The federal government is the national government

The Constitution of the US limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, printing money, controlling trade and relations between the states, and protecting human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the government has generally extended these powers, citing the “necessary and proper clause” of the Constitution, into such areas as welfare and education. The federal government is made up of the Congress (the legislative branch), the President (the executive branch), and the Supreme Court (the judicial branch). These three branches are said to supply checks and balances on each other.

The Congress is a bicameral lawmaking institution composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which both meet in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Traditionally, the House is considered the “lower house” and the Senate the “upper house,” but Congressional publications refute this. The House has 435 members called representatives or congressmen, who are elected by the people of a congressional district to represent that district for a term of two years. The number of districts for each state depends on the size of the population of the state, and each state has at least one representative.

The Senate has 100 members called senators, who are also elected by the people of a state to represent that state for a term of six years. Each state has two senators, regardless of its size. The Constitution initially gave the power to elect senators to the state legislatures; the 17^th Amendment transferred this ability to the people.

At the top of the executive branch is the President of the United States, who acts as the Commander in Chief of the armed forces. The President signs laws into action, and can also issue pardons and executive orders. He has few other constitutional duties, among them being the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress from time to time. Below the President is the Vice President, who is first in the line of succession and is the President of the Senate, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. These two posts are elected, as running mates, by the people via the Electoral College for four-year terms.

Next are the members of the Cabinet, and the various departments they head, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads hold much regulatory and political power, and it is these departments that are used to execute the laws of the nation.

The judicial branch of the federal government is used when dealing with federal and constitutional matters. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of a state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state’s laws and constitution. The highest court in the land is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below that are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law.

Date: 2015-06-11; view: 337; Нарушение авторских прав