64 Ok
64 Ok
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1. INTRODUCTION.
1.1. Aims of the unit.
The present unit, Unit 64, aims to provide a useful introduction to the United States institutions
among which we shall focus on those related to North American politics, not only in terms of
political basis regarding the Constitution and territorial organization, but also in terms of
political powers regarding the main political bodies, that is, the President, the Congress and
finally the main political parties and electoral system. In doing so, we shall first locate the
United States institutions within a historical framework and then we shall move on to analyse
each political body.
Chapter 2 namely analyses the period which ranges from the roots of Colonial America to the
establishment of the Constitution (1788). So, on examining this period, we shall approach the
political history of (1) Colonial America regarding (a) earlier non-British colonies, (b) the
thirteen British colonies, including (i) New England colonies, (ii) Middle colonies, and (iii)
Southern colonies; (c) the British colonies from their unity to revolution, and (d) the Declaration
of Independence (1776). Moreover, we shall offer an account of (2) the struggle for Constitution
within the already independent American colonies from (a) the War of Independence (17781783) regarding its aftermath in terms of (a) social, (b) economical, and (c) political
consequences, the latter setting up the basis for the establishment of the Constitution in 1789.
Hence in Chapter 3 the analysis of the United States institutions will be divided into three main
sections which coincide with the main issues we are going to deal with. Hence, (1) the political
basis, that is, (a) the Constitution on which fundamental laws are based, and (b) the territorial
organization of the United States federal system; (2) the political powers of federal government
at three different levels: (a) National Government regarding (i) executive power through the
figure of the President; (ii) legislative power through the Congress; and (iii) judicial power
through the Supreme Court. Then, we also examine (b) the State Government and (c) the
Municipial Government. Finally, we approach the organization of (3) political parties and the
electoral system, by examining the main (a) political parties within the US two-party system: (i)
the Democratic Party and (ii) the Republican Party; and (b) the US electoral system.
Chapter 4 will be devoted to the main educational implications in language teaching regarding
the introduction of this issue in the classroom setting. Chapter 5 will offer a conclusion to
broadly overview our present study, and Chapter 6 will include all the bibliographical
references used to develop this account of the U.S. institutions.
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2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND.
Chapter 2 namely analyses the period which ranges from the roots of Colonial America to the
establishment of the Constitution (1788). So, on examining this period, we shall approach the
political history of (1) Colonial America regarding (a) earlier non-British colonies, (b) the
thirteen British colonies, including (i) New England colonies, (ii) Middle colonies, and (iii)
Southern colonies; (c) the British colonies from their unity to revolution, and (d) the Declaration
of Independence (1776). Moreover, we shall offer an account of (2) the struggle for Constitution
within the already independent American colonies from (a) the War of Independence (17781783) regarding its aftermath in terms of (a) social, (b) economical, and (c) political
consequences, the latter setting up the basis for the establishment of the Constitution in 1789.
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next chapter, where we shall analyse how the United States of America was founded in 1776
from British colonies along the Atlantic Coast of North America.
Before British colonists reached the Atlantic Coast of North America, other non-British colonies
did it much earlier. For instance:
1. On October 9, 1000 part of North America was discovered accidentally and was given
the name of Vinland (Wineland) by the Viking Leif Eriksson, who established there a
short-lived colony.
2. Nearly five hundred years later, Portugal, which was a leading country in the European
exploration of the world, began charting the far shores of the Atlantic Ocean before
Spain began. Yet, Portuguese explorers (Pedro Alvares Cabral) landed in American
coasts (Porto Seguro, Brazil) on April 22, 1500, eight years later than Spain did.
3. In 1492, Christopher Columbus brought this land to Europes attention on behalf of
Spain, the main colonial power of the day, which focused its efforts on the exploitation
of the gold-rich empires of southern Mexico (the Aztec) and of the Andes (the Inca).
Portugal, then, was limited by the Treaty of Tordesillas to the lands east of Brazil. Yet,
after them no serious colonization efforts were made for decades, until England, France,
and Spain began to claim and expand their territory in the New World.
4. Moreover, other explorers came from France. In fact, the first French attempt at
colonization was in 1598 on Sable Island (southeast of present Nova Scotia ). This
colony went unsupplied and its twelve survivors returned to France in 1605. The next
and first successful colony was Acadia founded in 1603 with its town of Port Royal,
now Annapolis.
5. Also, during the 17th century, Dutch traders established trade posts and plantations
throughout the Americas. However, Dutch settling in North America was not as
common as other European nations settlements. Many of the Dutch settlements had
been abandoned or lost by the end of the century, with the exception of the Netherlands
Antilles and Aruba, which remain Dutch territory until this day, and Suriname, which
became independent in 1975.
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6. We also find explorers from Denmark, who started a colony on St Thomas in 1671, St
John in 1718, founded colonies in Greenland in 1721, which is now a self-governing
part of the Kingdom of Denmark. During the 18th century, the Virgin Islands in the
Caribbean Sea were divided into two territorial units, one English and the other Danish,
which were also used as a base for pirates.
7. Other countries followed such as Russia, whose explorers discovered Alaska in 1732.
The thirteen British colonies of America were formed under a variety of differing conditions.
The settlement of Virginia was the work of a company of London merchants, that of New
England of a body of Puritan refugees from persecution. Most of the other colonies were formed
through the efforts of proprietors, to whom the king had made large grants of territory. None of
them were of royal or parliamentary establishment (the nearest to this being the colony of New
York, which was appropriated from its Dutch founders by the kings brother) and therefore, the
government of the mother-country took no part in the original formation of the government of
the colonies, except in the somewhat flexible requirements of the charters granted to the
proprietors.
The earliest of these, that of Virginia, was under the supreme government of a council residing
in England and appointed by the king, who likewise appointed a council of members of the
colony, for its local administration. Thus all executive and legislative powers were directly
controlled by the king, and no rights of self-government were granted the people. Virginia
formed the only British colony in America of which the monarch thus retained the control.
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We shall approach the division of colonies by their geographical location, and not on their order
of settlement. Yet, we shall remind our readers that the first colonies were those of Jamestown
(1607) and Plymouth (1620), established respectively by John Smith and the Pilgrims.
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colonists by finding gold. A lack of social bonds in the community was to be felt in the fact that
all the initial colonists, and most of the additional colonists, were male. Without wives or
children to protect, the colonists had little incentive to protect their settlement or work towards
its long-term growth.
The settlement was struck by severe droughts in centuries and as a result, only a third of the
colonists furvived the first winter, and even, source documents indicate that some turned to
cannibalism. Yet, the colony survived in large part to the efforts of John Smith, whose moto was
No work, no food. He put the colonists to work, and befriended Pocahontas, daughter of Chief
Powhatan, who supplied the colony with food.
But the main causes of social decentralization were soon to be noticed. As the colony of
Virginia was so heavily influenced by the cultivation of tobacco and the ownership of slaves, in
1619 large numbers of Africans were brought to this colony into the slave trade. Thus,
individual workers on the plantation fields were usually without family and separated from their
nearest neighbors by miles. This meant that little social infrastructure developed for the
commoners of Virigina society, in contrast with the highly developed social infrastructure of
colonial New England.
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imposed taxes and new commercial regulations on them. Let us examine the main causes which
led the thirteen colonies to revolution.
The first of those events was the Great Awakening, which unified the colonies in
religious terms. This was a Protestant movement which took place in the 1730s and
1740s and began under the figure of Jonathan Edwards, a powerful Massachusetts
speaker and attracted a large amount of followers. Two new movements appeared from
his ideas, the colonies called themselves the New Lights, and those who did not were
called the Old Lights. The result was the establishment of a number of universities, now
counted among the Ivy League, including Kings College (now Columbia University)
and Princeton University. The Great Awakening may also be interpreted as the last
major expression of the religious ideals on which the New England colonies were
founded. Religiosity had been declining for decades, in part due to the negative
publicity resulting from the Salem witch trials.
The second event relates to the French and Indian War (1754-1763), which meant the
American extension of the general European conflict known as the Seven Years War.
The war takes its name from the Iroquois confederacy, which had been playing the
British and the French against each other successfully for decades. Eventually, in the
Treaty of Paris (1763) , France surrendered its vast North American empire to Britain.
During the war the thirteen coloniess identity as part of the British Empire was made
truly apparent, as British military and civilian officials took on an increased presence in
the lives of Americans.
The war also increased a sense of American unity in men who might normally have
never left their colonies to travel across the continent, and fighting alongside men from
decidedly different. Both the British and colonists triumphed jointly over a common foe
and their loyalty to the mother country was stronger than ever before. However, the
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the time (William Pitt), decided to wage the
war in the colonies with the use of troops from the colonies and tax funds from Britain
itself, which was a successful wartime strategy. Therefore, the British, the most heavily
taxed of any in Europe, pointed out angrily that the colonies paid little to the royal
coffers. This dispute was to set off the chain of events that brought about the American
Revolution.
The military struggle, indeed, was preceded by a long and fierce political contest, of
which it formed the inevitable conclusion. For this contest the people of America had
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been prepared, not by their years of war, but by their years of peace, for the whole
political history of the American colonies is a history of instruction in the principles of
democracy, and the republic of the United States was only in an immediate sense the
work of the men of the Revolution, but in its fullest sense was the work of the colonists
of America from their first entrance upon the trans-Atlantic shores.
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they could not buy tea from anyone else (including other colonial merchants) without
spending a lot more money.
In 1775, under George IIIs reign, the British North American colonies revolted in
Massachusetts due to the previous frustration with the British crown practices, and
namely to their opposition to British economic explotiation and also their unwillingness
to pay for a standing army. Anti-monarchist sentiment was strong, as the colonists
wanted to participate in the politics affecting them.
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time only thirty-three years of age, was chosen for two main reasons: first, because he was held
to possess a singular felicity in the expression of popular ideas and, second, because he
represented the province of Virginia, the oldest of the Anglo-American colonies.
Jefferson, having produced the required document, reported it to the House on the 28th of June,
where it was read, and ordered to lie on the table. After the conclusion of the debate on the
resolution of independence on 2nd July, the Declaration was passed under review. During the
remainder of that day and the two next, this remarkable production was very closely considered
and shifted, and several alterations were made in it, namely the omission of those sentences
which reflected upon the English people, and the striking out of a clause which severely
reprobated the slave-trade.
The debate on the proposed Declaration came to a termination two days later, on the evening of
the 4th of July. The document was then reported by the committee, agreed to by the House, and
signed by every member present, except General Dickinson. The signature of New York was
not given till several days later, and a New Hampshire member, Matthew Thornton, was
permitted to append his signature on November 4 (four months after the signing). With the help
of their French allies they were eventually able to win the American Revolutionary War against
Great Britain, settled by the Treaty of Paris (1783). So, we can say that the United States of
America was founded in 1776 from British colonies along the Atlantic Coast of North America
and was declared to be independent in 1778.
2.2.1.
The War of Independence, also known as the American Revolution, was first regarded as a civil
war against Britain, but when other countries entered the confrontation, namely France (1778),
Spain (1779) and the Netherlands (1780), it became an international war. Initial confrontations
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were mixed (the British being successful at Brandywine but suffering badly at Saratoga), but the
situation improved for the colonists when these three countries utilized the opportunity caused
by the confrontation to declare war on Britain as well. Eventually, by 1782, the British
campaign was crumbling.
The British Parliament demanded an end to the war, largely due to its high expenses. The Prime
Minister, now Lord North, resigned and, on 3 September 1783, treaties were signed at
Versailles. Britain retained Canada and the West Indian Islands but the thirteen rebellious states
were formally recognised as the United States of America. On the other hand, France retained
their West Indian Islands and were given Tobago in addition, and Spain recovered Florida after
twenty years of British control (but later sold it to the Netherlands).
Therefore, the aftermath of the war was particularly felt in the national division of the states due
to the political struggle over slavery and the spread into new territories (the West). Hence, the
North representing the modern, industrial, and business-minded states versus the South, which
represented the cultures, colonial and aristocratic states. Yet, in general, the main consequences
following the loss of the American colonies were to be noticed at all levels. For instance:
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In in the British Empire, there was an increasing interest in the east. The East India
Company had long been the main agent of Imperial expansion in southern Asia and
exercised many governmental functions. Although the company maintained sole
responsibility for trade and patronage, in 1784 under the India Act, a Board of Control
was established to oversee the revenue, administration and diplomatic functions of the
company as well as the aspects of its military expansion.
Yet, the new target of Britain was not only the East, but also the colonisation of the
Antipodes so as to establish penal colonies (1788). The colonisation of Australia and
New Zealand began with the desire to find a place for penal settlement after the loss of
the original American colonies. The first shipload of British convicts landed in
Australia in 1788, on the site of the future city of Sydney1 .
Regarding the American colonies, the resolution on the settlement in the West was to be
realized by a Federal government, which was established according to the interests of
the North states. Until 1789, the United States was governed by the Articles of
Confederation, which created an extremely weak central government. The United States
had no power to levy taxes; for income, it relied essentially on money from the states. In
addition, the government of the United States had no central executive branch, making
its already weak government further divided and lacking strong leadership. The
government of the United States under the Articles was also weak with regards to
The majority of these convicts were young men, many of whom had committed only petty crimes. New
South Wales opened to free settlers in 1819. By 1858, transportation of convicts was abolished.
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foreign affairs, and during this period Britain and Spain treated the United States like a
third-rate power.
Therefore, since the South was afraid of a possible centralized government, they started
to think about the possibility of breaking with the Union and replaced the Articles of
Confederation with a stronger central government. Then 55 state delegates met in
Philadelphia between May and September (1787) in the Constitutional Convention, that
is, an Assembly that drafted the Constitution of the United States. Hence the
Constitution was adopted as a direct response to the Articles of Confederation and as a
result, it was eventually ratified by all the states between 1787 and 1789, in the same
year that George Washington was elected President of the United States (Larousse,
2002, vol. 6).
3.
Hence in Chapter 3 the analysis of the United States institutions will be divided into three main
sections which coincide with the main issues we are going to deal with. Hence, (1) the political
basis, that is, (a) the Constitution on which fundamental laws are based, and (b) the territorial
organization of the United States federal system; (2) the political powers of federal government
at three different levels: (a) National Government regarding (i) executive power through the
figure of the President; (ii) legislative power through the Congress; and (iii) judicial power
through the Supreme Court. Then, we also examine (b) the State Government and (c) the
Municipial Government. Finally, we approach the organization of (3) political parties and the
electoral system, by examining the main (a) political parties within the US two-party system: (i)
the Democratic Party and (ii) the Republican Party; and (b) the US electoral system.
Following the Encyclopaedia Britannica (2004), the Constitution of the United States is defined
as the fundamental law of the U.S. federal system of government and a landmark document of
the Western world. Moreover, it established the division of powers: executive, legislative and
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judicial, hence a strong executive branch was created for the first time to give the government
the power to tax. Yet, it did not established the respective political institutions of the states nor
the federal state, and hence the division of political authority (national, state, local).
This document represents the supreme law of the United States of America, and it is the oldest
comprehensive written national constitution on Earth still in force. Actually, it has served as a
model for a number of other nations constitutions. So, completed on 17 September, 1787 and
officially adopted on 4 March, 1789, the new Constitution of the United States created a more
unified government in place of what was then a group of independent states. Actually, the
remainder of the constitution consists of seven articles, thus:
Article One describes the legislative branch, that is, the Congress and outlines its
powers and limits.
Article Two describes the executive branch, that is, the presidency.
Article Three describes the judicial branch, that is, court system, including the Supreme
Court.
Article Four describes the relationship between the states and the federal government.
Article Six establishes the Constitution and the laws and treaties of the United States
made in accordance with it as the supreme law of the land.
However, the authors of the Constitution were keenly aware that changes would be needed from
time to time if the Constitution was to endure and keep pace with the growth of the nation. So
they permitted the passing of amendments. Also, the ensured that an overly-rigid requirement of
unanimity could not block action desired by the vast majority of the people , so they devised a
dual process by which the Constitution could be revised. Actually, the Constitution has been
amended on only eighteen occasions since 1789.
It is worth noting the relatively small number of amendments to the Constitution. Though it was
ratified in June 1788, Congress proposed 12 amendments in September 1789, out of which 10
were simultaneously ratified by the states, commonly known as the Bill of Rights, and their
adoption was certified on 15 December, 1791. The eleventh proposal, relative to the
compensation of members of Congress, remained unratified until 1992 when the legislatures of
enough states finally approved it and, as a result, it became the Twenty-seventh Amendment
despite more than two centuries of pendency. On the other hand, a twelfth proposal pertains to
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the apportionment of the United States House of Representatives after each decennial census.
As for the ten known as the Bill of Rights, they remain as they were written two centuries ago:
The first guarantees freedom of worship, speech, and press; the right of peaceful
assembly; and the right to petition the government to correct wrongs.
The third provides that troops may not be quartered, or garrisoned, in private homes
without the owner's consent.
The fourth guards against unreasonable searches, arrests, and seizures of property.
The fifth amendment forbids trial for a major crime except after indictment by a grand
jury. It prohibits repeated trials for the same offense, forbids punishment without due
process of law, and provides that an accused person may not be compelled to testify
against himself.
The sixth guarantees a speedy public trial for criminal offenses. It requires trial by an
unbiased jury, guarantees the right to legal counsel for the accused, and provides that
witnesses shall be compelled to attend the trial and testify in the presence of the
accused.
The seventh assures trial by jury in civil cases involving anything valued at more than
20 U.S. dollars.
The eighth forbids excessive bail or fines, and cruel or unusual punishment.
The last two of the ten amendments contain very broad statements of constitutional
authority.
The ninth declares that the listing of individual rights is not meant to be comprehensive;
that the people have other rights not specifically mentioned in the Constitution.
The tenth provides that powers not delegated by the Constitution to the federal
government nor prohibited by it to the states are reserved to the states or the people.
It is worth mentioning that the Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments have placed
fundamental human rights at the center of the U.S. legal system. The majority of the seventeen
later amendments stem from continued efforts to expand individual civil or political liberties,
while only a few are concerned with amplifying the basic governmental structure drafted in
Philadelphia in 1787 (http://sources.wikipedia.org). Thus,
The eleventh Amendment (1795) clarifies judicial power over foreign nationals, and
limits ability of citizens to sue states.
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The fourteenth (1868) defines United States citizen and includes the privileges and
immunities, due process and equal protection c lauses; regulation of congressional
elections; restrains states from infringing upon consititutional protections such as the
Bill of Rights and other fundamental rights of citizens and persons under the
jurisidiction of the United States.
3.1.2.
The United States of America is situated in the North American continent. Its area include the
United States share of the Great Lakes, that is, 3,675,031 sq miles (9,518,287 sq km), so it is
considered to be the fourth largest country in the world. Thus, it is limited by Canada to the
north and Mexico in the south, and covers the full width of it both in a horizontal and vertical
direction. Actually, it is limited by the sea from left to right (from the Atlantic Ocean to the
Pacific Ocean) and it is limited to the north by Alaska (on the edge of the Artic), and to the
south by the Pacific and tropical Hawaii.
Regarding its population, this country had 287,602,000 in 2002, and it includes people of
European and Middle Eastern ancestry, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Pacific
Islanders, American Indians (Native Americans), and Alaska Natives. The national language is
predominantly English, though other European, African and Asian languages are also present,
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as Spanish or Chinese in guettos. Similarly, there are several religions, such as Protestantism,
Roman Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam, too.
This vast country is characterized by providing a wide variety of landscapes (tropical forests,
desert, Artic areas, empty spaces, metropoli) and natural resorts, for instance, the highest
mountain is McKinley (6.194 m); its main rivers are Mississippi, Missouri, Grande del Norte,
Arkansas, Colorado, and Columbia; and the main lake is Michigan (17,800 km2). Actually, the
United States is said to represent, serve and protect the American people at home and abroad,
hence its high standard of living. Its capital is Washington D.C. but other main cities include
New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, San Diego, Phoenix, Dallas, San
Antonio, and Detroit. The present currency is the dollar and its official language is English,
commonly known as American English (AmE) in opposition to British English (BrE).
The territorial organization is based on the Constitution, which established a government under
a federal system, which shared governmental powers with 48 contiguous states occupying the
mid continent, Alaska at the northwestern extreme of North America, and the island state of
Hawaii in the mid-Pacific Ocean. For instance, (listed in alphabetical order), Alabama, Alaska,
Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawai,
Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Loiuisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire,
New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont,
Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Hence the fifty stars on the
United States flag.
Within the federal system, the federal government in Washington D.C. cannot abolish the states
or rearrange their boundaries, but can exercise powers that are delegated or implied by the
Constitution. Also, the American judicial system keeps the federal and state governments within
their proper fields of power. Actually, the federal government has certain constitutional musts
towards the states, such as to respect their territorial unity, not to divide or break up a state
without its consent, to protect the states against invasion and domestic violence, and to
guarantee each state a republican form of government.
Moreover, the Constitution of the United States also places certain limitations on the states, such
as not to interfere in foreign relations, to issue paper money or discriminate against interstate
commerce. The Constitution also places certain obligations on the states in their relations with
each other by means of which each state must respect the legal processes and acts of every other
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state. Finally, no state may discriminate in favour of its own citizens against persons coming
from other states.
As stated before, the Constitution of the U.S. federal system of government established the
division of powers: executive, legislative and judicial, but not the respective political institutions
of the states nor the federal state, and hence the division of political authority into national, state
and local (or municipal) government. Yet, although the Constitution has changed in many
respects since it was first adopted, its basic principles of government remain the same now as in
1789 in terms of political powers.
Thus, the three main branches of government, that is, executive, legislative and judicial, are
separate and distinct from one another The powers given to each are delicately balanced by the
powers of the other two, where each branch serves as a check on potential excesses of the
others. The Constitution, together with laws passed according to its provisions and treaties
entered into by the president and approved by the Senate, stands above all other laws, executive
acts, and regulations. The courts interpret the laws, and, if it finds them to be unconstitutional,
they are overturned.
Under the federal Government, everybody is equal before the law and is equally entitled to its
protection, in the same way that all states are equal, and none can receive special treatment from
the federal government. Within the limits of the Constitution, each state must recognize and
respect the laws of the others. State governments, like the federal government, must be
republican in form, with final authority resting with the people. Actually, the people have the
right to change their form of national government by legal means defined in the Constitution
itself. Following the Encyclopaedia Britannica (2004), the Constitutions separation of the
legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government, the checks and balances of each
branch against the other, and the explicit guarantees of individual liberty were all designed to
strike a balance between authority and liberty. Hence:
Article I vests all legislative powers in the Congress the House of Representatives and
the Senate.
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Article IV deals, in part, with relations among the states and with the privileges of the
citizens. Article V with amendment procedure, and Article VI with public debts and the
supremacy of the Constitution.
Article VII stipulates that the Constitution would become operational after being ratified
by nine states.
Moreover, the form of government is based on three main principles, federalism, the separation
of powers and respect for the Constitution and the rule of law. Each American citizen is subject
to two governments, that of his state and that of the Union, and each has its own distinct
function. The states have, under the Constitution, the primary functions of providing law and
order, education, public health and most of the things which concern day to day life. The
Federal government, on the other hand, is concerned with foreign affairs and with matters of
general concern to all the states. So, let us examine how government works at three different
levels: national, state and local.
3.2.1.
National Government.
The national government consists of executive, legislative and judicial branches which, in spite
of being interrelated and designed to check and balance one another, each one is different in
political terms. In fact, each one is represented by a different political body, that is, the
executive power is represented by the President as the head of state and government; and
similarly, the legislative power by the Congress and the judicial power, by the Supreme Court.
Following the website wikipedia (2004), the President of the United States is the head of state
of the United States. Under the U.S. Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the
federal government and commander in chief of the armed forces. As the principal elected
representative of the U.S. citizenry, the Presidents principal workplace and official residence is
the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, though many Presidents
have also had their own homes. His official vacation or weekend residence is Camp David in
Maryland.
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Regarding his presidential powers, the office of president of the United States is one of the
most powerful offices of its kind in the world. The president, the Constitution says, must take
care that the laws be faithfully executed. To carry out this responsibility, the president presides
over the executive branch of the federal government a vast organization numbering about 4
million people, including 1 million active-duty military personnel. In addition, the president has
important legislative and judicial powers. Let us examine the figure of the President within the
three main branches.
For instance, within the executive branch itself, the president has broad powers to
manage national affairs and the workings of the federal government. The president can
issue rules, regulations, and instructions called, which have the binding force of law
upon federal agencies but do not require congressional approval. As commander-inchief of the armed forces of the United States, the president may also call into federal
service the state units of the National Guard. In times of war or national emergency, the
Congress may grant the president even broader powers to manage the national economy
and protect the security of the United States. In addition, the President is responsible for
preparing the budget of the United States, although the Congress must approve it.
Despite the constitutiona l provision that all legislative powers shall be vested in the
Congress (next section), the president, as the chief formulator of public policy, has a
major legislative role. The president can veto any bill passed by Congress and, unless
two-thirds of the members of each house vote to override the veto, the bill does not
become law. Moreover, much of the legislation dealt with by Congress is drafted at
the initiative of the executive branch. In annual and special messages to Congress, the
president may propose legislation he believes is necessary.
It is worth noting that the most important of these is the annual State of the Union
Address, traditionally given in January. Before a joint session of Congress, the President
outlines the status of the country and his legislative proposals for the upcoming year. If
Congress should adjourn without acting on those proposals, the president has the power
to call it into special session. But beyond this official role, the president, as head of a
political party and as principal executive officer of the U.S. government, is primarily in
a position to influence public opinion and thereby to influence the course of legislation
in Congress.
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Following the Encyclopaedia Britannica (2004), the Congress represents the legislature of the
U.S., separated structurally from the executive and judicial branches of government. The
historical roots of the United States Congress trace back to the origins of British Parliament,
which eventually served to represent the interests of both the common people and the elite and
to ensure deliberation over legislation. Therefore, the Congress consists of two houses: the
Senate and the House of Representatives, where the former represents the elite members and the
latter, the common people.
A third legislative body is represented by the Committees of Congress, which do most of the
work of preparing legislation. Actually, in both houses of Congress, nearly every piece of
legislation (bill) goes before a standing committee for action so as to, first, recommend (or
report) a bill favourably in its original form; second, report the bill with proposed changes; and
third, fail to report the bill (commonly known as pigeonhole). Among other duties of Congress
we may include to amend the Constitution, conduct investigations, review government actions,
determine Presidential disability, or impeach and try federal officials.
The United States bicameral system is a compromise between the claims for equal
representation among the states (each state is represented by two members of the Senate) and
for equal representation among citizens (each member of the House of Representatives
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represents roughly the same number of people). Each house has powers not held by the other,
and measures need the approval of both houses to become law. Many contemporary federal
systems of government have bicameral legislatures. All U.S. states except Nebraska have
bicameral legislatures (Britannica, 2004).
Historically speaking, the Congress was established by the Constitution of the United States on
succeeding the unicameral congress created by the Articles of Confederation (1781). As stated,
it consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Representation in the Senate is fixed
at two senators per state. Until passage of the 17th Amendment (1913), senators were appointed
by the state legislatures; since then they have been elected directly.
On the other hand, in the House, representation is proportional to each states population; total
membership is restricted (since 1912) to 435 members (the total rose temporarily to 437
following the admission of Hawaii and Alaska as states in 1959). Congressional business is
processed by committees: bills are debated in committees in both houses, and reconciliation of
the two resulting versions takes place in a conference committee. A presidential veto can be
overridden by a two-thirds majority in each house. Congress's constitutional powers include the
setting and collecting of taxes, borrowing money on credit, regulating commerce, coining
money, declaring war, raising and supporting armies, and making all laws necessary for the
execution of its powers. All finance-related legislation must originate in the House; powers
exclusive to the Senate include approval of presidentia l nominations, ratification of treaties, and
adjudication of impeachments.
In short, the Constitution gives Congress all the law-making powers of the federal Government
(Article 1, section 8) to deal with such issues as borrowing money, taxation, or declaring war.
Other expressed powers include foreign and domestic commerce, national defense, coinage, and
the courts. However, the Congress is limited by three elements: the Constitution, the Supreme
Court and the power of public opinion.
The judicial power is represented the Supreme Court, which is in charge of interpreting the
meaning of the Constitution and of federal laws. Hence the Supreme Court is said to play a
major policy-making role within the national public matters by judging the acts of the other two
branches, since they are interrelated. However, it must be borne in mind that the Supreme Court
is different from the other two institutions in form, but not in political character or impact on
society. With respect to its organization, the Supreme Court consists of several justices, which
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may range from three to nine judges. Actually, the United States Supreme Court consists of nine
justices, among which the Chief Justice is included. They are appointed for life by the President
with the consent of the Senate, each of whose votes are of equal political weight.
The Supreme Court not only has original jurisdiction over cases including foreign ambassadors,
ministers, consulas and cases to which a state is a pa rty, but also appellate jurisdiction for the
lawer federal courts and from state courts of last resort if a federal question is voived. Note that
there are no committees and, with rare exceptions, all the justices personally hear arguments,
discuss, and vote on every case. There are namely three types of cases that may reach the
Supreme Court: first, those involving litigants of different states; second, the interpretation of
the federal law; and finally, the interpretation of the Constitution.
Below the Supreme Court are the so-called United States Courts of Appeal. They are defined as
three types of special courts which may, first, handle property and contract damage suits against
the United States (US claims Court); second, review customs rulings (US Court of International
Trade); and finally, apply the Uniform Code of Military Justice (US Court of Military Appeals).
In short, each state has at least one federal district court and at least one federal judge, to whom
appeals from district courts are addressed.
In the United States, a state government is in charge of supervising most governmental aspects,
such as to maintain law and order and enforce criminal law; to protect property rights and
regulate business; to operate public -welfarre programs, build and maintain most highways; to
operate state parks and forests, and regulate the use of state-owned land. In addition, it has
direct authority over local government, that is, counties, cities, towns, townships, villages, and
school districts.
A state government has independent powers of its own that are authorized by the Constitution.
Actually, the national government has its powers specified in the Constitution and the state
governments retain all the remaining powers, except where the Constitution restricts them. The
independent powers of a state government arose during the colonial period and increased after
the Declaration of Independence (1776). As a result, each former British colony called itself a
state to indicate its sovereign position, since they were organized under a sovereign
government. Each state gave up some of its powers when the Constitution became the supreme
law of the land in 1789.
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The state governments, like the federal government, have three main branches: executive,
legislative, and judicial.Yet, a strong tendency has developed through the years toward
enlarging the activities of the national government in the United States. An increasing
centralization of functions within each state has also occurred. At the same time, cooperation
among all levels of government (national, state, local) has become increasingly important.
Hence it is worth noting that each state has a constitution that sets forth the principles and
framework of its government. Every state constitution includes a Bill of Rights, which contain
provisions of finance, education and other matters. The original thirteen states had constitutions
before the United States Constitution was adopted, and even today, some of them are still in use
(Massachusetts and New Hampshire), though they have been amended often.
Local Government systems differ from one state to another, though they are quite similar since
each state is divided into Counties (on average sixty counties to a state). Within the countries
the towns have their own local governments, namely regarded as cities (note that the amount
of urban self-government bodies are defined as cities, villages, towns, or boroughs).
Then, a city government, with an elected mayor, council and judges, reproduces the state pattern
on a similar scale. However, they also show differences in the way they describe particular
systems, especially with prison issues and criminals.
Local Government is namely divided into three types: mayor-council governments, commission
governments and council-manager governments. The first type refers to the elections of the
mayor and the council, in which the mayor usually controls the actions of the council despite the
fact that the council is nominally responsible for formulating city ordinances (i.e. Boston, New
York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Seattle).
Regarding the second type, commission governments are made up by a number of
commissioners who are elected by local citizens. These commissioners serve as heads of a city
department, in which the presiding commissioner is generally the mayor (i.e. Tulsa, Otila, Salt
Lake City, Utah). Finally, the council-manager type refers to an elected council which hires a
city manager to administer the city departments. In this type, the mayor, elected by the council
simply chairs it and officiates at important functions (i.e. Des Moines, Iowa, Cincinnati, Ohio).
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Following the website wikipedia (2004), political parties of the United States traditionally
divide the available spectrum of choices into two camps. The first is known as the major
parties and the second as the third parties camp. This is due to the fact that the United States
has a two-party system, with the two largest centrist parties dividing the vote between
themselves in the national elections. This is partly a consequence of the first-past-the post
election system, but also due to restrictive ballot access laws imposed on third parties.
Many third parties throughout U.S. history have achieved regional success and some (notably
the Prohibition Party and the Socialist Party) have had major portions of their platforms
incorporated into the major parties platforms. While only the Republican Party has gone on to
become a dominant player in American political life, the overall political platforms of several
third parties have taken root in the American political landscape. So, among the major parties,
we include the Democratic Party, founded in the 1820s and 1830s, and the Republican Party,
founded in 1854.
Following the website wikipedia (2004), the Democratic Party is a United States political party
which was opposed chiefly by the Whig Party from 1833 to 1856, and from 1856 onward its
main opposition has come from the Republican Party. The symbol of the party is a stylized
donkey in red, white and blue, which appeared for the first time in a political cartoon in
Harpers Weekly titled A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion (by Thomas Nast) on January 15,
1870. Yet, it has never been officially adopted as the partys logo.
Nowadays, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) of the United States provides national
leadership for the United States Democratic Party. It is responsible for developing and
promoting the Democratic political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election
strategy. There are similar committees in every U.S. state and most U.S. Counties (though in
some states, party organization lower than state-level is arranged by legislative districts). It can
be considered the counterpart of the Republican National Committee.
The most prominent Democratic -Party figures are Andrew Jackson (1829-1837), Martin Van
Buren (1837-1841), James Knox Polk (1845-1849), Franklin Pierce (1853-1857), James
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administration. Riding Reagans coattails, the Republican Party successfully positioned itself as
the party of national strength, gaining 34 seats in the House and gaining control of the Senate
for the first time since 1955.
The Democratic Leadership Council organized by elected Democratic leaders has in recent
years worked to position the Party towards a centrist position. It still retains a powerful base of
left-of-center supporters however, as like the Republicans, the Democrats are generally a catch
all party with widespread appeal to most opponents of the Republicans. This includes organized
labour, educators, environmentalists, gays, pro-choicers, and other opponents of the social
convervatism practiced by many Republicans. In the 1990s the Democratic Party re-invigorated
itself by providing a successful roadmap to economic growth. Led by Bill Clinton, the
Democrats championed a balanced federal budget and job growth through a strong economy.
Labor unions, which had been steadily losing membership since the 1960s, found they had also
lost political clout inside the Democratic Party: Clinton enacted the NAFTA free trade
agreement with Canada and Mexico over the strong objection of the unions.
More recently, in the 2000 Presidential election, some progressives bolted the party to support
the Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, which took votes away from Democratic presidential
nominee Al Gore in many traditionally liberal states; a factor some observers cite as the cause
for his defeat. More observers agree however that the Supreme Court's party line decision
interpreting the hotly disputed Florida election returns in favor of George W. Bush explains
Gores defeat. In the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks, public
opinion in the United States turned bellicose. Democrats found themselves marginalized in
national security debates by Republican exploitation of the new vengeful patriotism.
By 2004, however, Democratic prospects began to rebound in the wake of revelations about
the Bush administrations deceptive claims about the existence of Iraqi weapons of mass
destruction, mismanagement and corruption in the Iraqi occupation, and photographic evidence
of torture by the U.S. Army in the Abu Ghraib prison.
Following the website wikipedia (2004), the Republican Party (often GOP for Grand Old
Party) is a United States political party that was organized in Ripon, Wisconsin on February 28,
1854, as a party against the expansion of slavery. It is not to be confused with the Democratic Republican party of Thomas Jefferson or the National Republican Party of Henry Clay. The
official symbol of the Republican Party is a stylized elephant in red, white and blue. Although
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the elephant had occasionally been associated with the party earlier, the first important use of
this symbol appeared in the same cartoon as the Democratic Partys symbol, in the Harpers
Weekly on November 7, 1874.
Following the website wikipedia (2004), the Republican National Committee (RNC) of the
United States provides national leadership for the United States Republican Party. It is
responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as
coordinating fundraising and election strategy. There are similar committees in every U.S. state
and most U.S. Counties (though in some states, party organization lower than state-level is
arranged by legislative districts). It can be considered the counterpart of the Democratic
National Committee. The chairman of the RNC, since July, 2003, is Ed Gillespie .
Among the Republican-Party Presidents we find Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865), Ulysses S.
Grant (1869-1877), Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881), James Garfield (1881), Chester A.
Arthur (1881-1885), Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893), William McKinley (1897-1901),
Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), William Howard Taft (1909-1913), Warren G. Harding
(1921-1923), Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929), Herbert Hoover (1929-1933), Dwight Eisenhower
(1953-1961), Richard Nixon (1969-1974), Gerald R. Ford (1974-1977), Ronald Reagan (19811989), George H. W. Bush (1989-1993), and currently, George W. Bush (2001-present).
Historically speaking, the first convention of the U.S. Republican Party took place on July 6,
1854, in Jackson, Michigan. Many of its initial policies were inspired by the defunct Whig Party
and, since its inception, its chief opponent has been the Democratic Party. Two years later,
John C. Frmont ran as the first Republican for President in 1856, using the political slogan:
Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Fremont. The party grew especially rapidly in
Northeastern and Midwestern states, where slavery had long been prohibited, culminating in a
sweep of victories in the Northern states and the election of Lincoln in 1860, ending 60 years of
dominance by Southern Democrats and ushering in a new era of Republican dominance based in
the industrial north.
With the end of the Civil War cam e the upheavals of Reconstruction under Republican
presidents Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant. For a brief period, Republicans assumed
control of Southern politics, forcing drastic reforms and frequently giving former slaves
positions in government. Reconstruction came to an end with the electon of Rutherford B.
Hayes through the Compromise of 1877. Though states rights was a cause of both Northern and
Southern states before the War, control of the federal government led the Republican Party
down a national line. The patriotic unity that developed in the North because of the war led to a
string of military men as President, and an era of international expansion and domestic
protectionism.
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As the rural Northern antebellum, economy mushroomed with industry and immigration,
supporting invention and business became the hallmarks of Republican policy proposals. From
the Reconstruction era up to the turn of the century, the Republicans benefitted from the
Democrats association with the Confederacy and dominated national politics albeit with
strong competition from the Democrats during the 1880s especially. With the two-term
presidency of Ulysses S. Grant, the party became known for its strong advocacy of commerce,
industry, and veterans rights, which continued through the end of the 19th century.
The progressive, protectionist, political and beloved William McKinley was the last Civil War
veteran elected President and embodied the Republican ideals of economic progress, invention,
education, and patriotism. After McKinleys assassination, President Roosevelt tapped
McKinleys Industrial Commission for his trust-busting ideas and continued the federal and
nationalist policies of his predecessor. Roosevelt decided not to run again in 1908 and chose
William Howard Taft to replace him, but the widening division between progressive and
conservative forces in the party resulted in a third-party candidacy for Roosevelt on the United
States Progressive Party, or Bull Moose ticket in the election of 1912. He beat Taft, but the
split in the Republican vote resulted in a decisive victory for Democrat Woodrow Wilson,
temporarily interrupting the Republican era.
Subsequent years saw the party firmly committed to laissez-faire economics, but the Great
Depression cost it the presidency with the U.S. presidential election, 1932 landslide election of
Franklin Roosevelt in 1932. Roosevelts New Deal Coalition controlled American politics for
the next three decades, excepting the two-term presidency of World War Two General Dwight
Eisenhower. The post-war emergence of the United States as one of two superpowers and rapid
social change caused the Republican Party to divide into a conservative faction (dominant in the
West) and a liberal faction (dominant in New England) combined with a residual base of
inherited Midwestern Republicanism active throughout the century.
Goldwaters electoral success in the Souther states, and Nixons successful Southern strategy
four years later represented a significant political change, as Southern white protestants began
moving into the party, largely in reaction to Democrats support for the Civil Rights Movement.
Simultaneously, the remaining pockets of liberal Republicanism in the northeast died out as the
region turned solidly Democratic. Richard Nixons political disgrace in the Watergate Scandal,
revelations that he had ordered massive, illegal bombing of Cambodia, and the humilitating
military debacle of the end of the Vietnam War led to the election of centrist Democrat Jimmy
Carter in 1976.
In turn, Carter was defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980 election due to disappointing economic
performance and public frustration over the long hostage drama in the U.S. Embassy in Iran. In
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the emerging Republican majority, Kevin Phillips, then a Nixon strategist, argued (based on the
1968 election results) that support from Southern whites and growth in the Sun Belt, among
other factors, was driving an enduring Republican electoral realignment. While his predictions
were overstated, the trends he described may be seen in the Goldwater-inspired candidacy, the
1980 election of Ronald Reagan, and the Gingrich-led Republican Revolution of 1994. The
latter was the first time in 40 years that the Republicans secured control of both houses of
Congress.
That year, the GOP campaigned on a platform of major reforms of government with measures,
such as a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution and welfare reform. These measures
and others formed the famous Contract with America, which was passed by Congress.
Democratic President Bill Clinton vetoed many of the initiatives, with welfare reform as a
notable exception. Republican House Members also backtracked on one of the popular
proposals--adoption of term limits. In 1995, a budget battle with Clinton led to the brief
shutdown of the federal government, an event which contributed to Clinton's victory in the 1996
election.
With the election of George W. Bush in 2000, the Republican party controlled both the
presidency and both houses of Congress for the first time since 1952. Conservative
commentators speculate, and Republicans hope, that this may constitute a permanent partisan
realignment. The Republican Party solidified its Congressional margins in the 2002 midterm
elections, bucking the historic trend. It marked just the third time since the Civil War that the
party in control of the White House gained seats in both houses of Congress in a midterm
election (others were 1902 and 1934).
3.3.2.
As stated above, the supreme law of the land, that is, the supremacy of the U.S. Constitution
is confirmed and strengthened by the Supreme Court, but final authority is vested in the
American people, who can change the fundamental law, if they wish, by amending the
Constitution or, in theory at least, by drafting a new one. Actually, the people do not exercise
their authority directly since they delegate the day-to-day business of government to public
officials, both elected and appointed.
Following the website wikipedia (2004), the power of public officials is limited under the
Constitution. Their public actions must conform to the Constitution and to the laws made in
accordance with the Constitution. Elected officials can only continue in office if they stand for
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re-election at periodic intervals (when their records are subject to intensive public scrutiny), and
are re-elected. Appointed officials serve at the pleasure of the person or authority who appointed
them, and may be removed at any time. The exception to this practice is the lifetime
appointment by the President of justices of the Supreme Court and other federal judges, so that
they may be free of political obligations or influence.
Most commonly, the American people express their will through the ballot box. The
Constitution, however, does make provision for the removal of a public official from office, in
cases of extreme misconduct or malfeasance, by the process of impeachment. Article II, Section
4 reads: The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be
removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high
crimes and misdemeanors. So, impeachment is a charge of misconduct brought against a
government official by a legislative body; it does not -as is commonly thought- include
subsequent conviction on such charges.
As set forth in the Constitution, the House of Representatives must bring charges of
misconduct by voting articles of impeachment. The accused official is then tried in the Senate,
with the chief justice of the Supreme Court presiding at the trial. Impeachment is considered a
drastic measure, one that has been used on only rare occasions in the United States. Since 1797,
the House of Representatives has voted articles of impeachment against 15 federal officials: two
presidents, one cabinet member, one justice of the Supreme Court, and eleven federal judges. Of
those impeached, the Senate has convicted only seven--less than half--and all of them judges.
Some examples of impeachment include that of President Andrew Johnson in 1868, who was
impeached over issues relating to the proper treatment of the defeated Confederate states
following the American Civil War. The Senate, however, fell one vote short of the two-thirds
majority necessary for conviction, and Johnson completed his full term in office. Also, in 1974,
as a result of the Watergate affair, President Richard Nixon resigned from office after the
Judiciary Committee of the House recommended impeachment, but before the full House of
Representatives could vote on articles of impeachment.
More recently, in 1998, President Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives
on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. After a trial, the Senate acquitted Clinton on
both charges, voting not guilty on perjury by a margin of 55-45 and dividing evenly at 50-50 on
obstruction of justice. To remove the president from office would have required a guilty verdict
by a super-majority of 67 votes on either charge in the 100-member Senate.
Regarding the United States presidential elections, these are held every four years through the
United States Electoral College. The President and the Vice President are the only two
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nationally elected officials in the United States. (Legislators are elected on a state-by-state basis;
other executive officers and judges are appointed.) Originally, electors voted for two people for
President. The votes were tallied and the person receiving the greatest number of votes
(provided that such a number was a majority of electors) would be President, while the
individual who was in second place became Vice President.
The ratification of Amendment XII in 1804 clarified the electoral process by directing the
electors to use separate ballots to vote for the President and Vice President. To be elected, a
candidate must receive a majority of electoral votes, or if no candidate receives a majority, the
President and Vice President are chosen by the House of Representatives and Senate
respectively as necessary. Since 1937, with the ratification of Amendment XX, a newly-elected
President, or a re-elected incumbent, is sworn in (usually by the Chief Justice) on January 20 of
the year following the election, an event called Inauguration Day.
The modern Presidential election process begins with the primary elections, during which the
major parties (currently the Democrats and the Republicans) select a nominee to unite behind;
the nominee in turn selects a running mate to join him on the ticket as the Vice Presidential
candidate. The two major candidates then face off in the general election, usually participating
in nationally televised debates at least twice before Election Day and campaigning across the
country to explain their views and plans to the voters. Much of the modern electoral process is
concerned with winning swing states, through frequent visits and mass media advertising
drives.
Moreover, in accordance with Article II, Section 1, Paragraph 8 of the Constitution, upon
entering office, the President must repeat the following oath or affirmation: I do solemnly
swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and
will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United
States. Furthermore, So help me is the sentence with which the oath is traditionally ended as
well as So help me God, although the former is linked to religious reasons.
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current politicians who are familiar to students through the media in their own country.
However, the question is How much do students know about the North American political
system? or How can we make American politics relevant to students in the classroom?
In fact, Spanish students are expected to know about the political field of the United States and
its influence in the world through the image of outstanding political figures, such as Bill Clinton
or George Bush at present in relation to the Spanish ones. Currently, action research groups
attempt to bring about change in classroom learning and teaching through a focus on social
events under two premises. First, because they believe learning is an integral aspect of any form
of activity and second, because education at all levels must be conceived in terms of history.
The basis for these assumptions is to be found in an attempt, through the use of historical
events, to develop understanding of students shared but diverse social and physical
environment.
Learning involves a process of transformation of participation itself which has far reaching
implications on the role of the teacher in the teaching-learning relationship. This means that
historical events, for our purposes, political ones, are an analytic tool when making students
aware of the relevance of U.S. politics in the world, and in particular, in Spain regarding current
events (Aznar and Bushs friendship). Moreover, todays new technologies (the Internet, DVD,
videocamera) and the media (TV, radio, cinema) may provide a new direction to language
teaching as they set more appropriate context for students to get key information.
So, motivation and involvement are enhanced by means of new technologies and the media.
Hence the history of the period may be approched in terms of films and drama representations in
class, among others, and in this case, by means of books, newspapers, magazines or TV news,
among others. But how do twenty-first-century U.S. politics tie in with the new curriculum?
Spanish students are expected to know about the international panorama and the influence of the
U.S. political system in Europe, regarding its main policy or the main political figures. The
success partly lies in making this reality closer to students so as to recreate as much as possible
the whole social and political environment in the classroom. Some of this motivational force is
brought about by eliciting information about recent events in which the United States has been
involved.
Hence it makes sense to examine relevant figures such as George Washington, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan or George Bush among others so as to compare them with the
corresponding figures in Spain and their roles in both U.S. and Spanish politics. This is to be
achieved within the framework of the European Council (1998) and, in particular, the Spanish
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Educational System which establishes a common reference framework for the teaching of
foreign languages where students are intended to locate social, political and cultural events
within a particular historical period (B.O.E., 2004).
In short, the knowledge about U.S. culture (history and literature) should become part of every
literary students basic competence (B.O.E., 2004). There are hidden influences at work beneath
the textual surface: these may be sociocultural, inter and intratextual. Students have to discover
these, and wherever necessary apply them in further examination. The main aims that our
currently educational system focuses on are mostly sociocultural, to facilitate the study of
cultural themes, as our students must be aware of their current social and political reality within
the international framework.
5. CONCLUSION.
On reviewing the issue of Unit 64, we have tried to provide an overall view of the the United
States institutions, among which we have focused on those related to North American politics,
not only in terms of political basis regarding the Constitution and territorial organization, but
also in terms of political powers regarding the main political bodies, that is, the President, the
Congress and finally the main political parties and electoral system. In doing so, we have
located the United States institutions within a historical framework and then we have offered an
overview of each political body.
So, Chapter 2 has namely analysed the period which ranges from the roots of Colonial America
to the establishment of the Constitution (1788) in terms of political history. So we have
reviewed the political organization of Colonial America up to the Declaration of Independence
(1776). Moreover, we have offered an account of the struggle for Constitution within the
already independent American colonies up to the establishment of the Constitution in 1789.
Then, with this background in mind in Chapter 3 we have approached the United States
institutions from three main perspectives which coincide with the main issues we are going to
deal with. First, the polit ical basis, that is, the Constitution on which fundamental laws are
based, and the territorial organization of the United States federal system; secondly, the political
powers of federal government at three different levels: the National Government regarding the
executive power through the figure of the President; the legislative power through the Congress;
and finally, the judicial power through the Supreme Court. Then, we have also examined the
State Government and the Municipial Government.
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Finally, we approach the organization of political parties and the electoral system, by examining
the main political parties within the US two-party system, that is, the Democratic Party and the
Republican Party; and the US electoral system. Then, Chapter 4 will be devoted to the main
educational implications in language teaching regarding the introduction of this issue in the
classroom setting. Chapter 5 will offer a conclusion to broadly overview our present study, and
Chapter 6 will include all the bibliographical references used to develop this account of the U.S.
institutions.
So far, we have attempted to provide the reader in this presentation with a historical, social and
cultural background on the U.S. political panorama throughtout the centuries. This information
is relevant for language learners, even ESO and Bachillerato students, who do not automatically
establish similiarities between U.S. and Spanish political reality. So, learners need to have these
associations brought to their attention in cross-curricular settings through the media. As we have
seen, understanding how history reflects the main events of a country is important to students,
who are expected to be aware of the richness of North American culture at a general level.
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6. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Blaustein, Albert P. 1984. The United States Constitution: A Model in Nation-Building. National Forum.
B.O.E. 2004. Consejera de Educacin y Cultura. Decreto N. 116/2004, de 23 de enero. Currculo de la
Educacin Secundaria Obligatoria en la Comunidad Autnoma de la Regin de Murcia.
B.O.E. 2004. Consejera de Educacin y Cultura. Decreto N. 117/2004, de 23 de enero. Currculo de
Bachillerato en la Comunidad Autnoma de la Regin de Murcia.
Council of Europe (1998) Modern Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. A Common European
Framework of reference.
Hearst Report. 1987. The American Publics Knowledge of the U.S. Constitution. A National Survey of
Public Awareness and Personal Opinion. New York: The Hearst Corporation. ED 289 812.
Palmer, R. 1980. Historia Contempornea, Akal ed., Madrid.
van Ek, J.A., and J.L.M. Trim, 2001. Vantage. Council of Europe. Cambridge University Press.
Other sources:
Enciclopedia Larousse 2000. 2000. Editorial Planeta.
British Empire. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. 2004. Encyclopdia Britannica Premium Service. 28
May 2004 <http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article?eu=383356>.
www.historylearningsite.co.uk
www.wikipedia.com
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