Is Commonwealth of Australia.

The Commonwealth of Australia is a federation of states.

Australia has six states — New South Wales, Queensland,

South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.

Each state has its government. Australia has two territories

— the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.

The capital of the country is Canberra.

Australia is a constitutional monarchy like Great Britain.

The nation is administered under written constitution. The

British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, is also queen of Australia

and country's head of state. But the queen has little

power in the Australian government. She serves mainly as a

symbol of long historical tie between Great Britain and

Australia. Australia is a member of the Commonwealth of

Nations which is an association formed by Britain and some

of its former colonies.

Australia is one of the world's developed countries. Australia

has modern factories, highly productive mines and farms,

and busy cities. It is the world's leading producer of wool

and bauxite (the ore from which aluminium is made). It also

produces and exports large amounts of other minerals and

farm goods. Income from the export enables Australians to

have high standard of living. The most important trading

partners of Australia are Japan and the United States.

 

Public Holiday	Day Observed	Date Observed
Martin L King’s Birthday	3rd Monday in January	Monday, January 17, 2011
Presidents’ Day	3rd Monday in February	Monday, February 21, 2011
Memorial Day	Last Monday in May	Monday, May 30, 2011
Independence Day	July 4	Monday, July 4, 2011
Labor Day	1st Monday in September	Monday, September 5, 2011
Columbus Day	2nd Monday in October	Monday, October 10, 2011
Veteran’s Day	November 11	Friday, November 11, 2011
Thanksgiving Day	4th Thursday in November	Thursday, November 24, 2011
Christmas Day	December 25	Monday, December 26, 2011
New Years Day	January 1	Monday, January 2, 2012

he city of Washington, the capital of the United States of America is located in the District of Columbia (DC for short) Many people consider Washington DC to be one of the most beatiful cities in the world. It is filled with many parks, wide streets and impressive buildings. In the centre of the city, in Capitol Park, visitors' eyes focus on the Capitol, where Congress convence to inect laws. Many visitors come to Washington DC to see the White House. It is the greatest attraction for many of them. The White House, the official residence of the President, is situated at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. The largest room in this building of over the hundreds room is the East Room, scene of many state receptions, balls and musicals. Other famous rooms are: the Green Room, the Blue Room, the Red Room, which are used for afternoon teas and for receptions held before state dinners. The Blue Room, the most formal of these "colors" room is an oval-shaped room connecting the Green and the Red Rooms. On the second floor, the floor with the family quarters and quests rooms, is the Lincoln Room, which one served as an office for president Lincoln but today serves as an honor guest room. In this room Lincoln signed the emansipation proclamation of 1863. Other landmarks in Washington DC include memorials to three Presidents: The Washington Memorial, The Lincoln Memorial and The Jefferson Memorial; The Library of Congress, The National Gallary of Art, The John F. Kennedy center for the Perfoming Arts. The Capitol is in the very center of Washington. It is located on the Capitol Hill, the highest point in the city. The Capitol is the highest building in Washington. There is a law in Washington not to build buildings higher than the Capitol. The conrer stone of the Capitol was laid by George Washington on Sep 18th, 1793. The Capitol is the seat of the goverment of the United States of America.

A welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life. The general term may cover a variety of forms of economic and social organization."^[1]Modern welfare states include countriessuchas Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland^[2] which employ a system known as the Nordic model. The welfare state involves a transfer of funds from the state, to the services provided (i.e. healthcare, education) as well as directly to individuals ("benefits"). Thewelfare state is fundedthrough redistributionist taxation and is often referred to as a type of "mixed economy".

For more than two centuries the two-party system has endured in the United States. It has had varying degrees of influence on American government. Why, when most other democratic countries have numerous political parties whose candidates are elected to public office, does the United States still have only two parties? Minor parties have formed, and they sometimes have received a significant number of votes. However, none of them has lasted. There must be some good reasons, and indeed there are at least three.

HISTORICAL INFLUENCE

The force of historical tradition is a major reason the United States continues to have a two-party system. Since the nation began with two parties-the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists-people have grown used to the system. The longer it has persisted, the more unthinkable it has become to have it any other way.AMERICAN POLITICAL BELIEFS AND VALUES

Another factor that has influenced America's two-party system is the shared principles and ideals of the American people. In many other countries, the range of beliefs is greater, and disagreements run deeper. For example, France has a communist party that, though weaker than it once was, still gets a significant amount of support. It also has a strong right-wing nationalist party whose members have almost the opposite political views from the communists.Likewise, Nigeria has for many years been locked in a serious dispute over who should control policy: the military or the proponents of democracy. The broad ideological consensus in the United States encourages just two large parties-with overlapping points of view-whose main focus is to win elections, not to represent vastly different sets of beliefs.WINNER- TAKE-ALL SYSTEMProbably the single most important reason that the United States has a two-party system is the winner-take-all electoral system, instead of proportional representation. In nearly all elections, from the race for the presidency to contests at the local level, the winner is the one who receives the largest number of votes. The winner does not need to have more than 50 percent of the vote, only one vote more than his or her opponents. Because a party does not gain anything by finishing second, minor parties can rarely overcome the assumption that a vote for them is "wasted." Elections for national and most state representatives are based on single-member districts. One person represents the people within a small area, or district, of a state. No matter how many people run, the person with the largest number of votes wins. This encourages parties to become larger, spreading their "umbrellas" to embrace more voters. Parties without big groups of voters supporting them have little hope of winning, and often even have a hard time getting their candidates listed on the ballot.

Britain's 13 North American colonies matured during the 1700s. They grew in population, economic strength, and cultural attainment. They were experienced in self-government. Yet it was not until 170 years after the founding of the first permanent settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, that the new United States of America emerged as a nation. Road I

War between Britain and France in the 1750s was fought partly in North America. Britain was victorious and soon initiated policies designed to control and fund its vast empire. These measures imposed greater restraints on the American colonists' way of life.

The Royal Proclamation of 1763 restricted the opening of new lands for settlement. The Sugar Act of 1764 placed taxes on luxury goods, including coffee, silk, and wine, and made it illegal to import rum. The Currency Act of 1764 prohibited the printing of paper money in the colonies. The Quartering Act of 1765 forced colonists to provide food and housing for royal troops. And the Stamp Act of 1765 required the purchase of royal stamps for all legal documents, newspapers, licenses, and leases.

Colonists objected to all these measures, but the Stamp Act sparked the greatest organized resistance. The main issue, in the eyes of a growing number of colonists, was that they were being taxed by a distant legislature in which they could not participate. In October 1765, 27 delegates from nine colonies met in New York to coordinate efforts to get the Stamp Act repealed. They passed resolutions asserting the individual colonies' right to impose their own taxes.

Self-government produced local political leaders, and these were the men who worked together to defeat what they considered to be oppressive acts of Parliament. After they succeeded, their coordinated campaign against Britain ended. During the next several years, however, a small number of radicals tried to keep the controversy alive. Their goal was not accommodation, but independence.

Samuel Adams of Massachusetts was the most effective. He wrote newspaper articles and made speeches appealing to the colonists' democratic instincts. He helped organize committees throughout the colonies that became the basis of a revolutionary movement. By 1773, the movement had attracted colonial traders who were angry with British attempts to regulate the tea trade. In December, a group of men sneaked on to three British ships in Boston harbor and dumped their cargo of tea overboard. This incident, which took place on December 16, 1773, has been seen as helping to spark the American Revolution and is now referred to as The Boston Tea Party

To punish Massachusetts for the vandalism, the British Parliament closed the port of Boston and restricted local authority. The new measures, dubbed the Intolerable Acts, backfired. Rather than isolate one colony, they rallied the others. All the colonies except Georgia sent representatives to Philadelphia in September 1774 to discuss their "present unhappy state." It was the first Continental Congress.

Colonists felt a growing sense of frustration and anger over British encroachment on their rights. Yet by no means was there unanimity of thought on what should be done. Loyalists wanted to remain subjects of the king. Moderates favored compromise to produce a more acceptable relationship with the British government. And revolutionaries wanted complete independence. They began stockpiling weapons and mobilizing forces — waiting for the day when they would have to fight for it.

The United States is a federal union of 50 states, with the District of Columbia as the seat of the national government. The Constitutionoutlines the structure of the national government and specifies its powers and activities. Other governmental activities are the responsibility of the individual states, which have their own constitutions and laws. Within each state are counties, townships, cities and villages, each of which has its own elective government.

The President names the heads of federal departments while judges are either elected directly by the people or appointed by elected officials.

The Constitution divides the powers of the government into three branches — the executive, headed by the President; the legislative, which includes both houses of Congress (the Senate and the House of Representatives); and the judicial, which is headed by the Supreme Court. The Constitution limits the role of each branch to prevent any one branch from gaming undue power.

The whole system of American government is based on the principles established in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

The state governments follow much the same pattern as the federal government. Each has a governor as the chief executive, with power divided among the executive, legislative and judicial branches. State governments manage such affairs as maintaining order, educating children and young adults and building highways. The federal government deals with national problems and international relations and with regional problems that involve more than one state.

The President of the United States is chosen in a national election for a four-year term and may be re-elected for a second term. He must be a native-born citizen, at least 35 years old. His salary is $200,000 a year, and he also gets an extra $50,000 for expenses; but he must pay income tax on the whole amount. He receives up to $100,000 tax-free for travel and $20,000 for official entertainment, and is provided a home and extensive office space at the White House.

As head of the executive branch, the President must carry out the government programs enacted into law by Congress. He recommends programs and laws to Congress and requests money for federal government operations. The President appoints federal judges, ambassadors and hundreds of government officials, and assigns duties to the elected Vice President. If a President dies, resigns or becomes permanently disabled, the Vice President assumes the office until the next election.

 This is the popular name given it the flag of the Great Britain. Actually it is called the Union Flag and it is a mixture of several flags. It all began in 1606 when Scotland was joined to England and Wales. The Scottish flag (St. Andrew's Cross), which is blue with a white cross from corner to corner, was joined to the English Flag (St. George's Cross), with a red cross. The flag of St. George can still be seen on churches in England. Later, in 1801, when Ireland was joined to the union, as it = is called, the Irish Flag of St. Patrick’s Cross was added, white with a red cross from corner to corner. In this way the British people got the Union Flag which is red, white and blue. King James The Third (1566-1622) ordered that the Union Flag should be flown on the main mast of all British ships, except on ships of war. Here the flag was flown at the front of the bowsprit. The end of the bowsprit was called the Jack Star and so we get the name of Union Jack. A "jack", by the way, is an old word for a sailor. The Union Jack is also on the flags of Australia and New Zealand.

That's a very broad question and books could be written on the subject.  One of the largest changes for America was that after the war it was the only one of the Western allies whose economy had not been ruined by the war, which placed the US in a position of having a virtual monopoly on manufactured goods and agricultural exports that lasted for more than a decade, well into the 50's.  While this raised the standard of living for Americans well beyond those living anywhere else, in the end it was a negative in many ways - labor wages for unionized industries grew so large that the US was placed into a non-competitive position by the early 60's. The decline continued during the seventies and eighties, with a corresponding decline in the US standard of living relative to the rest of the world.  When I was young, the US was still sending CARE packages to Italy. Now Italy has a higher standard of living than the US, as I recall from my readings.