|
|
U.S. GOVERNMENT: INTRODUCTION
The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation. It is a
constitutional republic, "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights
protected by law." It is fundamentally structured as a representative democracy,
though U.S. citizens residing in the territories are excluded from voting for
federal officials. The government is regulated by a system of checks and
balances defined by the United States Constitution, which serves as the
country's supreme legal document and as a social contract for the people of the
United States. In the American federalist system, citizens are usually subject
to three levels of government, federal, state, and local; the local government's
duties are commonly split between county and municipal governments. In almost
all cases, executive and legislative officials are elected by a plurality vote
of citizens by district. There is no proportional representation at the federal
level, and it is very rare at lower levels. Federal and state judicial and
cabinet officials are typically nominated by the executive branch and approved
by the legislature, although some state judges and officials are elected by
popular vote.
The federal government is composed of three branches:
Legislative: The bicameral Congress, made up of the Senate and the House
of Representatives makes federal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the
power of the purse, and has the rarely used power of impeachment, by which it
can remove sitting members of the government.
Executive: The president is the commander-in-chief of the military, can
veto legislative bills before they become law, and appoints the Cabinet and
other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.
Judiciary: The Supreme Court and lower federal courts, whose judges are
appointed by the president with Senate approval, interpret laws and can overturn
laws they deem unconstitutional.
The House of Representatives has 435 members, each representing a congressional
district for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the fifty states
by population every tenth year. As of the 2000 census, seven states have the
minimum of one representative, while California, the most populous state, has
fifty-three. Each state has two senators, elected at-large to six-year terms;
one third of Senate seats are up for election every second year. The president
serves a four-year term and may be elected to the office no more than twice. The
president is not elected by direct vote, but by an indirect electoral college
system in which the determining votes are apportioned by state. The Supreme
Court, led by the Chief Justice of the United States, has nine members, who
serve for life.
All laws and procedures of both state and federal governments are subject to
review, and any law ruled in violation of the Constitution by the judicial
branch is overturned. The original text of the Constitution establishes the
structure and responsibilities of the federal government, the relationship
between it and the individual states, and essential matters of military and
economic authority. Article One protects the right to the "great writ" of habeas
corpus, and Article Three guarantees the right to a jury trial in all criminal
cases. Amendments to the Constitution require the approval of three-fourths of
the states. The Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times; the first ten
amendments, which make up the Bill of Rights, and the Fourteenth Amendment form
the central basis of individual rights in the United States.
|
