as the 'Grand Old Party' or GOP), which is quite
extraordinary in democratic countries. These two are very old and very stable parties - the
Democrats go back to 1824 and the Republicans were founded in 1854.
The main reason for the dominance of these two parties is that the electoral system is based on
simple majority which, combined with the large voter size of the constituencies, ensures that
effectively only two parties can play. The other key factor is the huge influence of money in
the American electoral system, which means that candidates of any other party face an
overwhelming financial barrier to entry.
Organized interest groups and their lobbyists play a significant role in American democracy.
They represent people of the same interest. These include private interest groups organized
around economic issues, and public interest groups seeking collective good. The two classes
include several different types, such as labour unions, business groups, farm groups,
professional groups, issue-oriented groups etc. All of these groups want to influence public
policy decisions in their favour. Lobbyists may exert direct pressure on legislation, initiate
dialogues with decision-makers, support party campaigns in general elections, etc. Although
lobbyists are also important to provide feedback to politicians, they may also support rich
people and business groups with no benefit to the wide public.