Chapter 11 The Government and Political Parties ◎Learning objectives: After completing this part, students should familiarize themselves with the government and some major political parties in the US.

◎Focal points: 1. The Legislative Branch 2. The Executive Branch 3. The Judicial Branch 4. The Political Parties 5. The Elections

1. The Government The United States is a federal union of 50 states, with the District of Columbia as the seat of the federal government. The US political system was established on the basis of three main principles: federalism, the separation of powers and respect for the constitution and the rules of the laws.

Separation of powers Separation of powers means the constitutional division of powers among the legislative, executive and judicial branches in order to prevent abuse of power.

1.1 The Legislative The American Congress is the legislative branch(立法分支) of the federal government, consisting of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The central function of Congress is to make federal laws.

1.1.1 The Senate

1.1.1 The Senate The Senate had 100 senators. Representation in the Senate is based in the principle of state equality. The senator serves a six-year term, and each state, whether it is big or small, has two senators. The Senate is a more prestigious body than the House of Representatives.

1.1.2 The House of Representative

1.1.2 The House of Representative The House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress. Each state receives representation in the House in proportion to its population but is entitled to at least one Representative.

◎Question to ponder: Why is The Senate a more prestigious body than the House of Representatives? Hints 

Because the Senate is smaller and its members serve longer terms

1.1.3 Legislative Procedure the House or the Senate committees subcommittees The President chairman

◎Question to ponder: Could you summerize the law-making procedure?

1.2 The Executive The executive branch of the federal government is officially known as the Administration. The Constitution established the executive branch is headed by President. In America, the executive branch consists of 14 department and many independent agencies.

1.2.1 The President The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The President leads the executive branch of the federal government and is one of only two nationally elected federal officers, the other being the Vice President of the United States.

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office.

The powers and responsibilities the Commander-in-chief of the US armed forces raise, train, supervise, and deploy American troops the appointment power big influence in law-making But the power of President is also limited by the Congress and the Senate

1.2.2 The Cabinet The Cabinet is the major source of advice and assistance to the President The Cabinet is made up of the heads of the major departments and other persons chosen by the President.

1.2.3 The Organization of Executive Branch The White House Office The National Security Council (NSC) The Council of Economic Advisors The Office of Management and Budget

1.3 The Judicial The U. S. judicial branch refers to the federal law court that is composed of three levels: the Supreme Court, the courts of Appeals, and the district courts.

1.3.1 The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court, which is the highest court in the federal system, is the only court created by the U.S. Constitution. It has one chief justice and eight associate justices. They are appointed by President with the consent of the Senate. They serve for life, but their powers can be limited by the President and Congress, and can be removed by impeachment.

1.3.2 The Court of Appeals The United States courts of appeals (or circuit courts) are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system.They have been established to share the work of the Supreme Court. Now the whole country is divided into 12 appeal regions called as “circuits”, and each region has a Court of Appeal.

1.3.3 The District Courts The District Court is the lowest court of the federal judicial system. There are 94 federal judicial districts, including at least one district in each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Each federal judicial district has at least one courthouse, and many districts have more than one.

2. The Political Parties and Elections

2. 1 The Political Parties The United States has a two-party system, and they are the Democrats and the Republicans.

2.1.1 The Democratic Party Facts and Figures: evolved from Anti-Federalist factions in the early 1790s currently the nation's largest party favored farmers, laborers, labor unions, and religious and ethnic minorities opposed unregulated business and finance, and favored progressive income taxes

2.1.2 The Republican Party Facts and Figures: founded in 1854 as an anti-slavery party came to power in 1860 with the election of Abraham Lincoln dominated American political scene for more than half a century represents the interests of big businesses and prosperous famers of the West

How did Democrat get the image of a donkey? ◎Kaleidoscope How did Democrat get the image of a donkey? Presidential candidate Andrew Jackson was the first Democrat ever to be associated with the donkey symbol. His opponents during the election of 1828 tried to label him a "jackass" for his populist beliefs and slogan, "Let the people rule." Jackson was entertained by the notion and ended up using it to his advantage on his campaign posters.

But cartoonist Thomas Nast is credited with making the donkey the recognized symbol of the Democratic Party. It first appeared in a cartoon in Harper's Weekly in 1870, and was supposed to represent an anti-Civil War faction. But the public was immediately taken by it and by 1880 it had already become the unofficial symbol of the party.

How did Republican get the image of an elephant? Political cartoonist Thomas Nast was also responsible for the Republican Party elephant. In a cartoon that appeared in Harper's Weekly in 1874, Nast drew a donkey clothed in lion's skin, scaring away all the animals at the zoo. One of those animals, the elephant, was labeled "The Republican Vote." That's all it took for the elephant to become associated with the Republican Party.

2.2 The Elections

2.2.1 Presidential Election There are many kinds of elections in the United States, but the most important is presidential election.

Election Day The general election is always held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, it’s called Election Day. This stage is to choose a slate of presidential electors in their state who make up the Electoral College. The number of the Electoral College is each state is equal to that of its senators and representatives in Congress.

“winner-take-all” principle There are now 538 presidential electors, 535 from 50 states and 3from Washington D. C. The candidate with the most votes in a state wins all of that state’s electoral votes(选举人票). This is known as the “winner-take-all” principle. There are 48 states that have a winner-takes-all rule. In these states, whichever candidate receives a majority of the vote, takes all of the State's electoral votes.

2.2.2 Congressional Elections The Senate is composed of two members from each state. Senators are elected to serve six-year terms; every two years one third of the Senate is up for reelection. Senators are elected directly by the boters of their state.

Members of the House are up for reelection every two years. Each state is divided into a corresponding number of congressional districts(选区). There is a representative for every congressional district, elected by the voters living in that district.

◎Questions to explore: 2008 witnessed the historic voter turnout in American elections. What happened? Who is the man in the picture? What is so special about him?