Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Politics of The United States
Politics of The United States
United States
Politics and government of the United States Federal government[show] Legislature[show] Presidency[show] Judiciary[show] Elections[show] Political Parties[show] Subdivisions[show] Other countries Atlas US Government Portal
view talk edit
Politics of the United States takes place in the framework of a presidential, federal republic where the President of the United States (the head of state and head of government), United States Congress, and judiciary share federal powers, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments. Federal and state elections generally take place within the lines of a two-party system, although this is not enshrined in law. The executive branch is headed by the President and is independent of the legislature. Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Judicial power is exercised by the judicial branch (or judiciary), composed of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts. The judiciary's function is to interpret the United States Constitution as well as federal laws and regulations. This includes resolving disputes between the executive and legislative branches. The federal government of the United States was established by the Constitution. American politics has been dominated by two parties, the Democratic
Party and the Republican Party, since the American Civil War, although other parties have also existed. Major differences between the political system of the United States and that of most other developed democracies are the power of the Senate as the upper house of the legislature, the wide scope of power of the Supreme Court, the separation of powers between the legislature and the executive government, and the dominance of the two main parties the United States being one of the world's developed democracies in which third parties have the least political influence.
Contents
[hide]
1 Federal, state and local governments o 1.1 State government o 1.2 Local government o 1.3 County government o 1.4 Town and village government 2 Suffrage 3 Campaign finance 4 Political culture 5 Political parties and elections o 5.1 Political parties o 5.2 Elections o 5.3 Organization of American political parties 6 Political pressure groups o 6.1 General developments o 6.2 Development of the two-party system in the United States o 6.3 Political spectrum of the two major parties 7 See also 8 Bibliography 9 References 10 External links
city departments and other officials, sometimes with the approval of the council. He or she has the power of veto over ordinances the laws of the city and frequently is responsible for preparing the city's budget. The council passes city ordinances, sets the tax rate on property, and apportions money among the various city departments. As cities have grown, council seats have usually come to represent more than a single neighborhood. The Commission. This combines both the legislative and executive functions in one group of officials, usually three or more in number, elected city-wide. Each commissioner supervises the work of one or more city departments. One is named chairperson of the body and is often called the mayor, although his or her power is equivalent to that of the other commissioners. Council-Manager. The city manager is a response to the increasing complexity of urban problems, which require management expertise not often possessed by elected public officials. The answer has been to entrust most of the executive powers, including law enforcement and provision of services, to a highly trained and experienced professional city manager. The city manager plan has been adopted by a large number of cities. Under this plan, a small, elected council makes the city ordinances and sets policy, but hires a paid administrator, also called a city manager, to carry out its decisions. The manager draws up the city budget and supervises most of the departments. Usually, there is no set term; the manager serves as long as the council is satisfied with his or her work.
Thousands of municipal jurisdictions are too small to qualify as city governments. These are chartered as towns and villages and deal with such strictly local needs as paving and lighting the streets; ensuring a water supply; providing police and fire protection; waste management; and, in cooperation with the state and county, directly administering the local school system. Note that in many states the term "town" does not have any specific meaningit is simply an informal term applied to populated places (both incorporated and unincorporated municipalities). And in some states, the term town is equivalent to how civil townships are used in other states. The government is usually entrusted to an elected board or council, which may be known by a variety of names: town or village council, board of selectmen, board of supervisors, board of commissioners. The board may have a chairperson or president who functions as chief executive officer, or there may be an elected mayor. Governmental employees may include a clerk, treasurer, police and fire officers, and health and welfare officers. One unique aspect of local government, found mostly in the New England region of the United States, is the town meeting. Once a year sometimes more often if needed the registered voters of the town meet in open session to elect officers, debate local issues, and pass laws for operating the government. As a body, they decide on road construction and repair, construction of public buildings and facilities, tax rates, and the town budget. The town meeting, which has existed for more than three centuries in some places, is often cited as the purest form of direct democracy, in which the governmental power is not delegated, but is exercised directly and regularly by all the people.
[edit] Suffrage
Main article: Voting rights in the United States Suffrage is nearly universal for citizens 18 years of age and older. All 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, contribute to the electoral vote for President. However, the District, and other U.S. holdings like Puerto Rico and Guam, lack the states' representation in Congress. These constituencies do not have the right to choose any political figure outside their respective areas. Each commonwealth, territory, or district can only elect a non-voting delegate to serve in the House of Representatives. Voting rights are sometimes restricted as a result of felony conviction, but such laws vary widely by state. Election of the president is an indirect suffrage: Voters vote for electors, who in turn vote for President. In theory, these electors vote as they please, but in modern practice they do not vote against the wishes of their constituencies (though they have abstained from voting in protest).
Main article: Campaign finance in the United States Successful participation, especially in federal elections, requires large amounts of money, especially for television advertising[citation needed]. This money is very difficult to raise by appeals to a mass base[citation needed], although in the 2008 election, candidates from both parties had success with raising money from citizens over the Internet.[citation needed] , as had Howard Dean with his Internet appeals. Both parties generally depend on wealthy donors and organizations - traditionally the Democrats depended on donations from organized labor while the Republicans relied on business donations[citation needed]. Since 1984, however, the Democrats' business donations have surpassed those from labor organizations[citation needed]. This dependency on donors is controversial, and has led to laws limiting spending on political campaigns being enacted (see campaign finance reform). Opponents of campaign finance laws cite the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, and challenge campaign finance laws on the grounds that they attempt to circumvent the people's constitutionally-guaranteed rights. Even when laws are upheld, the complication of compliance with the First Amendment requires careful and cautious drafting of legislation, leading to laws that are still fairly limited in scope, especially in comparison to those of other countries such as the United Kingdom, France or Canada.
Democracy: The government is answerable to citizens, who may change it through elections. Equality: The laws should attach no special privilege to any citizen (that is, citizens should be equal before the law). Freedom of Religion, separation of Church and State: The government's power in matters of religion are limited to prevent abuse of power. Freedom of Speech: Individuals and political parties debate how this ideology applies to particular circumstances, and may disagree openly with any of it.
At the time of the United States' founding, the economy was predominantly one of agriculture and small private businesses, and state governments left welfare issues to private or local initiative. As in the UK and other industrialized countries, laissez-faire ideology was largely discredited during the Great Depression. Between the 1930s and 1970s fiscal policy was characterized by the Keynesian consensus, a time during which modern American liberalism dominated economic policy virtually unchallenged.[2][3] Since the late 1970s and early 1980s, however, laissez-faire ideology has once more become a powerful force in American politics.[4] While the American welfare state expanded more than threefold after WWII, it has been at 20% of GDP since the late 1970s.[5][6] Today, modern American liberalism, and modern American conservatism are engaged in a continuous political battle, characterized by what the Economist describes as "greater divisiveness [and] close, but bitterly fought elections."[7]
Prior to World War II the United States pursued a policy of isolationism in foreign affairs by not taking sides in conflicts between foreign powers. The country abandoned this policy when it became a superpower, and the country mostly supports internationalism. The ideology of the incumbent President and the President's advisers largely determines the government's attitude in foreign affairs.
Each of these two parties shares a degree of national attention by attaining the mathematical possibility of its nominee becoming President of the United Statesi.e., having ballot access for its presidential candidate in states whose collective total is at least half of the Electoral College votes.
[edit] Elections
For other political parties see List of political parties in the United States. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in the United States.
committees do not have the power to direct the activities of individual members of the party. When a party controls the White House, the President is party leader and controls the national committee. Otherwise the leadership is diffuse. Both parties also have separate campaign committees which work to elect candidates at a specific level. The most significant of these are the Hill committees, which work to elect candidates to each house of Congress. State parties exist in all fifty states, though their structures differ according to state law, as well as party rules at both the national and the state level.
Many of America's Founding Fathers hated the thought of political parties. They were sure quarreling factions would be more interested in contending with each other than in working for the common good. They wanted individual citizens to vote for individual candidates, without the interference of organized groups but this was not to be. By the 1790s, different views of the new country's proper course had already developed, and those who held these opposing views tried to win support for their cause by banding together. The followers of Alexander Hamilton, the Hamiltonian faction, took up the name "Federalist"; they favored a strong central government that would support the interests of commerce and industry. The followers of Thomas Jefferson, the Jeffersonians and then the "Anti-Federalists," took up the name "Democratic-Republicans" they preferred a decentralized agrarian republic in which the federal government had limited power. By 1828, the Federalists had disappeared as an organization, replaced by the Whigs, brought to life in opposition to the election that year of President Andrew Jackson. Jackson's presidency split the DemocraticRepublican party: Jacksonians became the Democratic Party and those following the leadership of John Quincy Adams became the "National Republicans." The two-party system, still in existence today, was born. (Note: The National Republicans of John Quincy Adams is not the same party as today's Republican Party.) In the 1850s, the issue of slavery took center stage, with disagreement in particular over the question of whether or not slavery should be permitted in the country's new territories in the West. The Whig Party straddled the issue and sank to its death after the overwhelming electoral defeat by Franklin Pierce in Presidential Election of 1852. Ex Whigs often joined the new Know Nothing Party or the Republican Party. While the Know Nothing party was short lived, it was the Republicans that would survive the intense politics leading up to the Civil War. The primary Republican policy was that slavery be excluded from all the territories. Just six years later, this new party captured the presidency when Abraham Lincoln won the election of 1860. By then, parties were well established as the country's dominant political organizations, and party allegiance had become an important part of most people's consciousness. Party loyalty was passed from fathers to sons, and party activities including spectacular campaign events, complete with uniformed marching groups and torchlight parades were a part of the social life of many communities. By the 1920s, however, this boisterous folksiness had diminished. Municipal reforms, civil service reform, corrupt practices acts, and presidential primaries to replace the power of politicians at national conventions had all helped to clean up politics.
Since the 1790s the country has been run by two major parties. Since the Civil War, they have been the Republican and Democratic parties. Many minor or third political parties appear from time to time. They tend to serve a means to advocate policies that eventually are adopted by the two major political parties, e.g., parties such as the
Socialist Party, the Farmer Labor Party and the Populist Party for a few years had considerable local strength, then faded away. Most officials in America are elected from single-member districts and win office by beating out their opponents in a system for determining winners called first-past-thepostthe one who gets the plurality wins, (which is not the same thing as actually getting a majority of votes). This encourages the two-party system; see Duverger's law. Another critical factor has been ballot access law. Originally voters went to the polls and publicly stated which candidate they supported. Later on, this developed into a process whereby each political party would create its own ballot and thus the voter would put the party's ballot into the voting box. In the late nineteenth century, states began to adopt the Australian Secret Ballot Method, and it eventually became the national standard. The secret ballot method ensured that the privacy of voters would be protected (hence government jobs could no longer be awarded to loyal voters) and each state would be responsible for creating one official ballot. The fact that state legislatures were dominated by Democrats and Republicans provided these parties an opportunity to pass discriminatory laws against minor political parties, yet such laws did not start to arise until the first Red Scare that hit America after World War I. State legislatures began to enact tough laws that made it harder for minor political parties to run candidates for office by requiring a high number of petition signatures from citizens and decreasing the length of time that such a petition could legally be circulated. Another factor is the parliamentary system. Third parties thrive under the parliamentary system in which governing coalitions are formed after elections. The United States is not a parliamentary system, and indeed, in the United States, it could be said that coalitions are formed before elections under the umbrella of party organizations. It should also be noted that while the overwhelming majority of elected officials do identify with a political party, the political parties of the United States are much more individualistic than in other political systems (i.e. in a parliamentary system). More often than not, party members will "toe the line" and support their party's policies, but it is important to note that they are free to vote against their own party and vote with the opposition ("cross the aisle") if a particular policy is counter to the priorities and interests of their constituents. "In America the same political labelsDemocratic and Republicancover virtually all public officeholders, and therefore most voters are everywhere mobilized in the name of these two parties," says Nelson W. Polsby, professor of political science, in the book New Federalist Papers: Essays in Defense of the Constitution. "Yet Democrats and Republicans are not everywhere the same. Variationssometimes subtle, sometimes blatantin the 50 political cultures of the states yield considerable differences overall in what it means to be, or to vote, Democratic or Republican. These differences suggest that one may be justified in referring to the American twoparty system as masking something more like a hundred-party system."
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009) During the 20th century the overall political philosophy of both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party underwent a dramatic shift from their earlier philosophies. From the 1860s to the 1950s the Republican Party was considered to be the more classically liberal of the two major parties and the Democratic Party the more classically conservative/populist of the two. This changed a great deal with the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose New Deal included the founding of Social Security as well as a variety of other federal services and public works projects. Roosevelt's success in the twin crises of the Depression and World War II led to a sort of polarization in national politics, centered around him; this combined with his increasingly liberal policies to turn FDR's Democrats to the left and the Republican Party further rightward. During the 1950s and the early 1960s both parties essentially expressed a more centrist approach to politics on the national level and had their liberal, moderate, and conservative wings influential within both parties. From the early 1960s, the conservative wing became more dominant in the Republican Party, and the liberal wing became more dominant in the Democratic Party. The 1964 presidential election heralded the rise of the conservative wing among Republicans. The liberal and conservative wings within the Democratic Party were competitive until 1972, when George McGovern's candidacy marked the triumph of the liberal wing. This similarly happened in the Republican Party with the candidacy and later landslide election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, which marked the triumph of the conservative wing. By the 1980 election, each major party had largely become identified by its dominant political orientation. Although strong showings in the 1990s by reformist independent Ross Perot pushed the major parties to put forth more centrist presidential candidates like Bill Clinton and Bob Dole, polarization in the congress was cemented by the Republican takeover of 1994. Liberals within the Republican Party and conservatives within the Democratic Party and the Democratic Leadership Council neoliberals have typically fulfilled the roles of so-called political mavericks, radical centrists, or brokers of compromise between the two major parties. They have also helped their respective parties gain in certain regions that might not ordinarily elect a member of that party; the Republican Party has used this approach with centrist Republicans such as Rudy Giuliani, George Pataki, Richard Riordan and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The 2006 elections sent many centrist or conservative Democrats to state and federal legislatures including several, notably in Kansas and Montana, who switched parties.