United States of America are presidentialrepublic. The main feature of their political system is the separation of powers into three types: executive, legislative and judicial. This structure allows you to maintain a balance in the country.
Initially, all power in the country was in the handsConstitutional Congress of the USA (1774). A separate leader of the country did not exist at that time, and the US Parliament (Congress) elected a president from among its members, whose role, however, was small — he was only the chairman of the voting. Only in 1787, the United States acquired the status of a presidential republic, and the president became the country's chief executive. The head of the United States represented the federal executive in the country. The power of the head of state was supported and strengthened by the Constitution adopted two years later.
To balance the US power systemthere is its division into three branches: executive, legislative and judicial. Each structure has the ability to influence the activities of other authorities, which allows to achieve maximum balance. The first US Congress in its present form was convened in 1789. A year later, he moved to the Washington State Capitol building.
The US Congress, or Parliament, represents the legislative power in the country. Its structure includes two links:
Elections to both structures are held in secret. Members of structures may not be dissolved before their term expires.
She is elected for a term of two years, and her numbermembers is 435 people. The number of members depends on the number of districts in America, with places distributed in proportion to the population. The change in the number of representatives from the state occurs every ten years and only according to the census results. There are certain requirements for a member of the Chamber: he must be at least 25 years old, have American citizenship for at least seven years, and reside in the state whose representative he wants to become.
The Senate is formed for a term of six years, butevery two years part of its composition is updated. Representatives are elected by two people from the state, and the number of its population does not matter. The requirements for senators are more stringent than for representatives of the House. A senator may be a US citizen (who has been a citizen for at least nine years), who has reached thirty years old and resides in a state whose interests he intends to represent.
The US National Congress gives its membersspecial status and rights. They have immunity, which is valid only during the meetings, on the way to them, as well as back. There are exceptions to this privilege: treason, a criminal offense and a violation of public order. Members of the US Congress are also not responsible for their statements and votes. But there are exceptions here too, disciplinary measures can be applied to them, such as reprimand, reprimand, deprivation of seniority status, expulsion from the composition.
The US Parliament empowers its memberswhich does not oblige them to anything before the voters, because they represent the interests of the nation. However, in reality, re-election of members is held by voting of ordinary citizens, therefore, their opinion has to be considered.
The legislature empowers its members andother privileges. All parliamentarians receive wages, free use of a large number of medical services, as well as some other services. They are provided with office space for living, as well as pension maintenance. The calculation of the pension of a member of parliament is made on the basis of his seniority.
Each house of Congress has its own internalstructure. The House of Representatives is headed by the speaker, who is elected at the first session. The US Parliament gives it a wide range of powers. The speaker is the third person in the entire state (the 1st is the president, the 2nd is the chairman of the Supreme Court). So, he appoints disciplinary measures, determines the main issues of the meeting, gives the right to vote to deputies. The voice of the speaker is decisive with equal votes.
The main person in the Senate is the Vice President.During his absence, his temporary deputy is chosen (in fact, the deputy is the main actor). It is the link between the executive and the legislature. The Vice President chairs some meetings, forwards bills to certain committees, signs and approves bills. He also has a decisive vote in the event of a controversial issue, otherwise the vice-president does not vote.
A session is held annually, which begins atbeginning of the year and lasts more than six months, with interruptions. As a rule, the meeting of the chambers takes place separately, but there are exceptions. These meetings are often held openly, which does not preclude the holding of a secret meeting, if necessary. The meeting is considered to be held when a majority is reached.
Further links of the structure of the chambers are their committees. There are two types of them:
There are 22 standing committees in the Houserepresentatives and 17 in the Senate. The number of committees is determined by the supreme law of the country (the Constitution). Each of the committees deals with a separate issue (medicine, economy, national defense, finance, etc.). The chairmen of the standing committees are representatives of the majority party with the most seniority and experience in the Congress.
Special committees are created only whenof necessity. These may be cases of investigating specific issues of government activity or solving problems. They meet anytime, anywhere. Witnesses can be invited to meetings and the required documents can be requested. After solving all the issues, special committees are subject to dissolution.
The US Congress includes two main parties:
Обе эти партии образуют свои фракции, во главе who are selected leaders. In the faction, committees are created in various directions, and there are party organizers. They represent the interests of the faction members and oversee the observance of the rules in the House. The Republican Party and the Democratic Party promote the appointment of committees, election campaigns and support for the initiatives of members of parliament.
The US legislature has a wide range of powers. They can be divided into two groups:
General powers are exercised by both chambers.Parliament. They include: finance (taxes, fees, loans, debts, exchange rates, and others), economics (trade, patent and copyright, bankruptcy, science and crafts, and others), defense and foreign policy (war, army, and others) , public order (police, insurrection and uprising, and others). Also to the general powers include issues of citizenship, federal courts and some others.
Special congressional powers are exercised.each of its chambers separately. The chambers have their own functions, each of which solves its own tasks (for example, the House of Representatives sometimes has the right to elect a president, and the Senate sometimes decides on the guilt and innocence of a citizen).
The legislative process begins with the introductionbill for consideration by Congress. In order to speed up its consideration, it is possible to introduce a bill for simultaneous consideration by both chambers. In each of the Houses of Parliament bill passes through three main stages of consideration. Moreover, there is an additional stage - consideration by the committee.
During the first reading the bill is justsubmitted for consideration, then it is transferred to the ad hoc committee dealing with this area, or even several committees at the same time. Here the document is deeply studied, amended and supplemented. If the majority of committee members approves the bill, then it passes for further consideration.
The second reading is the announcement of the text of the draft law, the possibility and necessity of amending and supplementing it.
On the third reading, an improved version is announced.the final version of the bill, after which a vote is announced. If the first chamber passed the bill, then it can be passed on to the next instance. In the next chamber is the same procedure of consideration. If there is no consensus between the chambers, a conciliation committee is created that helps to find a solution that will suit both parties. Even if this did not help and a unanimous opinion was not formed, the bill should be rejected. With the approval of the bill by both chambers, he moves to the final stage - the signing by the president. After this procedure, the bill is considered adopted and is subject to publication.
The US Parliament has a wide range of powers.His activity is not limited to the creation and approval of laws, he is also involved in the adoption of resolutions. These can be simple resolutions, joint and coincident. Simple determine the activities of the chamber and are accepted only by its members, after which they are subject to approval by the President of the United States. Joint resolutions are subject to review and vote by both chambers. The coinciding are accepted by the two chambers of Congress at once regarding their relationship.
The role of Congress in the USA is huge.It is not just a legislature. Parliament affects the defense of the country. Its status greatly exceeds the role of the Pentagon, which is forced not only to reckon with the opinion of parliamentarians, but also to obey them in all. This greatly weakens the military power of America. For example, in order to make a decision on the creation of a new weapon or military transport, the military must prove to the members of Congress this necessity and all the advantages of such a decision. At the same time, parliamentarians do not have a clue about the intricacies of military policy, the specifics of weapons and the organization of weapons in general. The bulk of the members of the congress has a law degree. The military has to do massive publicity and arrange entire representations in order to win over a greater number of votes. This procedure has its drawbacks. First of all, this is making secret decisions to hear such a large circle of people. This makes it impossible to keep the appearance of new products secret. Secondly, parliamentarians, not having a special education, look not at the real need, but at a brighter speech of the representative. Thirdly, the same situation is with the resolution of military conflicts.
