LETTER OF SUBMISSION

12 April 2015
Md. Sazzad Ali
Lecturer of Business Administration Department
The Millennium University
Dhaka.
 
Subject: Submission of Term Paper.
Dear Sir,
This is my pleasure to submit our Term Paper on “Corporate Culture and Political system of
USA ”. It was a great opportunity for us to acquire knowledge and experience in respect of the
functions, procedures and operational activity, other than my topic of study.

We have concentrated my best efforts to achieve the objectives of this study and hope our
endeavor will serve the purpose. However, I will always be ready to provide any further
clarification that you may require.

Your Most Obedient,

Md. Iftekher Mahmud

On Behalf of KALITS Group
For 19th and 20th Batch
The Millennium University
 

1|Page
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We grateful to the God for the good health and wellbeing that were necessary to complete
this Assignment.
In performing our assignment, we had to take the help and guideline of some respected
persons, who deserve our greatest gratitude. The completion of this assignment gives us much
Pleasure. We would like to show our gratitude Md. Sazzad Ali, Course Teacher, Department
of Business Administration, The Millennium University for giving us a good guideline for
assignment throughout numerous consultations. We would also like to expand our deepest
gratitude to all those who have directly and indirectly guided us in writing this assignment.

Many people, especially our classmates and group members itself, have made valuable
comment suggestions on this proposal which gave us an inspiration to improve our assignment.
We thank all the people for their help directly and indirectly to complete our assignment.

2|Page
 TABLE OF CONTENT
S.L Topic Page No. Remarks

1. Introduction 2

2. Objective 3

3. Limitation 4

4. Methodology 5
5. Definition of Culture 6
6. Definition of Corporate Culture 6
7. Definition of Political System 9
8. History of USA 12
9. Map Description of USA 12
10. Culture of USA 13
11. Corporate Culture of USA 15
12. Political System of USA 16
13. Structure of USA Government 25
14. Concluding Remarks
15. References 27

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
3|Page
People in the United States come from many different homelands. They have a variety of
customs, traditions, and foods. They do share many of the same values, though. U.S. citizens
care about individual freedoms, equal opportunities, fair treatment of people regardless of
differences, private ownership of property, and education. Many of these values help define
American culture.

4|Page
 1. INTRODUCTION
The name "America" is often used to refer to the United States, but until the political
formation of the United States after the Revolutionary War, this designation referred to South
America only. Contemporary use of the term to refer to the United States underlines that
country's political and economic dominance in the western hemisphere. Such use of this
designation is impolitic from the perspective of Canadians and Latin Americans.
The United States has an Anglo majority that is politically and economically dominant.
One of the defining characteristics of the country as a nation is its legacy of slavery and the
persistence of economic and social inequalities based on race.
U.S. culture has significant regional inflections. Most Americans are aware of these
differences despite the fact that these regions have experienced economic transformations and
that Americans are a mobile people who often leave their regions of origin.
The Northeast is densely populated. Its extensive corridors of urbanization have been
called the national "megalopolis." Once a leader in technology and industry, the Northeast has
been overtaken in those areas by California's Silicon Valley.
The Midwest is both rural and industrial. It is the home of the family farm and is the
"corn belt" and "breadbasket" of the nation. In the Great Lakes area of the upper Midwest, the
automobile and steel industries were central to community and economy. As those industries
declined, the upper Midwest became known as the rust belt.
The South was shaped by its secession from the Union before the Civil War and is
associated with slavery and with subsequent battles over civil rights for African-Americans. In
contemporary terms, these are the sunshine states, retirement havens, and new economic
frontiers.

5|Page
 2. OBJECTIVE
Creating a culture of success at a company has the objective to give employees a vested
interest in the company's growth. The building blocks of success culture can include dress codes
to increase the level of professionalism between staff, and accountability techniques such as
consistent reporting to managers regarding project completion. Creating a culture where people
are challenged and excited to contribute will add to the energy needed to build a successful
enterprise. Companies often tout the success of their corporate culture; they make employees
happy and create an environment that helps their business. Depending on the organization, the
objective behind creating a specific culture will vary.
The United States is a representative democracy. Citizens elect representatives to
national, state, and local government; those representatives create the laws that govern U.S.
society. Although nothing in U.S. law requires it, in practice, the political system is dominated
by political parties. With rare exceptions, elections are decided between the two major parties:
Democrats and Republicans. Although citizens vote for individual candidates, most candidates
are affiliated with one part or another. Therefore, much of U.S. politics boils down to party
politics.

6|Page
 4. METHODOLOGY
There are two sources of data. Primary data collection uses surveys, experiments or direct
observations. Secondary data collection may be conducted by collecting information from a
diverse source of documents or electronically stored information. U.S. census and market studies
are examples of a common sources of secondary data. This is also referred to as "data mining."
We are collect all of data from secondary resource. Because there has no several data
about topic that w collect the primary source. Our group was attentive to collect information to
make this assignment. Many data collect from Internet, books, newspaper, another university’s
students etc. was very difficult to prepare to make this assignment. Our group member collect
this assignment topic information from several resources. We create this assignment by using the
Microsoft Office word 2007, adobe illustrator 2007 and adobe Photoshop 2007.

3. LIMITATION
We are faces many problem to make this assignment. Our assignment topic “Corporate
Culture and Political System of USA”. This is not related to each other topic. We search data for
collect, but we could not find data from Google and other websites. Because USA information
do not out for another nation. We collect some data from different website and collect from
different books. Here we find the small data for this assignment. We collect data from other
books and another universities big brothers created notes. Every country have many limitation to
search another country data. This was USA political system but we see the here have only few
information about their political system. USA corporate culture information we can not find
properly but we tried to show the right information, because USA corporate culture is different
from other country. USA political system is the Democracy. Their political system dominate the
other country Democracy system such as Bangladesh. So their political system information is
hidden for other country. Bangladesh Internet server cannot find out world information properly.
So we take many help by different international books.

7|Page
 5. DEFINATION OF CULTURE
Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values,
attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the
universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of
generations through individual and group striving.
Culture in its broadest sense is cultivated behavior; that is the totality of a person's
learned, accumulated experience which is socially transmitted, or more briefly, behavior through
social learning.
Culture is symbolic communication. Some of its symbols include a group's skills,
knowledge, attitudes, values, and motives. The meanings of the symbols are learned and
deliberately perpetuated in a society through its institutions.
Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and
transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement of human groups, including
their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional ideas and
especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products
of action, on the other hand, as conditioning influences upon further action.
Broadly, social heritage of a group (organized community or society). It is
a pattern of responses discovered, developed, or invented during the group's history
of handling problems which arise from interactions among its members, and between them and
their environment. These responses are considered the correct way to perceive, feel, think,
and act, and are passed on to the new members through immersion and teaching. Culture
determines what is acceptable or unacceptable, important or unimportant, right or wrong,
workable or unworkable. It encompasses all learned and shared, explicit or
tacit, assumptions, beliefs, knowledge, norms, and values, as well as attitudes, behavior, dress,
and language.

8|Page
 6. DEFINATION OF CORPORATE CULTURE
Corporate culture refers to the shared values, attitudes, standards, and beliefs that
characterize members of an organization and define its nature. Corporate culture is rooted in an
organization's goals, strategies, structure, and approaches to labor, customers, investors, and the
greater community. As such, it is an essential component in any business's ultimate success or
failure. Closely related concepts, discussed elsewhere in this volume, are corporate ethics (which
formally state the company's values) and corporate image (which is the public perception of the
corporate culture).
Corporate culture is defined as the blend of values, beliefs, symbols, taboos, rituals and
myths which all companies develop over time. In simple words, it is the way a company’s
owners and employees think, feel and act. Corporate culture is a major concept in human
resource management.
To some extent, a company's internal culture may be articulated in its mission
statement or vision statement. Elements of corporate culture include a company's physical
environment, human resources practices and the staff itself. Corporate culture is also reflected in
the degree of emphasis placed on various defining elements such as hierarchy, process,
innovation, collaboration, competition, community involvement and social engagement.
A corporate culture that reflects the broader culture is usually more successful than one
that is at odds with it. For example, in the current global culture, which values transparency,
equality and communication, a secretive company with a strictly hierarchical structure may have
a public relations problem.

9|Page
 7. DEFINATION OF POLITICAL SYSTEM
Political system, the set of formal legal institutions that constitute a “government” or a
“state.” This is the definition adopted by many studies of the legal or constitutional arrangements
of advanced political orders. More broadly defined, however, the term comprehends actual as
well as prescribed forms of political behavior, not only the legal organization of the state but also
the reality of how the state functions. Still more broadly defined, the political system is seen as a
set of “processes of interaction” or as a subsystem of the social system interacting with other
nonpolitical subsystems, such as the economic system. This points to the importance of informal
sociopolitical processes and emphasizes the study of political development.
Political systems are the formal and informal political processes by which decisions are
made concerning the use, production and distribution of resources in any given society. Formal
political institutions can determine the process for electing leaders; the roles and responsibilities
of the executive and legislature; the organization of political representation (through political
parties); and the accountability and oversight of the state. Informal and customary political
systems, norms and rules can operate within or alongside these formal political institutions. The
development of democratic political systems that provide opportunities for all, including the
poor, to influence decision-making, is a critical concern for donors.
Political systems are schemes for deciding who gets to decide on the goals of a society
and how they may be achieved. In this lesson you will gain an overview of the sociological
perspectives on different kinds of political systems.

10 | P a g e
 8. HISTORY OF USA
The history of the United States is what happened in the past in the United States, a
country in North America. Native Americans have lived there for thousands of years, long
before Europeans went there. In 1492, Christopher Columbus went to America. In 1607, English
people went to Jamestown, Virginia. This was the first successful English town in North
America. The American colonies were settled mostly by England. People from France, Spain,
and the Netherlands also lived in America. While the colonies were growing, many Native
Americans died of disease or lost their land.

By 1733, there were 13 colonies. In 1775, at Lexington and Concord, a war between the
colonies and England called the Revolutionary War started. This war started because the
American colonists believed that they were not being treated equally to the Englishmen living in
England. On July 4, 1776, people from the thirteen colonies created the United States
Declaration of Independence created by Thomas Jefferson. This said that they were free from
England. George Washington helped lead the Americans during the Revolutionary War, which
the Americans won.

11 | P a g e
After the Revolution, the United States set about becoming a new nation with George
Washington becoming its first president. The leaders of the states created a constitution in 1787
and a Bill of Rights in 1791. These were based on the idea of "social contracts". In the early
1800s, the new nation faced many controversial issues, such as slavery.
During the 1800s, the United States gained much more land in the West and began to
become industrialized. In 1861, several states in the South left the United States to start a new
country called the Confederate States of America. This caused the American Civil War. After the
war and reconstruction, many people immigrated to the United States from Europe, looking for
work. Some Americans became very rich in this Gilded Age and the country developed one of
the largest economies in the world.
In the early 20th century, the United States became a world power, fighting in World War
I and World War II. Between the wars, there was an economic boom called the Roaring
Twenties when people became richer and a bust called the Great Depression when most were
much poorer. The Great Depression ended with World War II during Franklin D. Roosevelt's
presidency.
After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union entered a time known as the Cold
War. Most of this happened during the Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F.
Kennedy presidencies. The Cold War included an expensive arms race and space race. During
the Lyndon B. Johnson presidency, the wars in Korea and Vietnam cost even more money and
effect on the United States. During this time, African-Americans, Chicanos, and women fought
for more rights. In 1973, President Richard Nixon resigned as president due to the Watergate
Scandal. In the 1970s and 1980s, the United States started to make fewer things in factories than
they used to. The United States then went through the worst recession it had since the Great
Depression during the Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter administration.
During the 1980s, the United States was dominated by the Reagan Era led by President Ronald
Reagan. During the era, the American economy grew and American-Soviet relations got better.
The Cold War ended, helping the United States out of recession by reducing inflation during
the Bill Clinton presidency. The Middle East became important in American foreign policy,
especially after the September 11 attacks in 2001 during the George W. Bush administration. In
2009, Barrack Obama became the first black president of the United States.

12 | P a g e
 9. MAP DESCRIPTION OF USA

The third largest country of the world, the United States of America is located in North America
between Mexico and Canada. Mexico is located in the south of USA and Canada is situated in
the north of USA. United States of America is politically divided into fifty states and one federal
district. Washington D.C is its capital city (Washington DC Map) . The states of Alaska and
Hawaii Islands are the only two states not sharing contiguous boundaries with the country.
Alaska is situated to the northwest side of North America sharing its border with the neighboring
country of Canada and Hawaii Island is an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. USA also has many
territories in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. This one of the most developed countries
of the world covers a total area of 9,826,675 sq. km. (including only its states and the federal
district and not its overseas territories). USA has a longer coastline than its land boundary. Its
coastline is 19,924 km long whereas its land boundary is only 12,034 km. long. The geographic
coordinates of USA are 38 00N and 97 00W. The climate in USA is predominantly temperate
barring Alaska, which has Arctic climate and tropical Climate in Hawaii Island. The topography
of the country ranges from Plains, hills, mountains to plateaus and desert regions.
USA is a multicultural country, which has rich reserve of natural resources and biodiversity.
USA is one of the most preferred destination for tourists from worldwide.

13 | P a g e
 10. CULTURE OF USA
American culture encompasses the customs and traditions of the United States. "Culture
encompasses religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it, our language, marriage, music, what
we believe is right or wrong, how we sit at the table, how we greet visitors, how we behave with
loved ones, and a million other things," said Cristina De Rossi, an anthropologist at Barnet and
Southgate College in London.
The United States is the third largest country in the word with a population of more than 320
million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Because of this, the United States is one of the
most culturally diverse countries in the world. Nearly every region of the world has influenced
American culture, as it is a country of immigrants, most notably the English who colonized the
country beginning in the early 1600s. U.S. culture has also been shaped by the cultures of Native
Americans, Latin Americans, Africans and Asians.

 Facts and Statistics

Location: North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific
Ocean, between Canada and Mexico

Capital: Washington, DC

Climate: mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in
the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest.

Population: 301,139,947 (July 2007 est.)

Ethnic Make-up: white 81.7%, black 12.9%, Asian 4.2%, Amerindian and Alaska native
1%, native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.2% (2003 est.) 

Religions: Protestant 52%, Roman Catholic 24%, Mormon 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 1%,
other 10%, none 10% (2002 est.)
Government: Constitution-based federal republic

14 | P a g e
 Language

15 | P a g e
 There is no official language of the United States, according to the U.S. government.
While almost every language in the world is spoken in the United States, Spanish, Chinese,
French and German are among the most frequently spoken non-English languages. Ninety
percent of the U.S. population speaks and understands at least some English, and most official
business is conducted in English. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that more than 300
languages are spoken in the United States. The bureau divides those languages into four:
Spanish; other Indo-European languages, which includes German, Yiddish, Swedish, French,
Italian, Russian, Polish, Hindi, Punjabi, Greek and several others; Asian and Pacific Island
languages, including Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Tamil and more; and "all other
languages," which is a category for languages that didn't fit into the first three categories, such as
Hungarian, Arabic, Hebrew, languages of Africa and languages of native people of North,
Central and South America.

 Religion

Nearly every
known religion is
practiced in the
United States, which was founded on the basis of religious freedom. About 83 percent of
Americans identify themselves as Christians, according to an ABC poll, while 13 percent replied
that they had no religion at all. Another poll in 2012 reported similar findings. It also found that
Judaism is the second most-identified religious affiliation, at about 1.7 percent of the population.
Only 0.6 percent of respondents identified as Muslim.

 Values

16 | P a g e
 Independence. Americans strongly believe in the concept of individualism. They consider
themselves to be separate individuals who are in control of their own lives, rather than members
of a close-knit, interdependent family, religious group, tribe, nation, or other group.
Equality. The American Declaration of Independence states that “all [people] are created equal,”
and this belief is deeply embedded in their cultural values. Americans believe that all people are
of equal standing, and are therefore uncomfortable with overt displays of respect such as being
bowed to.

 Architecture

17 | P a g e
 Architecture in the United States is regionally diverse and has been shaped by many
external forces, not only English. U.S. architecture can therefore be said to be eclectic,
something unsurprising in such a multicultural society.[17] In the absence of a single large-scale
architectural influence from indigenous peoples such as those in Mexico or Peru, generations of
designers have incorporated influences from around the world. Currently, the overriding theme
of American Architecture is modernity, as manifest in the skyscrapers of the 20th century.

 Theater

Theater of the United States is based in the Western tradition and did not take on a unique
dramatic identity until the emergence of Eugene O'Neill in the early twentieth century, now
considered by many to be the father of American drama. O'Neill is a four-time winner of
the Pulitzer Prize for drama and the only American playwright to win the Nobel
Prize for literature. After O'Neill, American drama came of age and flourished with the likes
of Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Lillian Hellman, William Inge, and Clifford Odets during
the first half of the twentieth century. After this fertile period, American theater broke new
ground, artistically, with the absurdist forms of Edward Albee in the 1960s.

 Dance
The United States is
represented by various
genres of dance, from
ballet to hip-hop and
folk.

18 | P a g e
 Music

American
music styles and influences (such as rock and roll, jazz, rock, techno, country, hip-hop, rap) and
music based on them can be heard all over the world. Music in the U.S. is diverse. It includes
African-American influence in the 20th century. The first half of this century is famous for jazz,
introduced by African-Americans in the south. In the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, rock was
prevalent.

 Cinema

The cinema 
of the United States, often generally referred to as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on
cinema across the world since the early twentieth century. Its history can be separated into four
main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the
contemporary period. While the Lumiere Brothers are generally credited with the birth of
modern cinema, it is American cinema that has emerged as the most dominant force in the
industry.

19 | P a g e
 Broadcasting

American family watching TV, 1958

Television is a major mass media of the United States. Household ownership of television sets in
the country is 96.7%,[18] and the majority of households have more than one set. The peak
ownership percentage of households with at least one television set occurred during the 1996-97
season, with 98.4% ownership.[19] As a whole, the television networks of the United States are
the largest and most syndicated in the world.

 Science and Technology

There is a regard
for scientific advancement and technological innovation in American culture, resulting in the
flow of many modern innovations. The great American inventors include Robert
Fulton (the steamboat); Samuel Morse (the telegraph); Eli Whitney (the cotton
gin, interchangeable parts); Cyrus McCormick (the reaper); and Thomas Edison(with more than
a thousand inventions credited to his name). Most of the new technological innovations over the
20th and 21st centuries were either first invented in the United States and/or first widely adopted

20 | P a g e
by Americans. Examples include the light bulb, the airplane, the transistor, the atomic
bomb, nuclear power, the personal computer, the iPod, video games and online shopping, as well
as the development of the Internet.
This propensity for application of scientific ideas continued throughout the 20th century with
innovations that held strong international benefits. The twentieth century saw the arrival of
the Space Age, the Information Age, and a renaissance in the health sciences. This culminated in
cultural milestones such as the Apollo moon landings, the creation of the Personal Computer,
and the sequencing effort called the Human Genome Project.

 Education

Education in the United States is and has historically been provided mainly by
government, with control and funding coming from three levels: federal, state, and local. School
attendance is mandatory and nearly universal at the elementary and high school levels (often
known outside the United States as the primary and secondary levels).
Students have the options of having their education held in public schools, private schools,
or home school. In most public and private schools, education is divided into three
levels: elementary school, junior high school (also often called middle school), and high school.
In almost all schools at these levels, children are divided by age groups into grades. Post-
secondary education, better known as "college" in the United States, is generally governed
separately from the elementary and high school system.

 American style

21 | P a g e
 Clothing styles vary by social status, region, occupation and climate. Jeans, sneakers,
baseball caps, cowboy hats and boots are some items of clothing that are closely associated with
Americans. Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Michael Kars and Victoria Secret are some well-known
American brands. American fashion is widely influenced by celebrities and the media, and
fashion sales equal around $200 billion per year, according to a paper published by Harvard
University.

 American food

American cuisine has been influenced by Europeans and Native Americans in its early
history. Today, there are a number of foods that are commonly identified as American, such as
hamburgers, hot dogs, potato chips, macaroni and cheese, and meat loaf. "As American as apple
pie" has come to mean something that is authentically American.
There are also styles of cooking and types of foods that are specific to a region. Southern-style
cooking is often called "American comfort food" and includes dishes such as fried chicken,
collard greens, black-eyed peas and corn bread. Tex-Mex, popular in Texas and the Southwest, is
a blend of Spanish and Mexican cooking styles and includes items such as chili and burritos and
relies heavily on shredded cheese and beans.

22 | P a g e
 The Arts

The United States is widely known around the world as a leader in mass media
production, including television and movies. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce,
the United States comprises one-third of the worldwide media and entertainment industry.
The United State's arts culture extends beyond movies and television shows, though. New York
is home to Broadway, and Americans have a rich theatrical history. American folk art is an
artistic style and is identified with quilts and other hand-crafted items. American music is very
diverse with many, many styles, including rhythm and blues, jazz, gospel, country and western,
bluegrass, rock 'n' roll and hip hop.

 Sports

The United States is a sports-minded country, with millions of fans who follow football,
baseball, basketball and hockey, among other sports. Baseball, which was developed in colonial

23 | P a g e
America and became an organized sport in the mid-1800s, is known as America’s favorite
pastime, although its popularity has been eclipsed by football for the past three decades,
according to the Harris Poll.

 American holidays

Many holidays are celebrated only in the United States. Americans celebrate their
independence from Britain on July 4. Memorial Day, celebrated on the last Monday in May,
honors those who have died in military service. Labor Day, observed on the first Monday in
September, celebrates country’s workforce. Thanksgiving, another distinctive American holiday,
falls on the fourth Thursday in November and dates back to colonial times to celebrate the
harvest. Presidents’ Day, marking the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, is
a federal holiday that occurs on the third Monday in February. The contributions of veterans are
honored on Veterans’ Day, observed on Nov. 11. The contributions of civil rights leader Martin
Luther King Jr. are remembered on the third Monday in January.

24 | P a g e
 11. CORPORATE CULTURE OF USA
In an ideal culture, people tend to do the right thing, even no one’s looking. They do not
expect to be rewarded or punished, but it is the culturally accepted thing to do. For better
corporate culture assignment help, here we are going to discuss the prior benefits of healthy
corporate culture that has the potentials to improve the organizational outcomes,
Financial benefits:
At the economic level, a well-developed culture is responsible for dramatic and sustained
increases in productivity and performance. As employees consider cost of control as an
important factor, they take personal responsibility for costs with the development of culture.
Thus, the administrative and operating cost go low below industry norms.
Recruiting:
A well-developed company culture with open and participative workplace, where people enjoy
working, and have broad opportunities for growth and creativity, attract top candidates. Good
work culture is what where the employees ask their friends to join the organization.
Supply chain:
The efficiency of chain management is decided by the into al corporate relation between multiple
functions and levels and with extra all suppliers and customers.
Customer service:
As a culture develops, managers lea to manage inside the company along with the outsiders such
as clients, customers, suppliers and corporate entities. To do it better, the companies should take
feedback from their customers, who know when things are working well and when they are not.
Employee motivation:
Employees feel motivated most in well-developed culture. Good organizational culture should
recognize the employees’ personal needs and desires and allows people to fulfill these needs
through business tasks.

25 | P a g e
Involvement:
Employees want to enjoy their involvement in their respective roles. When the managers show
they want everyone involve in the project, naturally employees step forward energetically to
make a positive contribution to the organization.
Meetings:
In well-developed company culture with openness and trust, the employees share their thoughts
during meetings without any hesitation. If an organization allows its employees to be open and
honest, the meetings can be more creative, focused and productive.
Corporation:
A well-built culture increases cooperation, collaboration, and motivation. If the employees get
the chance of working in an improved cooperation, the level of communications, decisions and
problem-solving get improved.
Teamwork:
When culture grows towards betterment, the relationship between people, levels, and
departments improves. Improved teamwork brings more communications, decisions, and overall
good performance.
Responsibility:
As the culture takes a positive, the employees start to take full responsibility for what happens in
the organization. In this way, the problems can be solved right in the beginning.
Safety:
If employees feel safe within their work environment, they will not hesitate to speak up on the
violation safe practices. They take personal responsibility for creating and maintaining a safe
workplace. Employers also encourage safe work culture, because it has a significant contribution
to net incomes.
Satisfactions and happiness:
Satisfaction and happiness are the most important and the positive outcome of a well-developed
company culture. Employees tend to enjoy the atmosphere where their coworkers enjoy
appreciating each other, where the people sincerely recognize each other for individual
contribution to the group’s success.

 Build a Strong Corporate Culture

26 | P a g e
After discussing all the benefits of corporate culture and elements that affect organizational
culture most, you can now understand how vitally it is significant for an organization to grow
more. Here you get to lea how an employer can build a strong corporate culture within
management.
Assign an owner:
The organization needs someone to implement value to build a culture. The person will be
responsible to focus on culture and push everyone else in the right direction. His responsibilities
can be hiring candidates or managing the engineering team as it sets priorities.
Begin with leadership:
It is a proven fact that leaders shape the culture of organizations by their actions. So the leaders
should be transparent, efficient. Transparency is most essential when you work with a team even
when during a difficult time. The leaders ensure that the executives of the organization work as a
team.
Structure is most needed:
Culture is vitally dependent on the organizational structure. For example, Apple’s famous
strategy in which design group is assigned to report directly to the CEO. The organization should
implement a robust structure to elevate culture.
Always communicate:
Communicate your values and culture explicitly and continuously, both initially and exactly.
Employees should have the precise knowledge of about culture and its importance. Implement a
reward system for employees who advance your culture, and be open and honest with those who
don’t.

 Grate Corporate Culture

Here are six common elements that make a good culture, although each culture is unique and
different. For corporate culture assignment help, you get a chance to lea the six common factors
in well-built culture.
Vision:
A meaningful vision or mission statement is the first step of a great culture. Good vision
statements always help orient customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. Nonprofit
organizations always believe in having compelling, simple vision statements. For example, the

27 | P a g e
Alzheimer’s association is dedicated to ‘a world without Alzheimer’s’, and Oxfam’s vision, ‘a
just world without poverty’.
Values:
Values are the core ingredient of any company culture. Vision is the goal that the company wants
to achieve and values are a set of guidelines for the behaviors and mindsets needed to fulfill that
vision. Values should be prominently communicated to all employees and involve the way the
firm vows to serve their clients and customers, treat colleagues, and uphold professional
standards. For example, Google value best articulated by their famous phrase, ‘don’t be evil’.
Practices:
Values are not useful if those are not implemented properly. Every company should believe,
‘people are our greatest asset.’ For example, Wegmans follows values like ‘caring; and ‘respect’,
and they implement it through company practices. Wegmans is ranked as the fifth best company
to work for. The organization should reinforce the values be baked into the operating principles
of daily life in the term.
People:
Organization will fall apart without people who either share its core values or possess the
willingness and ability to embrace those values. People work in the companies where they find it
comfortable. They generally stick with the cultures they like, and bring on the right ‘culture
carriers’ reinforces the culture an organization already has.
Narrative:
Every organization has its unique history- unique story to tell. The ability to unearth that history
and craft it into a narrative is a core element of culture creation. The narrative can be formal. For
example, Cola-Cola has invested a great deal in celebrating its heritage and even has a World
Coke Museum in Atlanta. Another noted example is about Steve Job’s early fascination with
calligraphy shaped the aesthetically oriented culture at Apple.

 USA Corporate Sector Culture Include

The People
Throughout most of its history, the United States has had influxes of immigration. The ethnic
mix is 83% white (generally of European descent, but also from the Middle East and Latin

28 | P a g e
America), 12% African-American, 3% Asian and about 1% Native American. Today the biggest
immigrant groups are from Latin countries.
Meeting and Greeting
American greetings are generally quite informal. This is not intended to show lack of respect, but
rather a manifestation of the American belief that everyone is equal.
Although it is expected in business situations, some Americans do not shake hands at social
events. Instead, they may greet you with a casual "Hello" or "How are you?" or even just "Hi." In
larger groups, many may not greet you at all. In social situations, Americans rarely shake hands
upon leaving.
The only proper answers to the greetings "How do you do?" "How are you?" or "How are you
doing?" are "Fine," "Great," or "Very well, thank you." This is not a request for information
about your well-being; it is simply a pleasantry.
"See you later" is just an expression. People say this even if they never plan to see you again.
When saying good-bye, Americans may say "We'll have to get together" or "Let's do lunch."
This is simply a friendly gesture. Unless your American colleague specifies a time and date,
don't expect an invitation. If you want to have lunch, you should take the initiative to schedule it.
Stand while being introduced. Only the elderly, the ill and physically unable persons remain
seated while greeting or being introduced.
Body Language
Keep your distance when conversing. If an American feels you are standing too close, he or she
may step back without even thinking about it.
People who like to touch really like touching, and people who do not like to touch really dislike
being touched. You will need to watch your colleagues for clues on what they are comfortable
with.
Americans are generally uncomfortable with same-sex touching, especially between males.
Holding the middle finger up by itself is considered insulting and vulgar.
Americans smile a great deal, even at strangers. They like to have their smiles returned.
Men and women will sit with legs crossed at the ankles or knees, or one ankle crossed on the
knee.
Some Americans are known as "back slappers" -- they give others a light slap on the back to
show friendship.

29 | P a g e
Corporate Culture
In a country that prides itself on its individualism, companies are organized and structured with
many different styles depending on the industry, the company's history and its current leaders. In
the United States, business relationships are formed between companies rather than between
people. Americans do business where they get the best deal and the best service. It is not
important to develop a personal relationship in order to establish a long and successful business
relationship.
Americans view the business card as a source of future information and tend to exchange cards
casually. There is no set ritual for exchanging business cards.
Americans prefer directness in communication. When Americans say "yes" or "no," they mean
precisely that. "Maybe" really does mean "it might happen"; it does not mean "no."
It is always proper to ask questions if you do not understand something. Americans ask questions
-- lots of them. They are not ashamed to admit what they do know. Americans will assume you
understand something if you do not tell them otherwise.
Americans are often uncomfortable with silence. Silence is avoided in social or business
meetings.
Dining and Entertainment
Americans conduct business over breakfast, lunch and dinner. Some socializing may start off the
meal, but often the conversation will revolve around business.
In a business setting the person extending the invitation to a meal pays for it.
The fork is held in the left hand, tines facing down. The knife is held in the right hand. After
cutting the food, the knife is laid down and the fork is switched to the right hand to eat the cut
food. Continental style (where the fork stays in the left hand to eat the cut food) is perfectly
acceptable.
The guest of honor is often toasted and should reciprocate by giving a toast of thanks.
Your napkin should be placed on your lap shortly after you are seated and kept on your lap at all
times during the meal. Do not tuck your napkin under your chin.
Raise your hand or index finger and make eye contact to signal a server.
Dinner at an American home may be fairly informal.

30 | P a g e
Do not be late for a dinner party. Arrive within 5 to 15 minutes after the time on the invitation.
Never arrive before the time you were invited. If you are going to be more than 15 minutes late,
phone your hosts and apologize.

Dress
The appropriate clothing for business varies widely. Proper dress depends on the region of the
country, a person's company, his or her position within it and the industry in which he or she
works. The best approach is to be conservative until you have had a chance to observe what
others wear in an office. You can always get more casual after you get a sense of how people
dress. You cannot lose, however, if you begin with a very professional attire and manner.
Men: socks should match your suit. No leg should show between pant hem and shoe. Remove
your hat when indoors.
Women: do not overdress for daytime or wear flashy or noisy jewelry. American women do not
wear a lot of makeup to the office. Low-cut blouses, short skirts and tight clothing are not
appropriate office attire.
Gifts
Americans do not have as many customs and taboos concerning gifts as many other cultures
have.
Gifts from your country will always be appreciated. Good choices are local and regional arts and
crafts, books, candies, specialty foods and wine or spirits (if you are certain that the recipient
drinks).
If you are invited to someone's home for dinner or a party, bring flowers, a potted plant, a fruit
basket, candy, wine, a book or a small household gift.
Many companies have policies that discourage their employees from giving or receiving gifts.
Most government employees are not allowed to accept gifts. Do not be offended if someone
cannot accept a gift.
Helpful Hints
It is considered rude to stare, ask questions or otherwise bring attention to someone's disability.
Smoking is very unpopular in the United States. Restaurants have separate smoking and
nonsmoking sections. Public and private buildings may ban smoking except in designated areas.

31 | P a g e
Some people do not allow smoking in their homes and will ask you to go outside if you want to
have a cigarette. Never smoke anywhere without asking permission from everyone present.
Names are not held as sacred in the United States. Someone may mispronounce your name and
laugh a bit as they do it. Or someone may just call you by your given name if your family name
is too difficult to pronounce.
American Women
Women are leaders in all aspects of American life from business to education to government.
Never assume that a working woman is in a subordinate position.
American women are independent. They will not appreciate any "special help" offered because
of their gender. Do not assume that a woman needs more time or more help than a man doing the
same job.
American women pride themselves on the number of responsibilities they take on. Do not
assume that a working woman is no longer the primary caretaker of her family and children.
When addressing a woman, use the title "Ms." unless you know that she prefers "Mrs." or
"Miss."
Many women keep their maiden names after marriage. Some use both their maiden and married
names.
When going to dinner or lunch, the person who invites pays, whether it is a man or a woman.
Do not touch a woman in a business setting except to shake her hand. Hugging and kissing, even
of people you know very well, is best left for social occasions.

32 | P a g e
 12. POLITICAL SYSTEM OF USA
The United States is - by size of electorate - the second largest democracy on the globe
(India is the largest and Indonesia comes third) and the most powerful nation on earth,
politically, economically and militarily, but its political system is in many important respects
unlike any other in the world. This essay then was written originally to inform non-Americans as
to how the American political system works.
What has been striking, however, is how many Americans - especially young Americans - have
found the essay useful and insightful. There is considerable evidence that many Americans know
and understand little about the political system of their own country - possibly more than is the
case with any other developed democratic nation.
In the U.S., the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests what American
students are learning. It has found that the two worst subjects for American students are civics
and American history. One NAEP survey found that only 7% of eighth graders (children aged
13-14) could describe the three branches of government.
On a recent trip to the United States, I was eating cereal for breakfast and found that the whole of
the reverse side of the cereal packet was devoted to a short explanation of the executive,
legislative and judicial branches of the American government. I find it hard to imagine that many
democratic nations would feel it necessary to explain such a subject in such a format.

 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
To understand any country's political system, it is helpful to know something of the
history of the nation and the background to the creation of the (latest) constitution. But this is a
fundamental necessity in the case of the American political system. This is because the
Constitution of the United States is so different from those of other nations and because that
Constitution is, in all material respects, the same document as it was over two centuries ago.

33 | P a g e
There were four main factors in the minds of the 'founding fathers' who drafted the US
Constitution:
1. The United States had just fought and won a bloody War of Independence from Britain
and it was determined to create a political system that was totally different from the
British monarchical system in which all power ultimately resided in a hereditary King
(George III at the time) or Queen. Therefore the new constitution deliberately spread
power between the three arms of government - executive, legislature and judiciary - and
ensured that each arm was able to limit the exercise of power by the other arms.
2. The United States was already a large country with problems of communications and a
population of varied background and education. Therefore, for all the intentions to be a
new democracy, it was seen as important to limit the influence of swings in public
opinion. So the election of the president was placed in the hands of an Electoral College,
rather than the subject of direct election, and the terms of office of the president and the
two chambers of the legislature were all set at different lengths.
3. The United States was the creation of 13 individual states, each of which valued its
traditions and powers, and so the overarching federal government was deliberately
limited in its powers compared to the position of the central government in other nations.
Arguably the later Civil War was about states' rights more than it was about slavery and
there is still a real tension today between the states and federal government.
4. The original 13 states of the USA were of very different size in terms of population and
from the beginning there was a determination by the smaller states that political power
should not be excessively in the hands of the larger states. Therefore the Constitution is
built on a 'Great Compromise' between the Virginia plan (representation by population)
and the New Jsersey plan (equal representation for all states) which resulted in the House
of Representatives being constructed on the basis of population and the Senate being
composed of an equal number of representatives regardless of population. This is why
today six states have only one member in the House of Representatives but two members
in the Senate.
Whatever the 'founding fathers' intended, the sheer longevity of the Constitution and the
profound changes in America since its drafting means that today the balance of power is not
necessarily what the drafters of the Constitution had in mind. So originally the legislature was

34 | P a g e
seen as the most powerful arm of government (it is described first in the Constitution) but, over
time, both the Presidency (starting with the time of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War) and the
Supreme Court (especially on social issues like desegregation, marriage and abortion) have
assumed more power.

 THE CONSTITUTION
Unlike Britain but like most nation states, the American political system is clearly
defined by basic documents. The Declaration of Independence of 1776 and the Constitution of
1789 form the foundations of the United States federal government. The Declaration of
Independence establishes the United States as an independent political entity, while the
Constitution creates the basic structure of the federal government. Both documents are on display
in the National Archives and Records Administration Building in Washington, D.C. which I have
visited several times. Further information on the thinking expressed in the Constitution can be
found in the Federalist Papers which are a series of 85 articles and essays published in 1787-
1788 promoting the ratification of the Constitution.
The United States Constitution is the shortest written constitution in the world with just seven
articles and 27 amendments. As well as its brevity, the US Constitution is notable for being a
remarkably stable document. The first 10 amendments were all carried in 1789 - the same year as
the original constitution - and are collectively known as the Bill of Rights. If one accepts that
these first 10 amendments were in effect part of the original constitutional settlement, there have
only been 17 amendments in over 200 years (the last substantive one - reduction of the voting
age to 18 - in 1971).
One of the major reasons for this relative immutability is that - quite deliberately on the part of
its drafters - the Constitution is a very difficult instrument to change. First, a proposed
amendment has to secure a two-thirds vote of members present in both houses of Congress. Then
three-quarters of the state legislatures have to ratify the proposed change (this stage may or may
not be governed by a specific time limit).
At the heart of the US Constitution is the principle known as 'separation of powers', a term
coined by the French political, enlightenment thinker Montesquieu. This means that power is
spread between three institutions of the state - the executive (President & Cabinet), the
legislature (House of Representatives & Senate) and the judiciary (Supreme Court & federal

35 | P a g e
circuits) - and no one institution has too much power and no individual can be a member of more
than one institution.
This principle is also known as 'checks and balances', since each of the three branches of the
state has some authority to act on its own, some authority to regulate the other two branches, and
has some of its own authority, in turn, regulated by the other branches.
Not only is power spread between the different branches; the members of those branches are
deliberately granted by the Constitution different terms of office which is a further brake on
rapid political change. So the President has a term of four years, while members of the Senate
serve for six years and members of the House of Representatives serve for two years. Members
of the Supreme Court effectively serve for life.
The great benefit of this system is that power is spread and counter-balanced and the 'founding
fathers' - the 55 delegates who drafted the Constitution - clearly wished to create a political
system which was in sharp contrast to, and much more democratic than, the monarchical system
then in force in Britain. The great weakness of the system is that it makes government slow,
complicated and legalistic which is a particular disadvantage in a world - unlike that of 1776 - in
which political and economic developments are fast-moving and the USA is a - indeed the -
super power.
Since the Constitution is so short, so old and so difficult to change, for it to be meaningful to
contemporary society it requires interpretation by the courts and ultimately it is the Supreme
Court which determines what the Constitution means. There are very different approaches to the
interpretation of the Constitution with the two main strands of thought being known
as originalism and the Living Constitution.
Originalism is a principle of interpretation that tries to discover the original meaning or intent of
the constitution. It is based on the principle that the judiciary is not supposed to create, amend or
repeal laws (which is the realm of the legislative branch) but only to uphold them. This approach
tends to be supported by conservatives.
Living Constitution is a concept which claims that the Constitution has a dynamic meaning and
that contemporary society should be taken into account when interpreting key constitutional
phrases. Instead of seeking to divine the views of the drafters of the document, it claims that they
deliberately wrote the Constitution in broad terms so that it would remain flexible. This approach
tends to be supported by liberals.

36 | P a g e
 THE PRESIDENCY
What is the Presidency?
The President is the head of the executive branch of the federal government of the United
States. He - so far, the position has always been held by a man - is both the head of state and the
head of government, as well as the military commander-in-chief and chief diplomat. He presides
over the executive branch of the government, a vast organization numbering about four million
people, including one million active-duty military personnel.
Who is eligible to become a President?
To be President, one has to:
 be a natural-born citizen of the United States
 be at least 35 years old
 have lived in the US for at least 14 years
How is a President chosen?
The President is elected for a fixed term of four years and may serve a maximum of two
terms. Originally there was no constitutional limit on the number of terms that a President could
serve in office and the first President George Washington set the precedent of serving simply two
terms. Following the election of Franklin D Roosevelt to a record four terms, it was decided to
limit terms to two and the relevant constitutional change - the 22nd Amendment - was enacted in
1951.
Elections are always held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November to coincide
with Congressional elections.
The President is not elected directly by the voters but by an Electoral College representing each
state on the basis of a combination of the number of members in the Senate (two for each state
regardless of size) and the number of members in the House of Representatives (roughly
proportional to population). The states with the largest number of votes are California (55),
Texas (38) and New York (29). The states with the smallest number of votes - there are six of
them - have only three votes. The District of Columbia, which has no voting representation in
Congress, has three Electoral College votes. In effect, therefore, the Presidential election is not
one election but 51.
The total Electoral College vote is 538. This means that, to become President, a candidate has to
win at least 270 electoral votes. The voting system awards the Electoral College votes from each

37 | P a g e
state to delegates committed to vote for a certain candidate in a "winner take all" system, with
the exception of Maine and Nebraska (which award their Electoral College votes according to
Congressional Districts rather than for the state as a whole). In practice, most states are firmly
Democrat - for instance, California and New York - or firmly Republican - for instance, Texas
and Tennessee. Therefore, candidates concentrate their appearances and resources on the so-
called "battleground states", those that might go to either party. The three largest battleground or
swing states are Florida (29 votes), Pennsylvania (20) and Ohio (18). Others are Virginia (13),
Wisconsin (10), Colorado (9), Iowa (6) and Nevada (6).
This system of election means that a candidate can win the largest number of votes nationwide
but fail to win the largest number of votes in the Electoral College and therefore fail to become
President. Indeed, in practice, this has happened three times in US history: 1876, 1888, and 2000.
If this seems strange (at least to non-Americans), the explanation is that the 'founding fathers'
who drafted the American Constitution did not wish to give too much power to the people and so
devised a system that gives the ultimate power of electing the President to members of the
Electoral College. The same Constitution, however, enables each state to determine how its
members in the Electoral College are chosen and since the 1820s states have chosen their
electors by a direct vote of the people. The United States is the only example in the world of an
indirectly elected executive president.
What are the powers of the President?
 Within the executive branch, the President has broad constitutional powers to manage
national affairs and the workings of the federal government and he may issue executive
orders to affect internal policies. The use of executive orders has varied enormously
between presidents and is often a controversial matter since, in effect, it is bypassing the
Congress to achieve what would otherwise require legislation. Very few such orders were
issued until the time of Abraham Lincoln (the Emancipation Declaration was such an
order); activist President Theodore Roosevelt issued no less than 1,006; but Barack
Obama has made very sparing use of this power, notably to reform immigration law.
 The President has the power to recommend measures to Congress and may sign or veto
legislation passed by Congress. The Congress may override a presidential veto but only
by a two-thirds majority in each house.

38 | P a g e
  The President has the authority to appoint Cabinet members, Supreme Court justices.
federal judges, and ambassadors but only with the ‘advice and consent' of the Senate
which can be problematic especially when the Senate is controlled by a different political
party to that of the President.
 The President has the power to pardon criminals convicted of offences against the federal
government and most controversially President Gerald Ford used this power to pardon his
predecessor Richard Nixon.
 The President has the power to make treaties with the 'advice and consent' of the Senate.
 The President can declare war for 60 days but then has to have the approval of Congress
(although it can be difficult to withdraw troops once they have been committed).
Since 1939, there has been an Executive Office of the President (EOP) which has consistently
and considerably expanded in size and power. Today it consists of some 1,600 staff and costs
some $300M a year.
Teddy Roosevelt introduced the notion of 'the bully pulpit': the ability of the President to use his
standing to influence public opinion. Over time, the changing nature of media - newspapers,
radio, television, the Internet, social media - has presented a variety of instruments for the White
House to use to 'push' Congress or other political players.

 PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES
An important feature of the American political system is that the two major parties - the
Democrats and the Republicans - hold a system of primaries to determine who will be their
candidate in the general election. These primaries are particularly important when it comes to the
four-yearly Presidential election.
The key point to understand is that formally the Democratic and Republican Parties choose their
Presidential candidate through a vote of delegates at a national convention and not directly
through the various ballots in the various primaries.
Each party allocates delegates to each state, roughly proportionate to its size in numbers of
citizens. There are two types of delegates. The normal delegates are those who are chosen by
voters to back a specific candidate. Technically these delegates are pledged to that candidate but
there are circumstances in which they can switch their support. Then there are what the
Democrats call super delegates and the Republicans call unpledged delegates who are notable

39 | P a g e
figures in the party such as former presidents, state governors and members of the two houses of
Congress who are free to back whichever candidate they wish. They can do this any time they
like. They can also change their mind before the convention.
For the 2008 convention, the Democrats had a total of 4,049 delegates including super delegates
and so, to win the nomination, the Democratic front runner needed a total of 2,025 delegates. For
the 2012 convention, the Republicans had a total of 2,226 delegates including unpledged
delegates and so, to win the nomination, the Republican front runner needed a total of 1,114
delegates.
How the normal delegates are chosen is a matter for each party in each of the 50 states.
Some hold caucuses which require voters to turn up to discussions on the merits of the
contending candidates. Most hold conventional-style elections. In the case of the Democrats in
Texas, there is both a caucus and an election. Another variation is that, in some cases, one can
only take part in a caucus or election if one is registered for that political party but, in other
cases, anyone in the state - including those registered for another party or none - can vote.
How normal delegates are then allocated to the different candidates is also a matter for each
party in each of the 50 states. In most of the Republican contests (but not all), the candidate who
wins the most votes in that state's primary wins all the party's delegates for that state - a system
known as 'winner takes all'. In all the Democrat contests, delegates are allocated roughly
proportional to the vote secured by the candidate subject to a minimum performance. The
allocation process varies, but typically it is based on the performance of the candidate in
particular Congressional districts.
In practice, the parties have clearly decided on a candidate well before the holding of the
convention which becomes more a coronation than a selection.
However, it is not unknown for a party to reach the convention with no clear choice. A
deadlocked convention happens when no candidate arrives with a majority of votes. A second
ballot takes place and delegates are then free to vote for whomever they want. This could include
the other candidates or even people who are not candidates. Delegates keep on voting until
someone wins a majority. The most famous deadlocked convention - it involved the Democrats -
took place in 1924. It required 103 ballots to chose the Democratic candidate - who then lost to
the Republican candidate in the general election.

40 | P a g e
 THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
What is the House of Representatives?
The House of Representatives is the lower chamber in the bicameral legislature known
collectively as Congress. The founders of the United States intended the House to be the
politically dominant entity in the federal system and, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the
House served as the primary forum for political debate. However, subsequently the Senate has
been the dominant body.
Who is eligible to become a member of the House?
To be a member of the House, one has to:
 be at least 25 years old
 have been a US citizen for at least seven years
 live in the state which one represents (but not the actual district)
How is a member of the House chosen?
The House consists of 435 members (set in 1911), each of whom represents a
congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the
states by population according to each decennial (every 10 years) census. Typically a House
constituency would represent around 700,000 people.
Members of the House are elected by first-past-the-post voting in every state except Louisiana
and Washington, which have run-offs if no candidate secures more than 50% of the vote.
Elections are always held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even
numbered years. Voting in congressional elections - especially to the House - is generally much
lower than levels in other liberal democracies. In a year when there is a Presidential election,
turnout is typically around 50%; in years when there is no Presidential election (known as mid-
terms), it usually falls to around one third of the electorate.
In the event that a member of the House of Representatives dies or resigns before the end of the
two-year term, a special election is held to fill the vacancy.

41 | P a g e
The House has four non-voting delegates from the District of Columbia (1971), Guam (1972) the
Virgin Islands (1976) and American Samoa (1981) and one resident commissioner for Puerto
Rico (1976), bringing the total formal membership to 440.

What are the powers of the House?

 The House of Representatives is one of the two chambers that can initiate and pass
legislation, although to become law any legislation has to be approved by the Senate as
well.
 Each chamber of Congress has particular exclusive powers. The House must introduce
any bills for the purpose of raising revenue.
 If the Electoral College is tied, the choice of President is made by the House of
Representatives.
 The House has a key role in any impeachment proceedings against the President or Vice-
President. It lays the charges which are then passed to the Senate for a trial.
 The House (and the Senate) have the power to declare war - although the last time this
happened was in 1941.

 THE SENATE
What is the Senate?
The Senate is the upper chamber in the bicameral legislature known collectively as
Congress. The original intention of the authors of the US Constitution was that the Senate should
be a regulatory group, less politically dominant than the House. However, since the mid 19th
century, the Senate has been the dominant chamber and indeed today it is perhaps the most
powerful upper house of any legislative body in the world.
Who is eligible to become a member of the Senate?
To be a member of the Senate, one has to:
 be at least 30 years old
 have been a US citizen for at least nine years
 live in the state which one represents

42 | P a g e
How is a member of the Senate chosen?
The Senate consists of 100 members, each of whom represents a state and serves for a
six-year term (one third of the Senate stands for election every two years).
Each state has two Senators, regardless of population, and, since there are 50 states, then there
are 100 senators. This equality of Senate seats between states has the effect of producing huge
variations in constituency population (the two senators from Wyoming represent less than half a
million electors, while the two senators from California represent 34M people) with gross over-
representation of the smaller states and serious under-representation of racial and ethnic
minorities.
For a long time, Senators were elected by the individual state legislatures. However, since the
17th Amendment to the Constitution in 1913, members of the Senate are elected by first-past-
the-post voting in every state except Louisiana and Washington, which have run-offs. Elections
are always held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even numbered years.
Each Senator is known as the senior or junior Senator for his or her state, based on length of
service.
In the event that a member of the Senate dies or resigns before the end of the six-year term, a
special election is not normally held at that time (this is the case for 46 states). Instead the
Governor of the state that the Senator represented nominates someone to serve until the next set
of Congressional elections when the special election is held to fill the vacancy.
What are the powers of the Senate?
 The Senate is one of the two chambers that can initiate and pass legislation, although to
become law any legislation has to be approved by the House of Representatives as well.
 Each chamber of Congress has particular exclusive powers. The Senate must give 'advice
and consent' to many important Presidential appointments including Cabinet members,
Supreme Court justices. federal judges, and ambassadors.
 The Senate has the responsibility of ratifying treaties.
 If the Electoral College is tied, the choice of Vice-President is made by the Senate.
 The Senate has a key role in any impeachment proceedings against the President or Vice-
President. Once the House of Representatives has laid the charges, the Senate then
conducts a trial on these charges. The Supreme Court Chief Justice presides over such a
trial. A two-thirds majority of the Senate is required to uphold impeachment charges.

43 | P a g e
  The Senate (and the House) have the power to declare war - although the last time this
happened was in 1941.

 THE SUPREME COURT

What is the Supreme Court?
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land. Originally it had five members but
over time this number has increased. Since 1869, it has consisted of nine Justices: the Chief
Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices. They have equal weight when voting on
a case and the Chief Justice has no casting vote or power to instruct colleagues. Decisions are
made by a simple majority.
Below the Supreme Court, there is a system of Courts of Appeal, and, below these courts, there
are District Courts. Together, these three levels of courts represent the federal judicial system.
Who is eligible to become a member of the Court?
The Constitution does not specify qualifications for Justices such as age, education,
profession, or native-born citizenship. A Justice does not have to be a lawyer or a law school
graduate, but all Justices have been trained in the law. Many of the 18th and 19th century
Justices studied law under a mentor because there were few law schools in the country.
The last Justice to be appointed who did not attend any law school was James F. Byrnes (1941-
1942). He did not graduate from high school and taught himself law, passing the bar at the age of
23.
All Supreme Court judges are appointed for life.
How is a member of the Court chosen?
The Justices are nominated by the President and confirmed with the 'advice and consent'
of the Senate. As federal judges, the Justices serve during "good behavior", meaning essentially
that they serve for life and can be removed only by resignation or by impeachment and
subsequent conviction.
Since the Supreme Court makes so many 'political' decisions and its members are appointed so
rarely, the appointment of Justices by the President is often a very charged and controversial

44 | P a g e
matter. Since Justices serve for life and therefore usually beyond the term of office of the
appointing President, such appointment are often regarded as an important part of any particular
President's legacy.

What are the powers of the Court?

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States. The court deals with matters
pertaining to the federal government, disputes between states, and interpretation of the
Constitution.
It can declare legislation or executive action made at any level of the government as
unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions.
However, the Supreme Court can only rule on a lower court decision so it cannot take the
initiative to consider a matter.
There are three ways that a matter can come to the Supreme Court:
1. A federal authority makes a decision that is challenged as unconstitutional which goes
straight to the Supreme Court which is not obliged to take it
2. A state makes a decision which someone believes is unconstitutional but the matter
would have to have previously been heard by a Federal Court of Appeal (there are 11
circuits covering the 50 states)
3. There is a conflict between states that needs to be resolved (if the two or more states are
in the same circuit, the matter would first have to go to the appropriate Federal Court of
Appeal)

 POLITICAL PARTIES & ELECTIONS

To an extent quite extraordinary in democratic countries, the American political system is
dominated by two political parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party (often known
as the 'Grand Old Party' or GOP). These are very old and very stable parties - the Democrats go
back to 1824 and the Republicans were founded in 1854.

45 | P a g e
In illustrations and promotional material, the Democratic Party is often represented as a donkey,
while the Republican Party is featured as an elephant. The origin of these symbols is the political
cartoonist Thomas Nast who came up with them in 1870 and 1874 respectively.
The main reason for the dominance of these two parties is that - like most other Anglo-Saxon
countries (notably Britain) - the electoral system is 'first past the post' or simple majority which,
combined with the large voter size of the constituencies in the House and (even more) the
Senate, ensures that effectively only two parties can play. The other key factor is the huge
influence of money in the American electoral system. Since effectively a candidate can spend
any amount he can raise (not allowed in many other countries) and since one can buy
broadcasting time (again not allowed in many countries), the US can only 'afford' two parties or,
to put it another way, candidates of any other party face a formidable financial barrier to entry.
Some people tend to view the division between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party
in the United States as the same as that between Labor and Conservative in Britain or between
Social Democrats and Christian Democrats in Germany. The comparison is valid in the sense
that, in each country, one political party is characterized as Centre-Left and the other as Centre-
Right or, to put it another way, one party is more economically interventionist and socially
radical than the other. However, the analogy has many weaknesses.
1. The Centre in American politics is considerably to the Right of the Centre in most European
states including Britain, Germany, France, Italy and (even more especially) the Scandinavian
countries. So, for instance, most members of the Conservative Party in the UK would support a
national health service, whereas many members of the Democratic Party in the US would not.
2. As a consequence of the enormous geographical size of the United States and the different
histories of the different states (exemplified by the Civil War), geography is a factor in
ideological positioning to a much greater extent than in other democratic countries. For instance,
a Northern Republican could be more liberal than a Southern Democrat. Conversely there is a
group of Democratic Congressmen that are fiscally very conservative - they are known as "blue
dog" Democrats or even DINO (Democrats In Name Only).
3. In the United States, divisions over social matters - such as abortion, capital punishment, same-
sex relationships and stem cell research - matter and follow party lines in a way which is not true
of most European countries. In Britain, for instance, these sort of issues would be regarded as
matters of personal conscience and would not feature prominently in election debates between
candidates and parties.

46 | P a g e
 4. In the USA, religion is a factor in politics in a way unique in western democracies. Candidates
openly proclaim their faith in a manner which would be regarded as bizarre elsewhere (even in a
Catholic country like France) and religious groupings - such as the Christian Coalition of
America exert a significant political influence in a manner which would be regarded as improper
in most European countries (Poland is an exception here).
5. In the United States, the 'whipping system' - that is the instructions to members of the House and
the Senate on how to vote - is not as strict or effective as it is in most European countries. As a
consequence, members of Congress are less constrained by party affiliation and freer to act
individually.
6. In the USA, political parties are much weaker institutions than they are in other democracies.
Between the selection of candidates, they are less active than their counterparts in other countries
and, during elections, they are less influential in campaigning, with individual politicians and
their campaigns having much more influence.
7. The cost of elections is much greater in the US than in other democracies which has the effects of
limiting the range of candidates, increasing the influence of corporate interests and pressure
groups, and enhancing the position of the incumbent office holder (especially in the winning of
primaries). As long ago as 1895, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee Mark
Hanna stated: "There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money, and I can't
remember what the second one is."
8. Whereas in other countries, voters shape the policies and select the candidates of a party by
joining it, in the USA voters register as a supporter of one of the major parties and then vote in
primary elections to determine who should be the party's candidate in the 'real' election.
One other oddity of the American party system is that, whereas in most countries of the world the colour
red is associated with the Left-wing party and the colour blue with the Right-wing party, in the United
States the reverse is the case. So the 'blue states' are those traditionally won by the Democrats, while the
'red states' are those normally controlled by the Republicans.
Two interesting features of American political elections are low turnout and the importance of
incumbency.
Traditionally turnout in US congressional elections is much lower than in other liberal
democracies especially those of Western Europe. When there is a presidential election, turnout is
only about half; when there is no presidential election, turnout is merely about one third. The
exception was the elections of 2008: the excitement of the candidacy of Barack Obama led to an
unusually high turnout of 63%, the highest since 1960 (the election of John F Kennedy).

47 | P a g e
While Congress as an institution is held in popular contempt, voters like their member of
Congress and indeed there is a phenomenon known as 'sophomore surge' whereby incumbents
tend to increase their share of the vote when they seek re-election. More generally most
incumbents win re-election for several reasons: they allocate time and resources to waging a
permanent re-election campaign; they can win "earmarks" which are appropriations of
government spending for projects in the constituency; and they find it easier than challengers to
raise money for election campaigns.

 THE FEDERAL SYSTEM

Understanding the federal nature of the United States is critical to appreciating the
complexities of the American political system.
Most political systems are created top-down. A national system of government is constructed and
a certain amount of power is released to lower levels of government. The unique history of the
United States means that, in this case, the political system was created bottom-up.
First, some 240 years ago, there were 13 autonomous states who, following the War of
Independence against the British, created a system of government in which the various states
somewhat reluctantly ceded power to the federal government. Around a century later, the
respective authority of the federal government and the individual states was an issue at the heart
of the Civil War when there was a bloody conflict over who had the right to determine whether
slavery was or was not permissible. With the exception of Switzerland, no other Western
democracy diffuses power to the same degree as America.
So today the powers of the federal government remain strictly limited by the Constitution - the
critical Tenth Amendment of 1791 - which leaves a great deal of authority to the individual
states.
Each state has an executive, a legislature and a judiciary.
The head of the executive is the Governor who is directly elected.
The legislature consists of a Senate and a House of Representatives (the exception is the state of
Nebraska which has a unicameral system).
The judiciary consists of a state system of courts.
The 50 states are divided into counties (parishes in Louisiana and boroughs in Alaska). Each
county has its court.

48 | P a g e
Although the Constitution prescribes precisely when Presidential and Congressional elections
will be held, the dates and times of state and local elections are determined by state governments.
Therefore there is a plethora of elections in the United States and, at almost all times, an election
is being held somewhere in the country. State and local elections, like federal elections, use the
'first past the post' system of election.
The debate about federalism in the US is far from over. There are those who argue for a stronger
role for the federal government and there are advocates of locating more power at the state level.
The recent rise of the electorally-successful Tea Party movement owes a good deal to the view
that the federal government has become too dominant, too intrusive and too profligate.
Meanwhile many states - especially those west of the Rockies - have what has been called "the
fourth arm of government": this is the ballot or referendum initiative. This enables a policy
question to be put to the electorate as a result of the collection of a certain number of signatures
or the decision of the state legislation. Over the last century, some 3,000 such initiatives have
been conducted - in some cases (such as California) with profound results.

 RECENT TRENDS
In all political systems, there is a disconnect between the formal arrangements, as set out
in the constitution and relevant laws, and the informal arrangements, as occurs in practice.
Arguably, in the United States this disconnect is sharper than in most other democratic systems
because:
 The US Constitution is an old one (late 18th century) whereas most countries have had
several constitutions with the current one typically being a 20th century creation.
 The US Constitution is relatively immutable so it is very difficult to change the
provisions to reflect the reforms that have come about over time from the pressure of
events.
 Since the US adopted its Constitution, the US has become the pre-eminent world
economic and political power which has brought about major changes in how the
Presidency operates, most especially in the international sphere.
What this means is that, in the last century and most especially since the end of the Second
World War, the reality of how the American political system operates has changed quite
fundamentally in terms which are not always evident from the terms of the Constitution (and

49 | P a g e
indeed some might argue are in some respects in contravention of the Constitution). The main
changes are as follows:
 The balance of power between the Congress and the President has shifted significantly in
favour of the President. This is evident in the domestic sphere through practices like
'impoundment' (when money is taken from the purpose intended by Congress and
allocated to another purpose favored by the President) and in the international sphere
through refusal to invoke the War Powers Resolution in spite of major military invasions.
Different terms for this accretion of power by the Presidency are "the unitary executive"
and "the imperial presidency".
 The impact of private funding of political campaigns and of lobbyists and special interest
groups in political decision making have increased considerably. Candidates raise their
own money for campaigns, there is effectively no limit on the money that can be spent in
such campaigns (thanks to what is called super Political Action Committees), and the
levels of expenditure - especially in the presidential primaries and election proper - have
risen astronomically. In the presidential race of 2012, both Barack Obama and Mitt
Romney spent over one billion dollars. Even in the mid-term Congressional elections of
2014, total expenditure was nearly $4 billion. All this has led to some observers
describing the American political system as a plutocracy, since it is effectively controlled
by private finance from big businesses, which expect certain policies and practices to
follow from the candidates they are funding, and big donors, who often expect
preferment such as an ambassadorship from a candidate elected as President.
 There has been a growth of what is called "pork barrel" politics through the use of
"earmarks". The term "pork barrel" refers to the appropriation of government spending
for projects that are intended primarily to benefit particular constituents, such as those in
marginal seats, or campaign contributors. Such appropriations are achieved through
"earmarks" which can be found both in legislation (also called "hard earmarks" or "hard
marks") and in the text of Congressional committee reports (also called "soft earmarks"
or "soft marks").
 The nature of political debate in the United States has become markedly more partisan
and bitter. The personal lifestyle as well as the political record of a candidate might well
be challenged and even the patriotism or religiosity of the candidate may be called into

50 | P a g e
 question. Whereas the politics of most European countries has become more consensual,
US domestic politics has become polarized and tribal. As a result, the political culture is
often more concerned with satisfying the demands of the political 'base' rather than
attempting to achieve a national consensus.
One final trend worth noting is the frequency of the same family to provide members of
Congress. Low polling in elections, the high cost of running for election, and the focus on the
individual more than the party all mean that a well-known name can work successfully for a
candidate. Everyone is familiar with the Kennedys, Clintons and Bushes in American politics
but, in 2014, there are no less than 37 members of Congress who have a relative who has served
in the legislature.

 A DIVIDED DEMOCRACY
Of course, all nation states are divided, especially in terms of power and wealth, but also
- to different extents - by gender, race, ethnicity, religion and other factors. Indeed the
constitution and institutions of a democratic society are deliberately intended to provide for the
expression and resolution of such divisions. However, it is often observed that the USA is an
especially divided democracy in at least three respects:
1. It is divided horizontally through the 'separation of powers', so that the executive, the
legislature and the judiciary are quite distinct in terms of both powers and personalities.
2. It is divided vertically through the federal system of government with the division of
powers between the federal government and the state governments a very important issue
that arguably was once the subject of a civil war.
3. It is divided politically through the sharp (and often bitter) differences of view on many
economic issues like tackling the recession and reforming health care and social issues
ranging from gun control to gay rights. Since 2009, such differences have been
highlighted by the presence of the first black President in the White House and the rapid
emergence of a Tea Party movement that is both virulently anti-Obama and anti-
mainstream Republicanism.
One of the most visible and dramatic illustrations of how the divisions in American politics
frustrate decision-making is the regular failure to agree a federal budget before the start of the
new financial period. This results in what is known as federal 'shutdown' when most federal

51 | P a g e
employees are sent home because they cannot be paid and many federal institutions therefore
close down. This is not an isolated occurrence: it has happened 18 times since 1976 (the last one
was in 2013).
A major role of the Congress is to pass legislation but the divided nature of American politics
has made this increasingly difficult and the Congress frequently exhibits legislative grid-lock.
Hillary Clinton - former First Lady, former Senator, and former Secretary of State - in her
memoir "Hard Choices" (2014) talks of "all the horse trading, arm-twisting, vote counting,
alternating appeals to principle and self-interest, and hard-ball politics that go into passing
major legislation".

 AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM
Reading this short essay, it will be evident to many (especially non-American) readers
that the United States is different from other democracies. This observation has given rise to the
notion of "American exceptionalism". This is an ill-defined term which has been used differently
at different times.
One important version of "American exceptionalism" revolves around the lack of a clear
ideological or class-based division between the two major political parties. The USA has never
had a credible socialist or anti-capitalist party; both the main parties are pro-capital and pro-
business and speak to the 'middle class'.
Other versions of the concept revolve around the alleged 'superiority' of the United States
because of its history, size, wealth and global dominance plus the 'sophistication' of its
constitution and power of its values such as individualism, innovation and entrepreneurship.
In perhaps its most extreme form, the concept has a religious dimension with the belief that God
has especially chosen or blessed the country.
Of course, it is easy to view the American political system as exceptional in negative terms such
as the unusual influence of race, religion and money as compared to other liberal democracies.
In truth, for all its special features, the American political system needs to be seen as one among
many models of democracy with its own strengths and weaknesses that need to be assessed in
comparison to those of other democracies.

52 | P a g e
 13. STRUCTURE OF USA GOVERNMENT
 Legislative Branch of the US Government
The Legislative branch of the US Government is the One that Makes the Laws. Congress is the
Main body of the Legislative Branch. This branch of government consists in the following parts:

The Congress         
 Senate House        
Architect of the Capitol      
United States Botanic Garden        
General Accounting Office        
Government Printing Office       
Library of Congress        
Congressional Budget Office       

53 | P a g e
 EXECUTIVE BRANCH
In August 2008, Barack was nominated by the Democratic party as their candidate to be
President of the United States. Barack selected long-time and well-respected U.S. Senator Joe
Biden as his running mate. 

The
    The Vice-president 
         Executive Office Of the President
 
 White House    Office Of Management andBudget
Office of the Vice President   Office Of National DrugControl Policy  
 Council Of Economic Advisers Office of Policy Development
Council Of Environmental Quality   Office of Science and Technology Policy
National Security Council Office of the US Trade-Representative      
  Office of  Administration   

54 | P a g e
   

 JUDICIAL BRANCH
The Judicial Branch Of the government is in charge of interpreting the Laws. This branch is
Made of courts and the main court is The US Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court Of United States

United States Court of Appeals
United States District Courts
Territorial Courts
United States Court Of International Trade
United States Court of Federal Claims
United States Court Of Appeals For the Armed Forces
United States Tax Court
United States Court Of Appeals For Veteran Claims
Administrative Office Of The  -United States Courts Federal Judicial Center
United States Sentencing  Commission

55 | P a g e
 14. CONCLUDING REMARKS
Corporate culture represents the collective values, beliefs and principles of organizational
members and is a product of such factors as history, product, market, technology, and strategy,
type of employees, management style, and national culture. Culture includes the organization's
vision, values, norms, systems, symbols, language, assumptions, beliefs, and habits. Ravasi and
Schultz (2006) wrote that organizational culture is a set of shared assumptions that guide what
happens in organizations by defining appropriate behavior for various situations 
Otherwise, Americans are losing faith in the American political system as people around the
world are questioning the continued pre-eminence of the United States as the dominant global
power
Since 2004, a clear majority of Americans have told Gallup that they are dissatisfied with the
way they are governed. The numbers of those has several times climbed above 80% which is
higher than at the time of the Watergate scandal. This disillusionment is reflected in the falling
number of Americans who even bother to vote. In "The World In 2015", John Micklethwait,
editor-in-chief of "The Economist", wrote: "In America, there is nothing particularly democratic
about the ascent of money politics, the arcane blocking procedures of Congress or the
gerrymandering of district boundaries. Indeed they are all reminiscent of the rotton boroughs of
18th century England that infuriated the Founding Fathers."

56 | P a g e
 15. REFERENCES
1. Dhaka University Political Science Students Notes.
2. The Federalist Papers.
3. The Residence.
4. Collision 2012.
5. United States Culture.
6. www.tamu.edu/faculty/choudhury/culture.html
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture
8. http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/corporate-culture
9. http://www.livescience.com/28945-american-culture.html
10. http://www.usconsulate.org.hk/pas/kids/sym_flag.htm
11. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/467746/political-system
12. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/topic-guides/political-systems
13. http://www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/Americanpoliticalsystem.html
14. http://www.theusgov.com/

57 | P a g e