Free Essay On The U.S Political System

The U.S. Political System
The United States of America’s political system is based on the Constitution which was written in 1787. The federal constitutional republic currently consists of 50 states. The core value that the Founders wanted to promote through the constitution was the prevention of the monopoly of power by a party or an individual. Comprising a Preamble, followed by 7 Articles and, presently, 27 Amendments, the Constitution is the premise on which the country’s federal government is based. The US political system is complex as it strives to ensure that the balanced distribution of power and prevalence of justice. The governing authority is categorized under 3 tiers, namely: a) National or Federal, b) State, and c) Local authorities. The national government itself consists of 3 autonomous entities, namely: a) Legislative or Congress, b) Executive - led by the President, and c) Judicial. While each of these branches is empowered with its own authority, they also act as monitors and controllers over each other. Figure 1 depicts the American political systems with its key players and bodies.
Figure 1: The United States Political System
The president of the United States is the head of the executive branch. In addition he or she also serves as the commander in chief of the army and the head of state. As the leader of the nation, the President has numerous significant national as well as international duties to perform. Some of the President’s duties are appointing Cabinet members, negotiation and signing of international treaties and agreements, appointing of judiciary members as well as ambassadors to foreign nations, signing as well as vetoing bills, as well as permitting the pardoning of those who have been found guilty of committing federal offences. As the Unites States is considered to be the most powerful nation on the world, its President has come to be viewed as the single most influential person. The growing visibility of the position in the media and the impact that the US foreign policy and interventions have had on the global community, have greatly amplified the perception of this power in recent years.
Although it may seem to a very powerful position to hold, the President’s powers are checked and controlled through the Constitution. The Legislature can exercise several powers to control the decisions made by the President. To begin with, any presidential appointments or bill recommendations can be denied by the legislature from being passed. Any decisions pertaining to the budget, signing of treaties and agreements, as well as the declaring of war needs to be first approved by the legislature. In cases where elections fail to identify a clear winner by majority, the legislature selects the winners for the post of president as well as vice-president. It is one of the president’s responsibilities to regularly provide the Congress with reports through State of the Union addresses. The judiciary too can exercise certain powers to check the president. It holds the power to declare presidential orders as being unconstitutional. Further, during impeachment trials, it is the Chief Justice who serves as president.
The election of the president in the US is a unique and complex system known as the presidential primary and caucuses. These ‘pre-elections’ are held between the months of January and June preceding the general elections that are held in November. Primary elections are typically held by the state government while caucuses are privately run by political parties. The ‘Primaries’, as the primary elections are commonly known, are a form of indirect election, where voters do not vote for president, but choose the state delegates from each party who may form its national convention. It is the delegates who then choose who will be the presidential nomination from their party. However, this process has received a lot of criticism for political commentators mainly due to its phased nature. States that hold their primary election towards the end of the season run the risk of having elections that are not influencers of the race but mere formalities as, by this time, most of the states have run their own elections and it is more or less clear which delegates from parties will be contesting for president. Hence, the elections become more of a question of which state runs first, instead of who the most suitable candidate is.
The Unites States Congress is divided into two houses, namely: a) the House of Representative, and b) the Senate. Commonly known simply as ‘The House’, the House of Representatives was formed under Article One of the Unites States Constitution. The main purpose of the house is the passing of federal legislations. This function has a major impact on the nation, even though any federal bill has to be approved by the Senate as well as the president before being passes. Other powers granted to house include the authority to impeach, the authority to begin revenue bills, as well as to choose a president of the nation in cases where no candidate wins by a majority in the Electoral College. Every state has at least one member in the House of Representatives and can have more as well. For example, California has the largest number of representatives in the house, 53 of the 435 representatives. Each representative can be a member of the house only for two years. The members elect a Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. The United States Capitol’s south wing is where the House meets.
The other ‘house’ of Congress in the United States is the United States Senate or the Upper House. As with the House of Representatives, the Senate was also formed under Article One of the United States Constitution. Two senators selected from each state form the members of the Senate. Senators can serve up to 6 years in the Senate, albeit in a phased manner. The United States Capitol’s north wing is where the Senate meets. The Senate is considered to be a more powerful and influential political body when compared to the House of Representatives. This is mainly due to the extensive powers granted to the Senate. The Senate is responsible for the appointment of key officials including ambassadors, military officers, federal executive and regulatory officials, as well as Cabinet secretaries. It is also responsible for trying impeachment trials of federal officers that are initiated by the House. Another reason why the Senate is considered to be more powerful is due to the longer terms served by its members. In fact, it is often considered to be the world’s greatest deliberative body.
The Judicial power of the United States rests with the Supreme Court that was established under Article Three of the United States Constitution, and was formally created in 1789 under the Judiciary Act. The Supreme Court is currently made up of the Chief Justice supported by 8 associate Justices. It is interesting to note that each associate justice holds equal voting rights as that of the chief justice. Each of the 9 justices is chosen by the President of the United States, and then approved by the Senate. The position of justice is a lifelong term and a justice can only be impeached and removed from office for committing major crimes or misdemeanors.
America has been known to be the inventor of political parties as none existed in the world until 1790 when the United States political system required public support in the republic to form a government. The United States political party system consists of two main parties, namely: a) Democratic party, and b) Republican Party. Although these parties are a part of the modern political system of the US, both have been in existence and have formed a major part of the American politics since the 1930s. While the Democratic party forms the left of center position, the Republican party is of the right-wing position. Numerous parties have form a third party’ angle in the system but have failed to bring a member into the position of president. The centrist Libertarian party has been the third largest, operating since the 1980s.
The federal government of the country relies on election to appoint officials at the national, state and local levels of government. The US President, the head of the state, is elected by the people, albeit indirectly, through the Electoral College. Modern day voting is conducting electronically through virtual or mechanic voting systems. Members of the Congress, the federal legislature, are elected directly. Each state has a minimum of one elected governor and legislature. There are numerous offices at the local level, in cities as well as counties, which are filled through elections. Most of the aspects of elections are governed by state law, including voter eligibility, the primary elections, the operation of a the state’s electoral college, as well as the conducting of the local and state level elections. Constitution of the United States provides limited definition on the manner in which federal elections are to be conducted, mostly through Articles one and two, as well as several amendments.
The federal government of the Unites States oversees the constitutional republic of 50 states. In addition, it covers numerous territories as well as one capitol district. The federal government of the United States is comprised of the three autonomous parts, namely: a) Legislative – formed of both the Houses of Congress, namely the House of Representatives and The Senate, b) Executive – Headed by the President and including the Vice-President and Cabinet, and c) Judicial – Including all the courts. The branches are empowered by the Constitution of the United States, the US President, and the Supreme court. The Congress creates Acts that further define the authority and responsibility f each of these branches.
The Unites States is a ‘Divided Democracy’ from several perspectives including its governing institutions, constitutional design, public policies, historic evolution, and the moral and ethical division in its society. As per the American political system, while one party is elected to rule the executive branch and runs the White House, the other majority party wins the control of either one or even both of the Houses of the US Congress, i.e. the House of Representatives and Senate. This form of divided democracy has been put in place with the aim of implementing the main purpose of the United States Constitution, that is , to ensure balance of power and prevent a dictatorial and tyrannical government from gaining control of the nation and its people. However, there have been critics of this system as, when there is a growing dissent among parties and the greater good of the country is taken over by a struggle for power. In such a scenario, it becomes difficult for effective acts, laws and treaties to come into effect as the two major parties tend to oppose bills just for the sake of opposition. This has been occurring a lot in recent times. When President Barack Obama was elected in the 2008 Presidential elections, it led to the situation where the Democrats had its nominee elected as president as well as having a majority in the House of Representatives. This scenario allowed the nation to see what impact a one-party rule may have.