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МЕНЮ
| Политическая система СШАПолитическая система СШАThe political system of the USA. The United States of America is the greatest capitalist country in the
world. The USA is the President republic. It means that the president is
the head of the country. The President is elected for four years, together
with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term. He cannot be younger
than 35 years old and he must have lived in the USA for at least 14 years,
and be a civilian. He must do his job according to the Constitution. The The legislative branch of the US Government, or the Congress,
represents all of the American states. The Congress was created by Article The Senate made up of 100 members (2 from each state), elected for a term of 6 years. One third of the Senate is elected every 2 years. To be elected a Senator, a person must be a least 30 years old and have been a citizen of the USA for at least 9 years. The House of Representatives comprises representatives from each state, elected for a two-years term. The number of representatives from each state depends on its population, but every state is represented. To be elected a representative, a person must be at least 25 years of age and have been a citizen of the country for at least 7 years. In general, Senators are better known than Representatives because
they are fewer in number and serve for a longer time. Many American The presiding officer of the Senate is the Vice-President of the USA. The job of the Congress is to make laws. The President can veto a
bill. The Congress can pass the law anyway if it gets a two-thirds majority
vote. The Congress can also declare the war. The House of Representatives
can also impeach the President. This means that the House can charge the The executive branch of the government puts the country’s laws into
effect. It consists of the president, the Vice-President and the Cabinet. The judicial branch of the government is the system of courts in the There are two main bourgeois political parties in the USA. They are
the Democratic Party (was organized in the 1820s) and the Republican Party The basis of the American republic. The Constitution of the United States is the central instrument of The American Constitution is the world’s oldest written constitution
in force, one that has served as the model for a number of other
constitutions around the world. The Constitution owes its staying power to
its simplicity and flexibility. Originally designed to provide a framework
for governing four million people in 13 very different colonies along the The path of the Constitution was neither straight nor easy. A draft
document emerged in 1787, but only after intense debate and six years of
experience with an earlier federal union. The 13 British colonies, strung
out along the eastern seaboard of what is now the United States, declared
their independence from England in 1776. A year before, war had broken out
between the colonies and Great Britain, a war for independence that lasted
for six bitter years. While still at war, the colonies — now calling
themselves the United States of America — drafted a compact, which bound
them together as a nation. The compact, designated the “Articles of It was under these inauspicious circumstances that the Constitution of
the United States was drawn up. In February 1787, the Continental Congress,
the legislative body of the republic, issued a call for the states to send
delegates to Philadelphia to revise the Articles. The Constitutional, or The 55 delegates who drafted the Constitution included most of the
outstanding leaders, of Founding Fathers, of the new nation. They
represented a wide range of interests, backgrounds and stations in life. We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect
union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of
liberty to ourselves and our posterity, to ordain and establish this The Bill of Rights. The Constitution has been amended 26 times since 1789, and it is likely to be further revised in the future. The most sweeping changes were made within two years of its adoption. In that period, the first 10 amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, were added. They were approved as a block by the Congress in September 1789, and ratified by 11 states by the end of 1791. Much of the initial resistance to the Constitution came not from those
opposed to strengthening the federal union, but from statesmen who felt
that the rights of individuals must be specifically spelled out. One of
these was George Mason, author of the Declaration of Rights of Virginia,
which was a forerunner of the Bill of Rights. As a delegate to the These amendments remain intact today, as they were written two
centuries ago. The first guaranties freedom of worship, speech and press,
the right of peaceful assembly, and the right of petition the government to
corrects wrongs. The second guarantees the right of citizens to bear arms. The next four amendments deal with the system of justice: The fifth forbids trial for a major crime expect after indictment by a grand jury. It prohibits repeated trails for the same offence; forbids punishment without due process of law and provides that an accused person may not be compelled to testify against himself. The sixth guarantees a speedy public testify for criminal offences. It requires trial by an unbiased jury, guarantees the rights to legal counsel for the accused, and provides that witnesses shall be completed to attend the trial and testify in the presence of the accused. The seventh assures trial by jury in civil cases involving anything valued at more than 20 U.S. dollars. The eighth forbids excessive bail or fines, and cruel or unusual punishment. The last two of the 10 amendments contain very broad statements of constitutional authority: The ninth declares that the listing if individual rights is not meant to be comprehensive; that the people have other rights not specifically mentioned in the Constitution. The 10th provides that powers not delegated by the Constitution to the federal government nor prohibited by it to the states are reserved to the states or the people. State and local government. Each of the fifty states of the USA has a constitution patterned after
the national Constitution, with its three divisions of power: legislative,
executive and judicial. The head of each state is the governor, elected
for four or two years. The office of the governor is one of considerable
prestige and political power and has been steadily growing in influence. Each state creates of local government. The chief unit of local
government is the county, of which there are more than 3000. The counties
maintain public order through the sheriff and his deputies; in many states
the counties maintain the smaller local highways. The sheriff is the chief
law enforcement officer of the county. He is also officer of the court,
serves papers, enforces orders, maintains the jail, and collects taxes,
with particular functions varying from state to state. The sheriff’s deputy
is appointed by the sheriff. He assists the sheriff in law enforcement, and
in some states may act in place of a sheriff. He is usually paid in fees. The mayor-council system is the most popular kind of local government and the city manager type is the second most popular. In this kind if government an elected council hires a professional city manager to administer and watch over the city’s business. The elected council keeps the legislative power. Congressional elections. The Congress of the United States is composed of two houses, the The Senate of the United States is composed of one hundred members, two being elected from each state. Senators are chosen for six years, one- third retiring or seeking re-election every two years. Two senators from the same state never finish their terms at the same time, one of them called “Senior Senator” and the other — “Junior Senator”. Theoretically all citizens of both sexes over 21 years of age have the right to vote, but in fact this is not so. An estimate of the number of American legally barred from voting by
the residence laws based on 1960 Census figures on population mobility,
indicates that 5.4 million, or five per cent of adult Americans were unable
to vote in 1960 because the residence requirements in some states the
payment of taxes (called “poll-taxes”) is necessary for getting the right
to vote. In some southern states voters are required to give a reasonable
explanation of what they read. In some states the ability to read (usually
an extract from the Constitution) is required. In Alabama the voter must
take an “anti-Communist oath” and fill in a questionnaire to the
satisfaction of the registers. As a result of this millions of people are
deprived the right to vote. At the same time it is well known that The area in which one lives is still considered an important factor in determining one’s vote, though sectionalism appears to be of decreasing importance. Until recent years, the South was “solid” for the Democrats, while New England was “rock-ribbed” for the Republicans. The great cities of the United States show a strong tendency to vote Blue-collar workers and racial minority groups are concentrated in cities. Since this groups tend to vote Democratic, the party they support has great strength in cities. On other hand, those who belong to the high- income groups and usually vote Republican are concentrated in suburban areas. The party machines of both Republican and Democratic parties are run
by party bosses closely associated with different monopoly groups and these
two main political parties in the USA are parties of the monopoly
capitalists. The Republican and Democratic parties have monopolized
political life in the USA. Their monopoly of political power creates
difficulties in the struggle for democracy. While the reactionary groups
operate easily within each of this two main parties of capitalism,
promoting their interests, the working class and the mass movements are
denied such an opportunity. This is especially felt in the elections. The The Communist Party of the USA was denied its rights as a political party by legal and extralegal means. Anti-Communist “loyalty oaths” by candidates required by some state laws were used as an additional against the Communist Party and other progressive organizations. Because of the bipartisan system of the elections the majority of the nation, its working class, poor farmers and seasonal workers have no other choice but to vote either for the Democrats or the Republicans. Though major sections of the working class, the Black people and other popular forces, still remain in the political grip of the Democratic Party, there is little doubt that many voters see nothing to choose between the Tweedledeeism of the Democrats and the Tweedledeeism of the Republicans. Lacking a third choice, they fail to choose at all. The central objective towards which all forces of the Left are striving is an independent electoral policy, and the Communist Party of the USA calls for united effort of labour membership, civil rights movement, advocates of peace, so that they could present meaningful alternatives to labour and minority of their needs and interests. |
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