The US system of government

In our last newsletter we have finished the chapter about the probably most famous intelligence agency in the world. Now we would like to tell you about an even more important part of the power apparatus - the office of president and US Congress and the way the two are working together. By the way, an important factor also where immigration law is concerned.

The US President The Americans like to refer to the traditions of their constitutional development. Where the president is concerned, the power of the tradition can be documented with the text of the US Constitution, that hasn't been changed significantly for the past 200 years where the president's duties are concerned. Nevertheless, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson would hardly be able to recognize their job - unwritten constitutional law, rulings of the Supreme Court and dynamics of history have changes the job.

There are already significant differences in the selection of people suitable for this office. The only thing that remains is the length of term in office, which is office, no citizen should be the head of state for more than eight years.

The primaries The president is being elected by the so-called electors. In every state, the people choose as many electors as they are sending representatives two Congress, so at least three (two Senators and one Representative). There are 538 electors altogether, 100 for the Senators and 438 for the members of the House of Representatives.

All the votes of one state are given to the candidate who received the majority of votes in that state. It is important to win especially those states who have the most electors, such as California, Texas, New York and Illinois. That's why the candidates are investing a lot in their campaigns in those states.

The character of the presidential elections has changed significantly, today the parties are presenting lists of electors in the states.

The electors are chosen by the public as Democrats or Republicans and they are obligated to confirm the candidate who has been chosen by their party. Some states have already included these regulations in their constitution, in order to avoid any kind of deviation.

Originally, the candidates were nominated by Congress factions. Later, this right was transferred to the party conventions. By now most of the states are holding primaries, which usually require a lot of effort and media coverage that makes many Europeans doubt the seriousness of the process.

It differs from state to state just how binding these primaries are - in some states, the delegates must vote for the winner on the national convention, for other states, the delegates may vote differently since the primaries are more like a general poll.

Due to the extensive media coverage of the primaries that makes them a real show, certain dynamics have developed that the national conventions cannot ignore.

Before the national conventions meet in summer, the public has already made up their mind about a front runner, quite often even outsiders, well covered by the media, have been moved into the spotlight, e.g. Jimmy Carter in 1976. Even a national convention cannot ignore these facts, if it doesn't want to endanger its party's chances of winning.

Competencies and functions The "most powerful job in the world" is rooted in the diversity of its responsibilities - the president is the head of state and the head of government at the same time, the head of administration of all federal authorities, commander in chief of the US Army, highest diplomat of his country, and also, according to one of the most important constitutional principles of checks and balances, he has veto power for legislative processes. Far too much work, really, to leave the Oval Office at 5pm already (which seems to be what George W. Bush is doing at present).

The office holder is to seek cooperation with US Congress, and convince it to decide according to White House policy. This is difficult if majorities there are changing (as reported recently).

As the head of government, he has duties comparable to those of the German chancellor - he decided on policy guidelines and has to make his own domestic and foreign policy decisions.

Find more on this topic on www.whitehouse.gov and www.uscongress.com

(More about the political structure of the US in our next newsletter.)