"THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES

The system of Federal Government of the United States was established by the Constitution which was ratified in 1788.

The Federal Government is composed of three branches which guarantee the balance
of power: The Legislative /both houses of Congress/, the Executive /the President and
the Executive office/, the Judicial /the Supreme Court and all other Federal courts/.

Congress consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The Senate and the House of Representatives are responsible f. e. for making the federal laws, the defence of the nation, national financial dealing or declaring war.

The House of Representatives consists of 435 Representatites voted for 2 years and the number of Representatives of each state is based on the population. The presiding officer is the Speaker, the leader of majority party. The House of Representatives is responsible for
f. e. making the laws relating to taxes or impeaching, that is charging a President with criminal actions.

The Senate consists of 100 Senators, two for each of the fifty states in the Union.
The Senators are voted by public vote for six years but every second year one third of them
is renewed. The presiding office is the Vice President. The Senate is responsible f. e. for ratifying foreign treaties.

There are two major parties in the United States. The Democrats and the Republicans. Democrats are more liberal and think that government should provide social and economic program for those who need them, republicans are more conservative and encourage private enterprise.

The President is elected every four years and serves a maximum of two four-year terms
in office. He must be 35 or older, be born in the US and have lived here for 14 years.
If the President dies, resigns or is impeached by the Congress, the Vice President assumes
the presidency. The President has large powers. He proposes bills, can refuse or veto them, he
is a Commander-in-Chief and as a Chief Executive appoints the ambassadors, ministers, consuls and judges. There is also the Executive Office of the President which consists
of 14 deparments /Department of Defence, Justice and others./ The heads of these Departments advise the President on national policy.

The Judiciary interprets the law of the land and consists of a three-level hierarchy.
Federal district courts, US courts of appeal, the US Supreme Court. The Supreme court consists of eight justices and a Chief Justice and focuses its attention on possible problems with constitutional nature of existing laws.

The model of Federal Government is used also in individual states. The Local Governement has also three branches – Legislative, Executive, Judiciary. The heads of the states are
governors. No state laws are valid if they are in conflict with the Constitution."

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