political system in usa essay

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Understanding the United States political system

Fifty states, 9,833,520 square kilometers of area, over 32 crores of people and gazillion of ethnicities – understanding anything about the United states of America, can be a daunting task. This article is going to break down the political structure of the mammoth country, into simple, understandable parts.

USA is the second largest democracy in the world(the largest being India), in terms of the size of electorate. The government consists of 3 branches, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. Power is distributed between the three branches, so that there is no concentration of power in an individual’s hand.

A. The US Congress

The term for the legislative body, is ‘Congress’ (like the British Parliament ). The country has  a bicameral legislature, which means there are 2 houses. The upper house is called the Senate and the lower house, the House of Representatives.  The primary duty of the legislature is to make laws that govern the country. Law making is the primary duty of the US Congress.

The upper chamber, known as the Senate, is presided by the Vice-President of the state. In order to be able to become a member of the Senate, the eligibility criteria is : one has to (a) be at least 30 years of age (b) have been a US citizen for at least nine years (c) live in the state he/she wishes to be elected from.

The house consists of 100 senators (2 from each of the 50 states), voted directly by voters from every state. Each state has equal representation in the Senate, irrespective of population size or area. Elected members serve for a term of 6 years and there is no limit on the number of terms a person can serve as a Senator.

Some of the major powers of the Senate are:

♣ Key role in impeachment proceedings against the President/Vice-President

♣ Power to declare war

♣ Power to choose the Vice-President in case of a tied electoral college

The House of the Representatives

Eligibility criteria for membership in the lower house includes (a) minimum 25 years of age (b) 7 years of US citizenship (c) residency in the state from which one wishes to contest. An elected member known as delegate,  serves for a term of 2 years.

Unlike the Senate, the allocation of seats is based on the size of the population within the states and the distribution is reapportioned every 10 years. However, each state is given at least one seat. The number of seats in the lower chamber is 435. In addition, the house has 5 non voting delegates from District of Columbia, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands and a resident commissioner for Puerto Rico, bringing the formal number to 441.

It functions hand-in-hand with the Senate, as for a Bill to be passed, it requires the approval of both the chambers.

B. The Executive

The term for the executive branch is ‘ cabinet’.  It is headed by the elected President. The cabinet members are nominated by the President and presented to the Senate for confirmation/rejection. After confirmation, members are sworn in and take charge. The role of the cabinet is to advise the President on various matters. The current cabinet includes vice-president Mike Pence along with heads of 15 executive departments (commerce,defence,education……etc…), the White House Chief of Staff and heads of the Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Management and Budget, United States Trade Representative, United States Mission to the United Nations, and Small Business Administration.

C. The Judiciary

There exist 3 levels of courts in the country, with the Supreme Court being the highest court. Under the Supreme Court come the Courts of Appeal and then, the district courts.

The members of the court are appointed for lifetime and are removed only through impeachment or resignation.

The Constitution

Created on September 17, 1787 and effective from June 21, 1788, the US constitution is the longest standing in the world. With 7 articles and just 27 amendments , it is also one of the shortest constitutions in the world. The very few number of amendments in almost over two decades, stems from the fact that it is very difficult to introduce/amend an article in the constitution. This is because of the distribution of power among the three branches. No individual can be a part of more than one branch. The varying term lengths of members of different branches further makes it difficult to make amendments to the constitution.

The President

The US is a presidential democracy. The president, also known as the POTUS (President of the United States), is the head of the state and the government. He/she is also the commander-in-chief of the military. The eligibility criteria to contest for president include (a) minimum 35 years of age (b) natural-born citizen of the US (c) must have lived in the US for a minimum of 14 years.

An elected president serves for a term of 4 years. The number of terms one can serve as president, is limited to 2. America is perhaps one of the very few countries where the head of state is not directly elected by the people. The president is elected by an electoral college consisting of a combination of Senators and delegates. People vote their ‘electors’ , who in turn cast their votes for President and Vice-President.

The total number of electors in the electoral college is 538. So, in order to win, a candidate must win a minimum of 270 seats. What might sound strange to a non-American is, it is possible that a candidate wins majority of votes nationwide but still not become the President, owing to failure in garnering majority of votes in electoral college. the most recent occurrence of this, was in the 2016 Presidential elections, where Hillary Clinton lost.

Some noteworthy facts about the US President are –

(a) The US has never had a woman President since their first election in 1788. (a little over 2 centuries!)

(b) Barack Obama was the first and only black President of the US

(c) John F Kennedy was the only Catholic President.

The Major Political Parties

Although there are several minor parties, the 2 major parties in the US are – the Democrat and the Republican parties. The Republican party, is known for its conservative, right leaning ideologies whereas the Democrat party is known as the party of the ‘liberals’ . The current president, Donald J Trump, is from the Republican party. The previous president, Barack Obama was a democrat. Some states like Texas and Tennessee are firmly Republican while some others, like California or New York are firmly Democrat. The other states, known as swing states are concentrated upon, during the elections, in order to get a majority.

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1. democracy and government, the u.s. political system, elected officials and governmental institutions.

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say U.S. democracy is working at least somewhat well, and less likely to say government is in need of sweeping changes.

And far more Republicans than Democrats say the U.S. political system is “best in the world” or “above average” when compared with political systems of other developed nations.

Overall, about six-in-ten Americans say democracy is working well in the U.S. today (18% very well, 40% somewhat well); four-in-ten say it is not working well (27% not too well and 13% not at all well).

About seven-in-ten (72%) Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say U.S. democracy is working very or somewhat well, compared with 48% of Democrats and Democratic leaners. Relatively small shares in both parties (30% of Republicans and just 7% of Democrats) say democracy in the U.S. is working very well.

By roughly two-to-one (68% to 31%), Democrats say significant changes are needed, while Republicans are divided (50% to 49%) over whether or not extensive changes are needed.

Although the view that significant changes are needed is widely held, those with higher levels of political engagement are less likely to say this than people who are less politically engaged.

Overall, those with high levels of political engagement and participation are split over whether significant changes are needed or not (51% vs. 48%). Views that the American system of government needs far-reaching reforms are more widespread among those with lower levels of engagement: 60% of those with a moderate level of engagement say this, along with 71% of those who are relatively unengaged with politics.

This pattern is evident within both partisan coalitions: 40% of Republicans and Republican leaners who are highly engaged with politics say the fundamental design and structure of American government needs significant reform, compared with 60% of low-engagement Republicans. Similarly, while a 57% majority of highly engaged Democrats and Democratic leaners say significant changes are needed, that share rises to 78% of the least politically engaged Democrats.

Whites (54%) are less likely than blacks (70%) and Hispanics (76%) to say the government needs significant change, but the three groups have similar assessments of American democracy’s performance.

There also are significant age gaps over whether extensive change is needed to the structure and design of government, with 66% of adults younger than 50 saying this, compared with 58% of those ages 50 to 64 and 50% of those 65 and older. But age groups differ little in their evaluations of how well democracy is functioning.

Educational groups also differ little in their overall opinions of how well democracy is working. But those without a bachelor’s degree (65%) are more likely to say the government needs significant change than those with a college degree (54%) or a postgraduate degree (45%).

Americans give their political system mixed grades

Several other national institutions and aspects of life in the U.S. are more highly rated than the political system. Nearly eight-in-ten (79%) say the U.S. military is either above average or the best in the world compared with militaries in other developed nations – with 38% calling it best in the world.

Larger shares also say the U.S. standard of living, colleges and universities, scientific achievements and economy are at least above average internationally than say that about the political system. Only the nation’s health care system (30% best in the world or above average) and public schools (18%) are rated lower.

Republicans and Republican-leaning independents generally give the U.S. better marks for its performance on these issues than Democrats and Democratic leaners. About six-in-ten Republicans say the country’s political system is above average or the best in the world (58%), compared with about a quarter of Democrats (27%). Republicans also give the country much higher marks than Democrats on its standard of living, health care and economy.

Today, Republicans are about twice as likely as Democrats to say the U.S. political system is above average or the best in the world (58% vs. 27%).

In 2014, about four-in-ten members of both parties gave the political system a positive rating (37% of Republicans, 36% of Democrats); in 2009, identical shares of Republicans and Democrats (52% each) said the U.S. political system was at least above average.

Partisan divides are growing in other areas as well. For example, 61% of Republicans and just 38% of Democrats describe the U.S. economy as best in the world or above average. Partisan differences in these assessments were much more modest in 2014 and 2009.

Little public confidence in elected officials

That is by far the lowest level of confidence in the six groups included in the survey. Large majorities say they have a great deal or fair amount of confidence in the military (80%) and scientists (79%). In addition, higher shares express confidence in religious leaders (49%), business leaders (44%) and the news media (40%).

Overall public confidence in these groups is little changed since 2016, but in some cases – including elected officials – the views among Republicans and Democrats have shifted.

The partisan gap in confidence in the news media also has widened considerably. Today, 58% of Democrats and just 16% of Republicans are confident in the news media to act in the public interest. Since 2016, the share expressing at least a fair amount of confidence in the news media has increased 12 percentage points among Democrats, while falling 13 points among Republicans.

And more Republicans have confidence in business leaders than did so two years (62% now, 51% then). Far fewer Democrats express confidence in business leaders (32%), and their views are little changed from two years ago.

Republicans also express more confidence in the military (92%) than do Democrats (73%), and the gap has not changed much since 2016.

State, local governments viewed more favorably than federal government

Views of federal, state and local government have changed little over the past decade. Favorable opinions of the federal government have fallen significantly since peaking in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Today, 44% of Republicans and Republican leaners have a favorable opinion of the federal government, compared with 28% of Democrats and Democratic leaners. In 2015, views of the federal government were reversed: 45% of Democrats had a favorable view versus 18% of Republicans. Republicans’ and Democrats’ views of the federal government also flipped between 2008 and 2009, when Barack Obama won the presidency.

There are much smaller partisan differences in favorability toward states and local government. Majorities in both parties (61% of Republicans, 55% of Democrats) have favorable impressions of their state government; similar shares in both parties (69% of Republicans, 68% of Democrats) view their local governments favorably.

Views of Congress and the Supreme Court

Two-thirds of the public says they view the court favorably, and about three-in-ten (28%) hold unfavorable views. The share of the public saying it has a favorable view of the Supreme Court has increased 18 percentage points since 2015 (48%).

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About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .