Revision:Introduction to US government

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Branches of Government

Governments can be split into three branches. In the US this is:

• Executive: President
• Legislative: Congress (made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate)
• Judicial: Supreme Court

How are laws passed?

Politicians can introduce a bill anywhere. It is first debated in the house it is introduced in. It will pass through the relevant committee stage, and the committee has unlimited power of amendment. It must then pass both houses. It is then taken to the president, who may sign it off or veto it.

If the President vetoes the bill, it will be taken back to congress. If there is a 2/3rd majority in congress the President’s veto is overturned.

Participation in the US

The size of the US means it costs a large amount of money for a party to establish a nationwide presence. This leads to the two party system. Elections are usually very close between the Republicans (GOP) and the Democrats.

Unlike in Britain, turnout in the US is gradually increasing. Turnout in 2004 was particularly high due to President Bush’s polarisation of opinion.

Since there are fixed term elections in the US, the president does not have the advantage of being able to hold the election when he is doing well. However, the incumbent president is usually successful as his campaign attracts a lot of funds.

The Electoral College

Each state operates practically as its own country. It has its own parliament, supreme court and legal system. It is assigned a number of electoral votes based on its population, and uses its own system to decide who they go to. In a presidential election, the candidate who does best in each state usually takes all of that states’ electoral votes. However, delegates to the electoral college may act as ‘faithless electors’ and vote against their state’s decision, and two states, Nebraska and Maine, now split their electoral votes proportionally. This is an FPTP system and can be very unrepresentative. For instance, in 2000 Al Gore got the most votes but George Bush won the presidency.