Describe the process of presidential elections

The method of electing a President is peculiar to the United States. The presidential election is technically an election of presidential electors, not of a President directly. The people of each state do not vote directly for the President. They elect as many electors as this state has Senators and Representatives in the Congress. These electors are selected exclusively by the corresponding party machines. The candidate with the highest number of votes in each state wins all the electoral votes of the state.

The electors of all 50 states and the District of Columbia (3 electors) — a total of 538 persons — compose what is known as the Electoral College. The electors gather in the state capitals shortly after the election and cast their votes for the candidate with the largest number of popular votes in their respective states. To be elected President, a candidate for the Presidency must receive 270 votes. The Constitution provides, that if no candidate has a majority, the decision should be made by the House of Representatives, with all members from a state voting as a unit. In this case, each state and the Districy of Columbia would be given one vote only.

Candidates for the Presidency are chosen by political parties several months before the presidential election, which is held every four years (every leap year) on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

The presidential term of four years begins on January 20 (the next year). He starts his official duties with an inauguration ceremony, traditionally held on the steps of the Capitol, where Congress works. The newly-elected President publicly takes an oath of office, which is traditionally administered by the Chief Justice of the United States The words of the oath are provided by the Constitution:

Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as the junior United States Senator from Illinois from January 2005 until he resigned after his election to the presidency in November 2008.

Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004.

Obama's presidential campaign began in February 2007, and after a close campaign in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries against Hillary Clinton, he won his party's nomination. In the 2008 general election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Obama is also the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

15.Explain what is meant by a strict division £ separation of powers under the Constitution, outline the structure of the American constitution.
Separation of powers is a political doctrine originating in the writings of Montesquieu in The Spirit of the Laws where he urged for a constitutional government with three separate branches of government. Each of the three branches would have defined powers to check the powers of the other branches. This idea was called separation of powers. This philosophy heavily influenced the writing of the United States Constitution, according to which the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches of the United States government are kept distinct in order to prevent abuse of power. This United States form of separation of powers is associated with a system of checks and balances.Functions.

1) Executive (carry out the government programs, issue executive orders, which have the force of low, can influence on public opinion)
2) Legislative (recommends laws to Congress, requests money for federal government operations, can veto any bill passed by Congress, though his veto may be overruled by a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress)

3) Has authority to appoint the heads of all executive departments and agencies and other high-ranking officials [appointments must be approved by senate). Can grant full or conditional pardon to anyone accused of breaking a
federal low.

4) Responsible for foreign relations with other nations (treaties must be approved by 2/3 vote of senate).