GOVERMENT

AMERICAN AND BRITISH CULTURE

&
POLITICS
In the USA
A-chilling presentation
 presenting

The Organization The Election Free Individual

Big Government The Controversy

over Entitlements
 presenting

Special Interest Groups The New Individualism

Red States vs. Blue States Finding the Way

Forward
 The Organization
of the American Government
Nguyễn Hiền Thảo
Operation: The
Congress and the president
are the most powerful. Organization
The Constitution balances
the powers of legislative
3 branches:
and executive branches
Legislative branch
The Senate takes care of Executive Branch
foreign treaties and military Judicial branch
actions.
Datesman, M., Crandall, J. and Kearny, E., 2014. American Ways. 4th ed.
The Process
The president the bill becomes
agrees law

both houses of 2/3 of the House + Senate

The president
Congress agreed vote yes
disagrees

no action The Congress calls off

 AMERICAN AND BRITISH CULTURE
The Bill of Rights
protect specific individual rights and
freedoms from government
interference

someone accused of a crime must be

charged with the crime and is presumed
A-chilling presentation

innocent until proven guilty.

National Archives. 2022. The Bill of Rights: A Transcription.

 AMERICAN AND BRITISH CULTURE
The Election of the
President and the Congress
A-chilling presentation

Nguyễn Trung Kiên

 AMERICAN AND BRITISH CULTURE
The Election

The president, the representatives, and

the senators are all chosen by the
American citizens in elections.

The president and both houses of

Congress are all chosen in separate
elections.
BBC video
THE IDEAL OF THE
FREE INDIVIDUAL
3 Periods:
late 1700s
Before the Civil War (1860s)
the Great Depression (1930s)

The prevailing view of Americans was that the

government should not interfere in business.
 Nguyễn Ngọc Anh MAY 25, 2022

The Development of
Big Government
A-CHILLING PRESENTATION
What is
Big Government?
The government that is regarded as
infringing upon the rights of individual
citizens because of its extensive
bureaucracy and intrusive regulations and
policies.

-> become the problem

REPUBLICAN PARTY

DEMOCRATIC PARTY
economic crisis of the 1930s

economic downturn

weakening of the American people's ideals of

individual freedom

-> enhancing the role of government

 The Controversy over
Entitlements

economic security provided by the government will

weaken self-reliance

people ask the government to provide social welfare

A-chilling presentation

entitlements now take 1/3 of the federal budget

 AMERICAN AND BRITISH CULTURE
The role of
Special Interest Groups
Nguyễn Trang Nhung
A-chilling presentation
 1. Definition

Special interest group, lobbying group,

pressure groups

Formed by Americans who have the same

interests

Objective: Influence the action of the

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government
 2. An example

The NRA: The special interest group of

Americans who support owning guns
Receive a good deal of money from gun
manufacturers
Has always been able to block gun
control laws
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 2. An example

→ Well-organized groups acts more

effectively
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 3. The trend

Interest groups are growing in number

and size

Business interest groups

Influential lobbies
Ethnic rights groups
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Ideals/causes groups
"Everyone in America has a lobby!"
 The New Individualism:
Interest-Group Government
Nguyễn Hà Phương
Interest group’s influence

focus on one issue that is more important

to their members than all others.

Members contribute large sums of money

to election campaigns.
 AMERICAN AND BRITISH CULTURE
The Political Landscape in
the 2000s:
Red Statesvs. Blue State
A-chilling presentation

Nguyễn Thị Thu Trang

REPUBLICAN DEMOCRATIC
 >90% >90%

-> Deep divisions in American society

 3 MAJOR DIVISIONS BETWEEN
Democrats & Republicans

1. The racial divide

2. The ideological divide over the role and size of the

national government.

3. The cultural divide over values, morality, and lifestyles

 -> United States has already
1. THE RACIAL DIVIDE become the multi-racial

Barack Obama's winning the

presidency in 2008

Obama's re-election in 2012

2. The ideological divide over the role
and size of the national government.
REPUBLICANS DEMOCRATS

big government: no inefficient,

endangers individual rights and
freedoms. moreregulations, higher taxes

reduce huge budget deficits upper income Americans to fund

social programs
cutting taxes on upper income
3. The cultural divide over values,
morality, and lifestyles.
REPUBLICANS DEMOCRATS

religious conservatives
called for gays' right and other
traditional values and lifestyles. minority rights

more conservative South and in liberal Northeast and West coast

rural areas. states
 AMERICAN AND BRITISH CULTURE
Finding the way forward
Nguyễn Hà Phương
A-chilling presentation
A-CHILLING

THANK YOU !
Datesman, M., Crandall, J. and Kearny, E., 2014. American Ways. 4th ed.

Belinda Stutzman, How is power divided in the United States

government?, Ted-Ed, Youtube, 2019

Datesman, M., Crandall, J. and Kearny, E., 2014. American Ways. 4th ed.

BBC News, How the US election works, Youtube, 2019