USpoliticalsystemPresidentialelection(final)讲解.pptVIP

Political System US Capitol Building 美国国会大厦 The White House The US Supreme Court Building 美国最高法院 US Political System I. The US Constitution 美国宪法 II. The Executive Branch 行政机构 III. The Legislative Branch 立法机构 IV. The Judicial Branch 司法机构 The US Constitution Two Characteristics Federalism Separation of powers : Principle-checks and balances 政府机关彼此之间的相互制衡 Federalism Federalism means the division of the powers of government between the nation and the state. Each American is subject to two governments: 1) the government of his state 2) the government of the Union. The states have the primary functions of providing law and order, education, public health and most of the things, which concern day-to-day life. The federal government at Washington is concerned with foreign affairs and with matters of general concern to the states, including commerce between the states. The US Constitution Separation of powers: checks and balances Separation of Powers It refers to the principle that the national government is split into 3 branches: legislative, executive and judicial. In the legislative branch, power is split further into 2 houses. The President pro tempore is nominally responsible for presiding over the Senate in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of the President of the United States (Article I, Section 3, Clause 5). v. 否决 n. 任命，提名 v. 推翻 Congress may pass a law, but the President can veto, or cancel it. Then Congress may pass the law again---this time by a 2/3 vote---and the president cannot veto it. But the law may still be cancelled if the Supreme Court decides it unconstitutional. The Congress can impeach (sack) the president or a Supreme Court judge Checks and Balances Examples The Constitution also said that the President has a term of 4 years, members of the Senate serve for 6 years members of the House of Representatives serve for 2 years. members of the Supreme Court effectively serve for life Basic intro