The Political System of the USA

The Political System of the USA

Today I’m going to tell you about polit system of the usa. Going along with this task, I divided my presentation into 4 parts. First of all, I’ll give you general information about political principles and structure. In other parts I’ll look in more depth of the US polit branches (leg, exec, jud), its structure and functions.

The Constitution of the usa that considered as the supreme law of the land, set up the main principles of the polit system – rule of the law, the creation of the federal system with a supreme national government and the separation of powers into three branches() that check and balance each other. This leads me to the next point of my presentation.

The legislative power is vested in Congress and made up of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are 435 members in the House of Representatives and 100 senators from each district. The main duty of the Congress is to make laws, establish post offices, raise and support armies. The House and Senate have particular exclusive powers. For example, the Senate must approve many important Presidential appointments, including cabinet officers, federal judge, department secretaries, ambassadors to foreign countries. All legislative bills for the purpose of raising revenue must originate in the House of Representatives.

Having made a brief observation to the legislature, I’d like to tell you about The executive branch. It is headed by the President, who, together with the vice president, is elected to a four-year term. Under a constitutional amendment passed in 1951, a president can be elected to only two terms. The powers of the presidency are formidable, but not without limitations. The president, as the chief formulator of public policy, often proposes legislation to Congress, serves as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and with the approval of the Senate, makes treaties. In the case of the death, resignation, or incapacity of the president, the vice-president take this office. His other constitutional duty is to preside over the Senate, where he casts the deciding vote in the case of a tie.

Last but not least I’d like to highlight the judicial branch. It consists of a system of courts (federal and national) spread throughout the country, headed by the Supreme Court of the United States. Judiciary operates independently alongside the executive and legislative branches. Generally speaking, an important function of this branch of power is to determine whether laws of Congress or actions of the President violate the Constitution. Federal judges are appointed by the President for life. Federal courts decide cases involving federal law, conflicts between citizens of different states. And what about the highest federal court – the Supreme Court of the USA. The Supreme Court today consists of a Chief Justice and 9 Associate Justices. The Supreme Court hears cases in which someone claims that Constitutional law has been violated. Although the Supreme Court does not have the power to make laws.

And to sum up, I want to say that although these 3 branches have own functions and structure, its cooperate and control each other with special possibilities enumerated by the Constitution. And this is the main feature of the polit system of the USA.