Social 30IB american system

american system

- representative democracy
- republic -> no monarch -> president is head of state
- every member of government is elected (confirmation = approval by senate)

checks and balances

separation of power and supervision of govt to prevent tyranny

executive

president (head of govt and state) -> cabinet (not elected) -> civil service

president

- less power compared to Canadian PMs
- has the power to appoint (all must be approved by senate):
- cabinet
- Supreme court
- ambassadors
- civil servants
- fixed election dates (parties have equal chance bc of prep or elections but prep takes away governing time)
-may propose legislation but has no control over approval (pres. and senate cant be in congress)
- has veto power (rejection to laws) but can be overridden by congress

electoral college system (FPTP)

- citizens vote for electors and electors elect president and vice-president
- each state gets 1 elector for each of their senators(2 votes) and rep. (min 3 votes) total is 538
- ex. 2 senators and 8 representatives from one state get
10 electors.
- elector based on state population
- candidate w/the most votes wins all electors for that state. need over half (270) of delegates( electors) to win election
- gives power to smaller states as well
- possible to lose election but have more votes

accountability

- impeachment
-> president, vice-pres, and civil officers are all subject to impeachment by congress for criminal acts
-> they are not pleaded guilty when impeached, only set up for trial
-> no president has been successfully impeached
- media (becoming more partisan)
- recall - the ability of citizens to force another election to remove/change state leaders through petitions

legislative branch

house of representatives(lower class) and senate(higher class)

senate

- elected (given more power)
- purpose: regional rep. (not rep by pop)
- cannot interfere with money bills
- 2 senators for each state (100 total)
- 6 years, 1/3 senators change for every 2 years (experiences senators can do their job while new senators join)
power t initiate, modify, and reject legislature.

house of representatives

- rep by pop.
- non-partisan by principle
- 2-year term
- initiate, modify, and reject legislation
- sole control over money bills
- no party discipline - congress members are not bounds to vote with their party

Stalemate

separation of powers between legislative and executive can lead to disagreement which makes the bill stuck in transit. less efficient.

judicial (similar to canada)

supreme court (appointed) -> state courts(elected) (judges may lean towards actions that can lead to them getting reelected)

Veto

president's right to reject decision/proposal by congress
- not a big problem bc it is looked down upon in congress

congress

like parliment, a legislative body. President and cabinet cannot be part of congress.

- can be controlled by party different to president
- bill can be changes by either house to the point of no resemblance to the original (logrolling). may result in pork-barrelling
- politicians can avoid responsibility by pointing fingers
- senators + representatives can vote for who they wish
- congress can block the president's veto

porkbarrelling

using government budget to fund local projects to get more money for a representatives district.

swing states

states that may change from democrat(liberal) to republican(conservative)