English Speaking Countries: Usa di Daniela Anastasi

Government

Government mozilla


The Unites States is a representative democracy. [E1] [ES1] [F1] [I1]

The people vote for government representatives, who are charged with the responsibility of acting in the people's interest.

The Constitution  [E1] [E2] [ES1] [F1] [I1]  defines the powers of national and state governments, the functions and framework of each branch of government and the rights of individual citizens. 

The principle of limited government is basic to the Constitution. When the Constitution was first written in 1787, many Americans feared that th power could become concentrated in the hands of a few. Several features were created to guard against this possibility:


1.  the federal organization of government;

2.  the separation of powers among different branches of government

3.   a system of checks and balances to restrict the powers of each branch.

 

1. Federal Government

The Constitution gives power to the central authority, the Federal Government. [E1] [ES1] to act as a representative of all states in foreign policy and deal with the issues that involve the whole country, such as immigration, defence, commerce. On the other hand, each state has its own constitution and legislates independently on a number of matters.

National Government

It taxes people for defence and the general welfare; it controls trade with foreign nations and among the states; coins money and controls its value; declares war; commands the Armed Forces; makes foreign policy; appoints judges and other national officials; tries cases under the Constitution and federal law; explains the law.

 

State Government  [E1] [ES1]

A state Congress makes local laws, a Governor, elected by popular vote, heads the

executive power and State Courts administer justice. The State Government taxes people for state purposes (e.g. state highways); makes laws for all matters not controlled by the National Government (e.g. trade, welfare, police protection, education, courts of law inside the state)

 

Local  Government

It taxes people for local purposes (e.g. paying the fire fighters and police); Makes laws for all matters not controlled by national and state governments (e.g. traffic rules).

 


2. Separation of powers

Besides the division of power between state and national governments, power is also limited by the separation of power among three branches: legislative, executive and judicial.

Legislative branch [E1]

The function of the legislative branch is to make laws. It is made up of representatives elected to Congress. Congress is comprised of two groups: the House of Representatives (the House) and the Senate.

candidates for the House of Representatives are elected for 2-year terms of office; candidates for the Senate are elected for 6-year terms.


Executive branch [E1]

The President [E1] [E2] [E3] [ES1] [F1] [I1] is the chief executive of the country and has wide powers. The president is elected to a four-year term and can be re-elected to a second term. The vice-president, who is elected with the president, must preside over the Senate and must assume the presidency if the president dies, becomes disabled or is removed from office.

 

Judicial branch [E1]

The third branch of government is the judicial. It is exercised at federal level by the Supreme Court, which is composed of nine members, all appointed by the President on the advice and with the consent of the Senate.

 

 

3. System of checks and balances

The division of government power among three separate but equal branches provides for a system of checks and balances [E1] [E2]. Each branch checks or limits the power of the other branches.
 

 Separation of powers and Checks and Balances

map of the US. gov


Political Party system
[E1]: The United States has had only two major parties throughout his history. When the nation was founded, two political groupings emerged: the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. Since then, two major parties have alternated in power: Democratic [E1][ES1] and Republican [E1][ES2].

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