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THE STRUCTURE OF THE CONSTITUTION

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It consists of the Preamble, 7 articles and 27 amendments.

It has 6 basic principles:

1)all states are equal 2)3 branches of government 3)all men are equal before the law and that anyone, rich or poor, can demand the protection of the law…. and other 3 or 4

When the constitution was adopted American people were unhappy about the fact that it did not contain any guarantees of basic freedoms and individual rights. It recognized slavery. So under strong public pressure. Congress was forced to adopt the first 10 amendments to the Constitution knows as the Bills of Rights.

From these amendments (поправка) the Americans received guarantees of such basic rights as freedom of speech, press, religion, the right to protest, assembly, to bear guns, freedom from unreasonable search and arrest and so on.

3 people contributed to writing the Constitution: George Washington, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton.

12. The congress consists of 2 houses: The Senate and the House of Representatives.

Its residence is on Capitol Hill, in the centre of Washington. The Congress meets in regular sessions, beginning with January 3, almost all year round.

The legislative work of Congress is done mostly in standing (permanent) committees. Today there are 16 committees in the Senate and 22 in the HOR. Those standing committees have subcommittees. Each standing committee specializes in certain spheres of lawmaking: foreign affairs, defense, finance, agriculture, commerce and etc. The majority party in each House controls the committee work and minority parties are represented in the committees. Bills can be suggested by the President.

Each house has the power to introduce bills on any subject. After introduction all bills are sent to certain committees. When a committee is in favor of a bill, it is sent to the Congress for open debate. When the debate is over, members vote on it. When a bill is passed by one House it’s sent to the other. After the bill is passed by both houses it’s sent to the President for approval.

13. The President of the USA is the head of the executive power or the Chief Executive. His official residence and office of the president is the White House, Washington D.C.

The qualifications for the presidency are: the P. must be at least 35, a resident of the country for at least 14 years and a national born citizen. The president is elected for a 4-year term. He can only serve 2 terms.

If a President dies or unable to carry out his duties, he is succeeded (сменяет сексид) by the VP ►next in line of succession ►The speaker of the HOR ►The secretary of State

The presidential term of 4 years begins on January 20. He starts his official duties with an inauguration ceremony and takes an oath of office (the words of the oath are provided by the Constitution).

In 1947 the National Security Council (“the super cabinet”) was formed, which includes the President, the VP, the Secretaries of State and Defense. It is the main centre of planning the American foreign and military policy.

Home and foreign policy of the present administration


14. In a typical direct election citizens vote for presidential candidates and the candidate with the most votes wins. This is not how the US president is elected. Instead the Electoral College voting system is used. The Electoral College is an indirect system of electing the president. This means that citizens don’t actually vote for the president, they vote for electors, then the electors vote for the president. This system was created by the Founding Fathers in Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution. Every 4 years on the 1st Tuesday following the 1st Monday of November, each state holds an election in which citizens vote for a “ticket” that includes a president and a VP.

The Founding Fathers (Madison, Hamilton and Washington) didn’t trust the ability of the majority of citizens to choose the best candidate. If citizens prefer someone unfit to be president, the Electoral College can select a different candidate.

There are 2 types of votes that are counted in the presidential election. The popular vote refers to whom citizens vote for. The electoral vote refers to whom electors vote for.

The popular vote decides who the electors are. The electoral vote decides who wins the presidency. When citizens vote, they see the presidential candidates’ names, but they are actually voting for electors who pledge to vote for a particular candidate. The electors that represent each presidential candidate are chosen by the political parties in each state. The candidate who receives the most popular votes in the state receives all of that state’s electoral votes. It’s called a “winner-take-all” system. Maine and Nebraska are the exceptions: they can divide their Electoral College votes proportionally (the voting results may be different in each district). The electors of a political party whose candidate has won the majority of the electoral votes in this particular state gather in the state capital and cast their votes for their party’s leader to whom they have pledged.

The electors represent their states. Each state gets electors equal to its number of Senators (Each state gets 2 senators regardless of its population.) + the number of representatives which is based on a state’s population. Each state is split into districts and each district votes for 1 representative. The number of districts depends on the population of each state. The size of a district (constituency) is 530,000 people. The census is conducted every 10 years, so every time the census happens states might gain or lose a few electoral votes.

States with larger population get more electoral votes anyway.

The number of electors in the Electoral College is based on the total number of Senators + the total number of members in the HOR= 100+ 435+ 3 electors for Washing D.C. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

To become the president a candidate needs 270 Electoral College votes. If the Electoral College is tied 269 versus 269, then the HOR breaks the tie, each state gets a vote, not each representative so the representative have to decide as a group.

►There’s a possibility of faithless electors. It’s someone who promises to vote for candidate A, but actually votes for candidate B. But they have a right to do that under the terms of the American Constitution.

►The popular vote winner may loose the election

It happened 4 times in the American history when the candidate who won the most electoral votes didn’t win the popular vote. In 2000 Al Gore won 500,000 more votes nationwide than George W. Bush but Bush got the most electoral votes and became the president.

►There are certain states that a have a long history of voting for a particular party. These are known as “safe states”. Presidential candidates don’t go to states with campaigns which are likely to vote for them. They are more likely to go to the so-called “swing states” – states that vote for one party in some elections and a different party in other elections. The swing states must also have big population to interest the candidates. Because the candidates’ main target to win over the population of big states with many electoral votes.

►If you live in a safe republican state and you are a democrat, then there’s no point in voting for you. Because any vote not cast for the candidate who wins the most votes in this state doesn’t count!

►Its difficult for 3rd parties to win.

Comment on the results of the presidential elections of the year 2012.

+INAUGURATION DAY is January 20

Nominee Barack Obama Mitt Romney
Party Democratic Republican
Running mate Joe Biden Paul Ryan
Electoral vote    
States carried 26 + DC  
Popular vote 65,892,518 60,927,023
Percentage 51.0% 47.2%

15. Under the constitution of the US power was divided among the 3 branches of the national government: legislative (the Congress), executive (The president, VP and Cabinet) and judicial (the Supreme Court). These 3 powers established a so-called system of checks and balances. This system gives each branch the means to restrain the other two. The president has the power to veto acts passed by Congress, but the Congress may override the veto by a 2/3s majority. But the Supreme Court has the power to declare Acts of Congress/the actions of a president to be illegal.

The writers of the constitution didn’t want one branch of government to be more powerful than the other branches. So the constitution calls for a separation, or division of powers in government. There are 3 main parts to the separation of powers idea:

1) No person may serve in more than one branch at a time.

The President of the US cannot be a member of Congress. Any member of Congress who wishes to become president of the US must resign from that body before accepting the presidency.

2) The constitution lists the powers and duties of each branch of government in articles.

3) Each branch has enough power to check the power of the other 2.

Separation of power keeps one branch of government from becoming too powerful

Because of the checks and balances system one branch cannot work alone. All 3 branches must work together.

The checking power of
the president 1)can impose a veto on any act passed by congress 2)can suggest new laws + approves laws passed by Congress 3)as the head of the political party has much influence over members of Congress who belong to the same political party as the president. 4)the commander-in-chief of the American military 5)can appoint federal judges(from the district court to the Supreme court) but! The 9 justices of the Supreme Court serve in the Court for life unless they retire, resign or are removed by Congress. 6)can grant a pardon to smn convicted of a crime 7)decides how much money should be spent by government 8)treaties with foreign countries the congress 1)can override the veto by a 2/3 majority 2)makes laws 3) can impeach a federal official+ the president 5)approves the appointments made by the president, can impeach a federal judge 7)approves the president’s budget 8)approves treaties 9)can amend the constitution 10)declared war on countries. the judicial 1)can review the president’s actions, limit his actions, stop him from doing smth or force him to do smth 2)makes sure the laws passed by congress are constitutional. 3)can impeach political leaders and officials.

John locke natural rights and Montesquieu

Checks and balances is a mechanism to limit the power of the federal government

Congress passes a law and the president has the power to veto that law, but the Congress may override the veto by a 2/3s majority.

If the president makes a treaty with a foreign country, the Senate has to approve it.

If there’s a tie in Electoral College votes, the HOR decides who will become the president.

The president is the commander-in-chief of the American army, but only the Congress can declare war and allocate the budget.

Congress must approve all federal judge appointments. Congress also has the power to impeach a federal judge.

Congress has the power to change the number of federal judges, change the salaries of the federal judges.

Congress can amend the constitution.

Judiciary:

The checking power of the judicial branch is called judicial review.

The court can review the president’s actions. A federal court can limit the actions of the president or stop what the president plans to do. A federal court can also force the president to do something. This is called placing an “injunction” (судебный запрет) on the president’s actions.

All state laws must agree with federal laws and the constitution. Federal courts check the laws.


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