The USA: its history, geography and political system
p>DECADES OF CHANGE
After World War II the presidency had alternated between Democrats and
Republicans, but, for the most part, Democrats had held majorities in the
Congress -- in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. A string
of 26 consecutive years of Democratic control was broken in 1980, when the
Republicans gained a majority in the Senate; at the same time, Republican
Ronald Reagan was elected president. This change marked the onset of a
volatility that has characterized American voting patterns ever since.
Whatever their attitudes toward Reagan's policies, most Americans credited
him with a capacity for instilling pride in their country and a sense of
optimism about the future. If there was a central theme to his domestic
policies, it was that the federal government had become too big and federal
taxes too high.
Despite a growing federal budget deficit, in 1983 the U.S. economy entered
into one of the longest periods of sustained growth since World War II. The
Reagan administration suffered a defeat in the 1986 elections, however,
when Democrats regained control of the Senate. The most serious issue of
the day was the revelation that the United States had secretly sold arms to
Iran in an attempt to win freedom for American hostages held in Lebanon and
to finance antigovernment forces in Nicaragua at a time when Congress had
prohibited such aid. Despite these revelations, Reagan continued to enjoy
strong popularity throughout his second term in office.
His successor in 1988, Republican George Bush, benefited from Reagan's
popularity and continued many of his policies. When Iraq invaded oil-rich
Kuwait in 1990, Bush put together a multinational coalition that liberated
Kuwait early in 1991.
By 1992, however, the American electorate had become restless again.
Voters elected Bill Clinton, a Democrat, president, only to turn around two
years later and give Republicans their first majority in both the House and
Senate in 40 years. Meanwhile, several perennial debates had broken out
anew -- between advocates of a strong federal government and believers in
decentralization of power, between advocates of prayer in public schools
and defenders of separation of church and state, between those who
emphasize swift and sure punishment of criminals and those who seek to
address the underlying causes of crime. Complaints about the influence of
money on political campaigns inspired a movement to limit the number of
terms elected officials could serve. This and other discontents with the
system led to the formation of the strongest Third-Party movement in
generations, led by Texas businessman H. Ross Perot.
Although the economy was strong in the mid-1990s, two phenomena were
troubling many Americans. Corporations were resorting more and more to a
process known as downsizing: trimming the work force to cut costs despite
the hardships this inflicted on workers. And in many industries the gap
between the annual compensations of corporate executives and common
laborers had become enormous. Even the majority of Americans who enjoy
material comfort worry about a perceived decline in the quality of life, in
the strength of the family, in neighborliness and civility. Americans
probably remain the most optimistic people in the world, but with the
century drawing to a close, opinion polls showed that trait in shorter
supply than usual.
Geography and regional characteristics.
The USA stretches from the heavily industrialized, metropolitan Atlantic
coast, across the rich farms of the Great Plains, over the Appalachian and
the Rocky Mountains to the densely populated West coast. Alaska and the
island state of Hawaii are detached from the main mid-continental group of
48 states. America is the land of physical contrasts, including the
weather. Most of the USA is the temperate zone with four distinct seasons,
while the northern states and Alaska have extremely cold winters, and the
southern parts of Florida, Texas, California have warm weather year round.
The area of the United States is 9 629 091 square km.
The United States is the land of bountiful rivers and lakes. Minnesota is
the land of 10.000 lakes. The Mississippi River runs nearly 6 thousand km
from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. The St. Lawrence Seaway connects the
Great lakes with the Atlantic Ocean.
Underground, a wealth of minerals provides a solid base for American
industry. History has glamorized the gold rushes of California and Alaska
and the silver finds in Nevada.
Location:
North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North
Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
Map references: North America
Area:
total area: 9,372,610 sq km
land area: 9,166,600 sq km
comparative area: about half the size of Russia; about three-tenths the
size of Africa; about one-half the size of South America (or slightly
larger than Brazil); slightly smaller than China; about two and one-half
times the size of Western Europe
note: includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia
Land boundaries: total 12,248 km, Canada 8,893 km (including 2,477 km with
Alaska), Cuba 29 km (US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay), Mexico 3,326 km
Coastline: 19,924 km
Climate: mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida and arctic in
Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River and arid
in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the
northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm
chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
Terrain: vast central plain, mountains in west, hills and low mountains in
east; rugged mountains and broad river valleys in Alaska; rugged, volcanic
topography in Hawaii
Natural resources: coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium,
bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc,
petroleum, natural gas, timber
Land use: arable land: 20%, permanent crops: 0%, meadows and pastures: 26%,
forest and woodland: 29%, other: 25%, irrigated land: 181,020 sq km (1989
est.)
Environment:
current issues: air pollution resulting in acid rain in both the US and
Canada; the US is the largest single emitter of carbon dioxide from the
burning of fossil fuels; water pollution from runoff of pesticides and
fertilizers; very limited natural fresh water resources in much of the
western part of the country require careful management; desertification.
natural hazards: tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquake activity around
Pacific Basin; hurricanes along the Atlantic coast; tornadoes in the
midwest; mudslides in California; forest fires in the west; flooding;
permafrost in northern Alaska is a major impediment to development
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen
Oxides, Antarctic Treaty, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands,
Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Volatile Organic
Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Desertification,
Hazardous Wastes, Tropical Timber 94
Note: world's fourth-largest country (after Russia, Canada, and China)
Traditionally the USA is divided into several regions:
2. New England, made up of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts,
Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
3. The Middle Atlantic, comprising New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, and Maryland.
4. The South, which runs from Virginia south to Florida and west as far as central Texas. This region also includes West Virginia, Kentucky,
Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama,
Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and parts of Missouri and Oklahoma.
5. The Midwest, a broad collection of states sweeping westward from Ohio to Nebraska and including Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois,
Minnesota, Iowa, parts of Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota,
Kansas, and eastern Colorado.
6. The Southwest, made up of western Texas, portions of Oklahoma, New
Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and the southern interior part of California.
7. The West, comprising Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, California,
Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii.
Note that there is nothing official about these regions; many other lineups
are possible. These groupings are offered simply as a way to begin the
otherwise daunting task of getting acquainted with the United States.
REGIONAL VARIETY
How much sense does it make to talk about American regions when practically
all Americans can watch the same television shows and go to the same fast-
food restaurants for dinner? One way to answer the question is by giving
examples of lingering regional differences.
Consider the food Americans eat. Most of it is standard wherever you go. A
person can buy packages of frozen peas bearing the same label in Idaho,
Missouri, and Virginia. Cereals, candy bars, and many other items also come
in identical packages from Alaska to Florida. Generally, the quality of
fresh fruits and vegetables does not vary much from one state to the next.
On the other hand, it would be unusual to be served hush puppies (a kind of
fried dough) or grits (boiled and ground corn prepared in a variety of
ways) in Massachusetts or Illinois, but normal to get them in Georgia.
Other regions have similar favorites that are hard to find elsewhere.
While American English is generally standard, American speech often differs
according to what part of the country you are in. Southerners tend to speak
slowly, in what is referred to as a "Southern drawl." Midwesterners use
"flat" a's (as in "bad" or "cat"), and the New York City patois features a
number of Yiddish words ("schlepp," "nosh," "nebbish") contributed by the
city's large Jewish population.
Regional differences also make themselves felt in less tangible ways, such
as attitudes and outlooks. An example is the attention paid to foreign
events in newspapers. In the East, where people look out across the
Atlantic Ocean, papers tend to show greatest concern with what is happening
in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and western Asia. On the West Coast,
news editors give more attention to events in East Asia and Australia.
To understand regional differences more fully, let's take a closer look at
the regions themselves.
NEW ENGLAND
The smallest region, New England has not been blessed with large expanses
of rich farmland or a mild climate. Yet it played a dominant role in
American development. From the 17th century until well into the 19th, New
England was the country's cultural and economic center.
The earliest European settlers of New England were English Protestants of
firm and settled doctrine. Many of them came in search of religious
liberty. They gave the region its distinctive political format -- the town
meeting (an outgrowth of meetings held by church elders) in which citizens
gathered to discuss issues of the day. Only men of property could vote.
Nonetheless, town meetings afforded New Englanders an unusually high level
of participation in government. Such meetings still function in many New
England communities today.
New Englanders found it difficult to farm the land in large lots, as was
common in the South. By 1750, many settlers had turned to other pursuits.
The mainstays of the region became shipbuilding, fishing, and trade. In
their business dealings, New Englanders gained a reputation for hard work,
shrewdness, thrift, and ingenuity.
These traits came in handy as the Industrial Revolution reached America in
the first half of the 19th century. In Massachusetts, Connecticut, and
Rhode Island, new factories sprang up to manufacture such goods as
clothing, rifles, and clocks. Most of the money to run these businesses
came from Boston, which was the financial heart of the nation.
New England also supported a vibrant cultural life. The critic Van Wyck
Brooks called the creation of a distinctive American literature in the
first half of the 19th century "the flowering of New England." Education is
another of the region's strongest legacies. Its cluster of top-ranking
universities and colleges -- including Harvard, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth,
Wellesley, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Williams, Amherst, and Wesleyan -- is
unequaled by any other region.
As some of the original New England settlers migrated westward, immigrants
from Canada, Ireland, Italy, and eastern Europe moved into the region.
Despite a changing population, much of the original spirit of New England
remains. It can be seen in the simple, woodframe houses and white church
steeples that are features of many small towns, and in the traditional
lighthouses that dot the Atlantic coast.
In the 20th century, most of New England's traditional industries have
relocated to states or foreign countries where goods can be made more
cheaply. In more than a few factory towns, skilled workers have been left
without jobs. The gap has been partly filled by the microelectronics and
computer industries.
MIDDLE ATLANTIC
If New England provided the brains and dollars for 19th-century American
expansion, the Middle Atlantic states provided the muscle. The region's
largest states, New York and Pennsylvania, became centers of heavy industry
(iron, glass, and steel).
The Middle Atlantic region was settled by a wider range of people than New
England. Dutch immigrants moved into the lower Hudson River Valley in what
is now New York State. Swedes went to Delaware. English Catholics founded
Maryland, and an English Protestant sect, the Friends (Quakers), settled
Pennsylvania. In time, all these settlements fell under English control,
but the region continued to be a magnet for people of diverse
nationalities.
Early settlers were mostly farmers and traders, and the region served as a
bridge between North and South. Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, midway
between the northern and southern colonies, was home to the Continental
Congress, the convention of delegates from the original colonies that
organized the American Revolution. The same city was the birthplace of the
Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the U.S. Constitution in 1787.
As heavy industry spread throughout the region, rivers such as the Hudson
and Delaware were transformed into vital shipping lanes. Cities on
waterways -- New York on the Hudson, Philadelphia on the Delaware,
Baltimore on Chesapeake Bay -- grew dramatically. New York is still the
nation's largest city, its financial hub, and its cultural center.
Like New England, the Middle Atlantic region has seen much of its heavy
industry relocate elsewhere. Other industries, such as drug manufacturing
and communications, have taken up the slack.
THE SOUTH
The South is perhaps the most distinctive and colorful American region. The
American Civil War (1861-65) devastated the South socially and
economically. Nevertheless, it retained its unmistakable identity.
Like New England, the South was first settled by English Protestants. But
whereas New Englanders tended to stress their differences from the old
country, Southerners tended to emulate the English. Even so, Southerners
were prominent among the leaders of the American Revolution, and four of
America's first five presidents were Virginians. After 1800, however, the
interests of the manufacturing North and the agrarian South began to
diverge.
Especially in coastal areas, southern settlers grew wealthy by raising and
selling cotton and tobacco. The most economical way to raise these crops
was on large farms, called plantations, which required the work of many
laborers. To supply this need, plantation owners relied on slaves brought
from Africa, and slavery spread throughout the South.
Slavery was the most contentious issue dividing North and South. To
northerners it was immoral; to southerners it was integral to their way of
life. In 1860, 11 southern states left the Union intending to form a
separate nation, the Confederate States of America. This rupture led to the
Civil War, the Confederacy's defeat, and the end of slavery. (For more on
the Civil War, see chapter 3.) The scars left by the war took decades to
heal. The abolition of slavery failed to provide African Americans with
political or economic equality: Southern towns and cities legalized and
refined the practice of racial segregation.
It took a long, concerted effort by African Americans and their supporters
to end segregation. In the meantime, however, the South could point with
pride to a 20th-century regional outpouring of literature by, among others,
William Faulkner, Thomas Wolfe, Robert Penn Warren, Katherine Anne Porter,
Tennessee Williams, Eudora Welty, and Flannery O'Connor.
As southerners, black and white, shook off the effects of slavery and
racial division, a new regional pride expressed itself under the banner of
"the New South" and in such events as the annual Spoleto Music Festival in
Charleston, South Carolina, and the 1996 summer Olympic Games in Atlanta,
Georgia. Today the South has evolved into a manufacturing region, and high-
rise buildings crowd the skylines of such cities as Atlanta and Little
Rock, Arkansas. Owing to its mild weather, the South has become a mecca for
retirees from other U.S. regions and from Canada.
THE MIDWEST
The Midwest is a cultural crossroads. Starting in the early 1800s
easterners moved there in search of better farmland, and soon Europeans
bypassed the East Coast to migrate directly to the interior: Germans to
eastern Missouri, Swedes and Norwegians to Wisconsin and Minnesota. The
region's fertile soil made it possible for farmers to produce abundant
harvests of cereal crops such as wheat, oats, and corn. The region was soon
known as the nation's "breadbasket."
Most of the Midwest is flat. The Mississippi River has acted as a regional
lifeline, moving settlers to new homes and foodstuffs to market. The river
inspired two classic American books, both written by a native Missourian,
Samuel Clemens, who took the pseudonym Mark Twain: Life on the Mississippi
and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Midwesterners are praised as being open, friendly, and straightforward.
Their politics tend to be cautious, but the caution is sometimes peppered
with protest. The Midwest gave birth to one of America's two major
political parties, the Republican Party, which was formed in the 1850s to
oppose the spread of slavery into new states. At the turn of the century,
the region also spawned the Progressive Movement, which largely consisted
of farmers and merchants intent on making government less corrupt and more
receptive to the will of the people. Perhaps because of their geographic
location, many midwesterners have been strong adherents of isolationism,
the belief that Americans should not concern themselves with foreign wars
and problems.
The region's hub is Chicago, Illinois, the nation's third largest city.
This major Great Lakes port is a connecting point for rail lines and air
traffic to far-flung parts of the nation and the world. At its heart stands
the Sears Tower, at 447 meters, the world's tallest building.
THE SOUTHWEST
The Southwest differs from the adjoining Midwest in weather (drier),
population (less dense), and ethnicity (strong Spanish-American and Native-
American components). Outside the cities, the region is a land of open
spaces, much of which is desert. The magnificent Grand Canyon is located in
this region, as is Monument Valley, the starkly beautiful backdrop for many
western movies. Monument Valley is within the Navajo Reservation, home of
the most populous American Indian tribe. To the south and east lie dozens
of other Indian reservations, including those of the Hopi, Zuni, and Apache
tribes.
Parts of the Southwest once belonged to Mexico. The United States obtained
this land following the Mexican-American War of 1846-48. Its Mexican
heritage continues to exert a strong influence on the region, which is a
convenient place to settle for immigrants (legal or illegal) from farther
south. The regional population is growing rapidly, with Arizona in
particular rivaling the southern states as a destination for retired
Americans in search of a warm climate.
Population growth in the hot, arid Southwest has depended on two human
artifacts: the dam and the air conditioner. Dams on the Colorado and other
rivers and aqueducts such as those of the Central Arizona Project have
brought water to once-small towns such as Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix,
Arizona; and Albuquerque, New Mexico, allowing them to become metropolises.
Las Vegas is renowned as one of the world's centers for gambling, while
Santa Fe, New Mexico, is famous as a center for the arts, especially
painting, sculpture, and opera. Another system of dams and irrigation
projects waters the Central Valley of California, which is noted for
producing large harvests of fruits and vegetables.
THE WEST
Americans have long regarded the West as the last frontier. Yet California
has a history of European settlement older than that of most midwestern
states. Spanish priests founded missions along the California coast a few
years before the outbreak of the American Revolution. In the 19th century,
California and Oregon entered the Union ahead of many states to the east.
The West is a region of scenic beauty on a grand scale. All of its 11
states are partly mountainous, and the ranges are the sources of startling
contrasts. To the west of the peaks, winds from the Pacific Ocean carry
enough moisture to keep the land well-watered. To the east, however, the
land is very dry. Parts of western Washington State, for example, receive
20 times the amount of rain that falls on the eastern side of the state's
Cascade Range.
In much of the West the population is sparse, and the federal government
owns and manages millions of hectares of undeveloped land. Americans use
these areas for recreational and commercial activities, such as fishing,
camping, hiking, boating, grazing, lumbering, and mining. In recent years
some local residents who earn their livelihoods on federal land have come
into conflict with the land's managers, who are required to keep land use
within environmentally acceptable limits.
Alaska, the northernmost state in the Union, is a vast land of few, but
hardy, people and great stretches of wilderness, protected in national
parks and wildlife refuges. Hawaii is the only state in the union in which
Asian Americans outnumber residents of European stock. Beginning in the
1980s large numbers of Asians have also settled in California, mainly
around Los Angeles.
Los Angeles -- and Southern California as a whole -- bears the stamp of its
large Mexican-American population. Now the second largest city in the
nation, Los Angeles is best known as the home of the Hollywood film
industry. Fueled by the growth of Los Angeles and the "Silicon Valley" area
near San Jose, California has become the most populous of all the states.
Western cities are known for their tolerance. Perhaps because so many
westerners have moved there from other regions to make a new start, as a
rule interpersonal relations are marked by a live-and-let-live attitude.
The western economy is varied. California, for example, is both an
agricultural state and a high-technology manufacturing state.
THE FRONTIER SPIRIT
One final American region deserves mention. It is not a fixed place but a
moving zone, as well as a state of mind: the border between settlements and
wilderness known as the frontier. Writing in the 1890s, historian Frederick
Jackson Turner claimed that the availability of vacant land throughout much
of the nation's history has shaped American attitudes and institutions.
"This perennial rebirth," he wrote, "this expansion westward with its new
opportunities, its continuous touch with the simplicity of primitive
society, furnish the forces dominating American character."
Numerous present-day American values and attitudes can be traced to the
frontier past: self-reliance, resourcefulness, comradeship, a strong sense
of equality. After the Civil War a large number of black Americans moved
west in search of equal opportunities, and many of them gained some fame
and fortune as cowboys, miners, and prairie settlers. In 1869 the western
territory of Wyoming became the first place that allowed women to vote and
to hold elected office.
Because the resources of the West seemed limitless, people developed
wasteful attitudes and practices. The great herds of buffalo (American
bison) were slaughtered until only fragments remained, and many other
species were driven to the brink of extinction. Rivers were dammed and
their natural communities disrupted. Forests were destroyed by excess
logging, and landscapes were scarred by careless mining.
A counterweight to the abuse of natural resources took form in the American
conservation movement, which owes much of its success to Americans'
reluctance to see frontier conditions disappear entirely from the
landscape. Conservationists were instrumental in establishing the first
national park, Yellowstone, in 1872, and the first national forests in the
1890s. More recently, the Endangered Species Act has helped stem the tide
of extinctions.
Environmental programs can be controversial; for example, some critics
believe that the Endangered Species Act hampers economic progress. But,
overall, the movement to preserve America's natural endowment continues to
gain strength. Its replication replication in many other countries around
the world is a tribute to the lasting influence of the American frontier.
A responsive government.
Separation of powers and the democratic process.
The early American way of life encouraged democracy. The colonists were
inhabiting a land of forest and wilderness. They had to work together to
build shelter, provide food, and clear the land for farms and dwellings.
This need for cooperation strengthened the belief that, in the New World,
people should be on an equal footing, with nobody having special
privileges.
The urge for equality affected the original 13 colonies' relations with
the mother country, England. The Declaration of Independence in 1776
proclaimed that all men are created equal, that all have the right to
"Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."
The Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution after it, combined
America's colonial experience with the political thought of such
philosophers as England's John Locke to produce the concept of a democratic
republic. The government would draw its power from the people themselves
and exercise it through their elected representatives. During the
Revolutionary War, the colonies had formed a national congress to present
England with a united front. Under an agreement known as the Articles of
Confederation, a postwar congress was allowed to handle only problems that
were beyond the capabilities of individual states.
THE CONSTITUTION
The Articles of Confederation failed as a governing document for the
United States because the states did not cooperate as expected. When it
came time to pay wages to the national army or the war debt to France, some
states refused to contribute. To cure this weakness, the congress asked
each state to send a delegate to a convention. The so-called Constitutional
Convention met in Philadelphia in May of 1787, with George Washington
presiding.
The delegates struck a balance between those who wanted a strong central
government and those who did not. The resulting master plan, or
Constitution, set up a system in which some powers were given to the
national, or federal, government, while others were reserved for the
states. The Constitution divided the national government into three parts,
or branches: the legislative (the Congress, which consists of a House of
Representatives and a Senate), the executive (headed by the president), and
the judicial (the federal courts). Called "separation of powers," this
division gives each branch certain duties and substantial independence from
the others. It also gives each branch some authority over the others
through a system of "checks and balances."
Here are a few examples of how checks and balances work in practice.
8. If Congress passes a proposed law, or "bill," that the president considers unwise, he can veto it. That means that the bill is dead unless two-thirds of the members of both the House and the Senate vote to enact it despite the president's veto.
9. If Congress passes, and the president signs, a law that is challenged in the federal courts as contrary to the Constitution, the courts can nullify that law. (The federal courts cannot issue advisory or theoretical opinions, however; their jurisdiction is limited to actual disputes.)
10. The president has the power to make treaties with other nations and to make appointments to federal positions, including judgeships. The
Senate, however, must approve all treaties and confirm the appointments before they can go into effect.
Recently some observers have discerned what they see as a weakness in the
tripartite system of government: a tendency toward too much checking and
balancing that results in governmental stasis, or "gridlock."
BILL OF RIGHTS
The Constitution written in Philadelphia in 1787 could not go into effect
until it was ratified by a majority of citizens in at least 9 of the then
13 U.S. states. During this ratification process, misgivings arose. Many
citizens felt uneasy because the document failed to explicitly guarantee
the rights of individuals. The desired language was added in 10 amendments
to the Constitution, collectively known as the Bill of Rights.
The Bill of Rights guarantees Americans freedom of speech, of religion,
and of the press. They have the right to assemble in public places, to
protest government actions, and to demand change. There is a right to own
firearms. Because of the Bill of Rights, neither police officers nor
soldiers can stop and search a person without good reason. Nor can they
search a person's home without permission from a court to do so. The Bill
of Rights guarantees a speedy trial to anyone accused of a crime. The trial
must be by jury if requested, and the accused person must be allowed
representation by a lawyer and to call witnesses to speak for him or her.
Cruel and unusual punishment is forbidden. With the addition of the Bill of
Rights, the Constitution was ratified by all 13 states and went into effect
in 1789.
Since then 17 other amendments have been added to the Constitution.
Perhaps the most important of these are the Thirteenth and Fourteenth,
which outlaw slavery and guarantee all citizens equal protection of the
laws, and the Nineteenth, which gives women the right to vote.
The Constitution can be amended in either of two ways. Congress can
propose an amendment, provided that two-thirds of the members of both the
House and the Senate vote in favor of it. Or the legislatures of two-thirds
of the states can call a convention to propose amendments. (This second
method has never been used.) In either case a proposed amendment does not
go into effect until ratified by three-fourths of the states.
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The legislative branch -- the Congress -- is made up of elected
representatives from each of the 50 states. It is the only branch of U.S.
government that can make federal laws, levy federal taxes, declare war, and
put foreign treaties into effect.
Members of the House of Representatives are elected to two-year terms.
Each member represents a district in his or her home state. The number of
districts is determined by a census, which is conducted every 10 years. The
most populous states are allowed more representatives than the smaller
ones, some of which have only one. In all, there are 435 representatives in
the House.
Senators are elected to six-year terms. Each state has two senators,
regardless of population. Senators' terms are staggered, so that one-third
of the Senate stands for election every two years. There are 100 senators.
To become a law, a bill must pass both the House and the Senate. After the
bill is introduced in either body, it is studied by one or more committees,
amended, voted out of committee, and discussed in the chamber of the House
or Senate. If passed by one body, it goes to the other for consideration.
When a bill passes the House and the Senate in different forms, members of
both bodies meet in a "conference committee" to iron out the differences.
Groups that try to persuade members of Congress to vote for or against a
bill are called "lobbies." They may try to exert their influence at almost
any stage of the legislative process. Once both bodies have passed the same
version of a bill, it goes to the president for approval.
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
The chief executive of the United States is the president, who together
with the vice president is elected to a four-year term. As a result of a
constitutional amendment that went into effect in 1951, a president may be
elected to only two terms. Other than succeeding a president who dies or is
disabled, the vice president's only official duty is presiding over the
Senate. The vice president may vote in the Senate only to break a tie.
The president's powers are formidable but not unlimited. As the chief
formulator of national policy, the president proposes legislation to
Congress. As mentioned previously, the president may veto any bill passed
by Congress. The president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The
president has the authority to appoint federal judges as vacancies occur,
including justices of the Supreme Court. As head of his political party,
with ready access to the news media, the president can easily influence
public opinion.
Within the executive branch, the president has broad powers to issue
regulations and directives carrying out the work of the federal
government's departments and agencies. The president appoints the heads and
senior officials of those departments and agencies. Heads of the major
departments, called "secretaries," are part of the president's cabinet. The
majority of federal workers, however, are selected on the basis of merit,
not politics.
JUDICIAL BRANCH
The judicial branch is headed by the U.S. Supreme Court, which is the only
court specifically created by the Constitution. In addition, Congress has
established 13 federal courts of appeals and, below them, about 95 federal
district courts. The Supreme Court meets in Washington, D.C., and the other
federal courts are located in cities throughout the United States. Federal
judges are appointed for life or until they retire voluntarily; they can be
removed from office only via a laborious process of impeachment and trial
in the Congress.
The federal courts hear cases arising out of the Constitution and federal
laws and treaties, maritime cases, cases involving foreign citizens or
governments, and cases in which the federal government is itself a party.
The Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and eight associate
justices. With minor exceptions, cases come to the Supreme Court on appeal
from lower federal or state courts. Most of these cases involve disputes
over the interpretation and constitutionality of actions taken by the
executive branch and of laws passed by Congress or the states (like federal
laws, state laws must be consistent with the U.S. Constitution).
THE COURT OF LAST RESORT
Although the three branches are said to be equal, often the Supreme Court
has the last word on an issue. The courts can rule a law unconstitutional,
which makes it void. Most such rulings are appealed to the Supreme Court,
which is thus the final arbiter of what the Constitution means. Newspapers
commonly print excerpts from the justices' opinions in important cases, and
the Court's decisions are often the subject of public debate. This is as it
should be: The decisions may settle longstanding controversies and can have
social effects far beyond the immediate outcome. Two famous, related
examples are Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and Brown v. Board of Education of
Topeka (1954).
In Plessy the issue was whether blacks could be required to ride in
separate railroad cars from whites. The Court articulated a "separate but
equal" doctrine as its basis for upholding the practice. The case sent a
signal that the Court was interpreting the Thirteenth and Fourteenth
Amendments narrowly and that a widespread network of laws and custom
treating blacks and whites differently would not be disturbed. One justice,
John Marshall Harlan, dissented from the decision, arguing that "the
Constitution is color-blind."
Almost 60 years later the Court changed its mind. In Brown the court held
that deliberately segregated public schools violated the Fourteenth
Amendment's equal protection clause. Although the Court did not directly
overrule its Plessy decision, Justice Harlan's view of the Constitution was
vindicated. The 1954 ruling applied directly only to schools in the city of
Topeka, Kansas, but the principle it articulated reached every public
school in the nation. More than that, the case undermined segregation in
all governmental endeavors and set the nation on a new course of treating
all citizens alike.
The Brown decision caused consternation among some citizens, particularly
in the South, but was eventually accepted as the law of the land. Other
controversial Supreme Court decisions have not received the same degree of
acceptance. In several cases between 1962 and 1985, for example, the Court
decided that requiring students to pray or listen to prayer in public
schools violated the Constitution's prohibition against establishing a
religion. Critics of these decisions believe that the absence of prayer in
public schools has contributed to a decline in American morals; they have
tried to find ways to restore prayer to the schools without violating the
Constitution. In Roe v. Wade (1973), the Court guaranteed women the right
to have abortions in certain circumstances -- a decision that continues to
offend those Americans who consider abortion to be murder. Because the Roe
v. Wade decision was based on an interpretation of the Constitution,
opponents have been trying to amend the Constitution to overturn it.
POLITICAL PARTIES AND ELECTIONS
Americans regularly exercise their democratic rights by voting in
elections and by participating in political parties and election campaigns.
Today, there are two major political parties in the United States, the
Democratic and the Republican. The Democratic Party evolved from the party
of Thomas Jefferson, formed before 1800. The Republican Party was
established in the 1850s by Abraham Lincoln and others who opposed the
expansion of slavery into new states then being admitted to the Union.
The Democratic Party is considered to be the more liberal party, and the
Republican, the more conservative. Democrats generally believe that
government has an obligation to provide social and economic programs for
those who need them. Republicans are not necessarily opposed to such
programs but believe they are too costly to taxpayers. Republicans put more
emphasis on encouraging private enterprise in the belief that a strong
private sector makes citizens less dependent on government.
Both major parties have supporters among a wide variety of Americans and
embrace a wide range of political views. Members, and even elected
officials, of one party do not necessarily agree with each other on every
issue. Americans do not have to join a political party to vote or to be a
candidate for public office, but running for office without the money and
campaign workers a party can provide is difficult.
Minor political parties -- generally referred to as "third parties" --
occasionally form in the United States, but their candidates are rarely
elected to office. Minor parties often serve, however, to call attention to
an issue that is of concern to voters, but has been neglected in the
political dialogue. When this happens, one or both of the major parties may
address the matter, and the third party disappears.
At the national level, elections are held every two years, in even-
numbered years, on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in
November. State and local elections often coincide with national elections,
but they also are held in other years and can take place at other times of
year.
Americans are free to determine how much or how little they become
involved in the political process. Many citizens actively participate by
working as volunteers for a candidate, by promoting a particular cause, or
by running for office themselves. Others restrict their participation to
voting on election day, quietly letting their democratic system work,
confident that their freedoms are protected.
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