Roaming South America

The Government System of the USA

September 24, 2019

The Government System in the USA

This document will shed some light on the various levels of government in the USA. It is intended for people who do not live in the USA and have questions or have wondered just what the government setup in the US is.

Let's begin with this - the USA is not a democracy. It is not a republic. The constitution set up the government as a federal republic. Under this system of government, ultimate power is with the citizens. This power is the right to choose their representatives through the democratic process of voting. In the United States the federal government makes decisions for the nation as a whole, but is limited by checks and balances and by the powers of other levels of government.

A brief history: In October 1774, all the colonies, except the colony of Georgia, convened a convention (The First Continental Congress, September 5 - October 26) to come to an agreement in regards to England and the relationship between England and the colonies. Up until this time the colonies were not tied to one another in any way, they were all independent of each other. The problem was that they didn't all agree on what to do - let England continue to rule over "America" or not. But, they all agreed that they needed to share their grievances with the King of England.

The Second Continental Congress began on May 10 looking for agreement on what to do about the British hostilities towards the new American colonies. At this time there was still no majority for separation from Britain, they were still wanting to find peace with the King and they declared their loyalty to the Crown. However, things didn't go well and the Britons hired mercenaries to try to get control of the colonists. From here, relations just turned worse. Even so, the colonists were not keen on the idea of breaking off from the King. They actually preferred life under the rule of Britain, and the colonists were more prosperous than the average Briton.

In January 1776 the book, Common Sense, was published anonymously (though it was actually written by Thomas Paine). In his book, he wrote about two main points: (1) independence from England and (2) the creation of a democratic republic. It was an instant best seller with about 120,000 copies printed, in 1776!

For over a year there had been bloodshed brought by the British, people of the colonies were being stirred up to the point of rebellion and looking for changes. On June 7, 1776 Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution to the Congress that declared the thirteen colonies "free and independent states." However, Congress did not act on the resolution immediately. Instead, they planned to vote on it in early July. They needed to write a document that would explain their intentions. On June 11 five men - Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman, and Thomas Jefferson - worked out a short document that would declare the independence of America from Britain. On June 28 they presented it to Congress. The Congress did not agree immediately, instead they had to spend a few days discussing the situation, eventually they got a unanimous vote, on July 2. On July 4, 1776, the Congress officially adopted the final version of the Declaration of Independence.

The Revolutionary War was fought from 1775 until 1783. On September 3, 1783, the war was ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, with England finally recognizing the sovereignty of the United States.

I mentioned at the beginning that the US is a Federal Republic. What does "Federal" mean?

• Federalism describes the system of shared governance between national and state governments.
• The states and the federal government have both exclusive and concurrent powers, which help to explain the negotiation over the balance of power between them.
• The federal government can encourage the adoption of policies at the state-level through federal aid programs.

In the United States, the two major layers of government are at the state and national levels. This system, where more than one layer of government has jurisdiction over the same territory, is called federalism. Although it seems natural to US citizens that government is divided into multiple layers, in fact, there are only 15 federal republics in the world.

In the United States, the federalist system emerged because the states evolved from separate colonies. The writers of the Constitution envisioned that state governments, not the national government, would be the main unit of government for citizens on a day-to-day basis.

In some ways, that's still the case. States issue marriage licenses and set the terms for divorce. State governments issue driver's licenses (which also serve as our ID card, or if a person has no driver's license they would get an ID card that typically looks the same), and car registrations. The states decide statewide speed limits and inspection requirements for cars. And much more.

States conduct all elections, even presidential elections, and must ratify constitutional amendments. So long as their laws do not contradict national laws, state governments can prescribe policies on commerce, taxation, healthcare, education, and many other issues within their state.On the other hand, only the federal government can print money, regulate the mail, declare war, or conduct foreign affairs. The exclusive powers of the federal government help the nation operate as a unified whole.

Both the states and the federal government have the power to tax, make and enforce laws, charter banks, and borrow money.

There have been many instances of states pushing back against the federal government, sometimes successfully and sometimes not.

Federalism in the United States today is very complex. It's at the heart of many of our controversies of government today, such as who should control healthcare or education policy.

Democracy or Republic? The word "democracy" is nowhere to be found in the US Constitution or in the Declaration of Independence. A republic is a form of government where the interests of the people are represented by more knowledgeable or wealthier citizens who are responsible to those that elected them. A widespread criticism of representative democracy is that the representatives become the "elites" that seldom consult ordinary citizens, so even though they are elected, a truly representative government doesn't really exist. The founding fathers of the USA preferred the word "republic" over the word "democracy", but in today's world those two words are used interchangeably. Although it is not mentioned in the Declaration of Independence nor the Constitution, democracy clearly links to "rule of law" to form a basic principle that profoundly shapes American government.The highest leader of the country holds the title "President of the United States of America", often shortened to "the President of the US" or just "the President".

We also have the Congress - the House of Representatives and the Senate. In the US we elect our Senator, Representatives, and President. The sole responsibility of the Congress is to make laws. The President does not have the direct power to pass legislation. Congress limits the President's powers. The Constitution ensures that the lawmaking process in Congress is not easily taken by the power of a few powerful people, it also places checks on the power of both Congress and the President.

The founders of the USA did not intend to create a powerful presidency. They saw the presidency as a "necessary evil," or an executive to carry out and coordinate decisions made by Congress.

The first President, George Washington, shaped what the presidency would become - that the President should be wise, moderate, dignified, and nonpartisan. The President had to be sensitive to treading on individual rights and liberties.

The powers that the President holds include:

• Military. The President is also the Commander in Chief of the armed services. The President is a civilian, and the founding fathers did not want a military general seizing the government.
• Diplomat. The President was given the power to make treaties with foreign nations, but not without the "advice and consent" of the Senate. Two-thirds of the senators must agree to a treaty the President signs, and if they do not, the treaty is not valid.
• Appointment. The Constitution gives the President the responsibility to appoint "Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States." Again, the Senate must give its "advice and consent," so that all appointments are confirmed by a majority of the Senators voting.
• Legislative. The President was given the power to veto legislation. Every bill that passes both houses of Congress must be submitted to the President, although Congress can get around the President in several ways. If the President fails to sign the bill within ten days, it becomes law anyway. Also, Congress may override a presidential veto by a vote of two-thirds of each house.

Several Presidents have extended their powers beyond those given by the constitution, including:

• Andrew Jackson (rewarded loyal followers with presidential appointments)
• Abraham Lincoln (suspended the right to an appearance in court, jailed people suspected of disloyalty, ignored Congress and increased the size of the army, ordered blockades of southern ports without Congressional approval)
• Theodore Roosevelt (sent messages to Congress telling them of his legislative powers, developed international relations on his own)
• Woodrow Wilson (helped Congress formulate bills, took a leading role in international affairs).
• Franklin Roosevelt (elected President four times)(regulated the economy through The New Deal, led the country through foreign affairs)
• Harry Truman (wrested the power to wage war away from Congress and sent thousands of US troops to the Korean Peninsula and the US lost 30,000 troops, Congress labeled it a "police action"). And this continued with Lynden B. Johnson sending troops to Vietnam, Nixon sending troops to Cambodia, and Clinton sending troops to Bosnia. All without Congressional approval.

In today's world, our democracy, our republic, has become a soft monarchy. And that's what our current President wants - he wants to be the supreme ruler of the nation.

The levels of government in the USA

Our government is divided into three divisions: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.

At the Federal level:

The Executive Branch includes the Office of the President, the office of the Vice President, and the Cabinet. The Cabinet consists of the heads of 15 different departments. The Senate must approve all of them. A couple of these departments include the Department of Defense and the Department of Education. Each of the department heads has the title Secretary, like Secretary of Defense or Secretary of Education, except for the head of the Justice Department who is called the Attorney General.

The Legislative Branch, also called the Congress, consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress writes and votes on laws (also called legislation). Other powers of the Congress include declaring war, confirming Presidential appointments for groups like the Supreme Court and the Cabinet, and the power to investigate anyone, including the President.

The Judicial Branch of the government is made up of judges and courts. Federal judges are not elected by the people. They are appointed by the president and then confirmed by the Senate. The Supreme Court is the highest level of court in the US. The next level below is the Court of Appeals (there are 13 of these). And, below them are the 94 District Courts.

The Founding Fathers were very leery about the government they left behind and wanted to make the new one very different and very much in the hands of the people. They created the three branches that were equal so they could check and balance each other. Below this Federal level the States were given a lot of leeway in how they could set up their own governments.

At the State level:

Each state has its own constitution that includes the laws of the state that are not covered by the federal government. The 10th amendment to the US Constitution specifies that all powers not granted to the federal government are given to the states and the people.

Today, all the state governments are modeled after the federal government. They each have three branches of government including the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches.

State and local governments handle many of the systems that we use and come into contact with on a daily basis. These include schools, police departments, fire departments, libraries, parks, and more.

The Executive Branch is the governor. Other parts of the executive branch may include the lieutenant governor, attorney general, and the secretary of state.

The Legislative Branch makes the laws for the state, handles the budget, and levies taxes. All of the states except Nebraska have a two-house legislature, similar to the US Congress. Nebraska has only one.

The Judicial Branch has a State Supreme Court and below that are the lower courts. There are also the Trial Courts handle lesser cases such as traffic fines, divorces, murders, etc. And, if a case is appealed it will be sent to an Appeals Court.

At the Local Level:

Below the state government is the local government. There are separate levels of government here.

At the first level is the county government. Sometimes these are called boroughs or parishes.

Then there is the level called the township, but that is found in only about half of the states. And, in the states that do have townships that serve different purposes. In some states township might be simply another name for town or city, while in other states township might be a subdivision of a country.

The next level is "special districts". These are political areas, not physical areas, used for collecting special taxes or particular districts such as school districts, water districts, etc.

And finally we find the city or town (municipalities). An area can become a municipality only when it has been granted such authority by the State. The powers and responsibilities between counties and cities can vary widely from state to state. In some states, there is almost no county government; in other states the county is an important part and may be responsible for things as important as funding schools. Cities, or municipalities, often take care of things like police and fire departments, local courts, public transportation, streets, signs, and parks.

The organization of state and local governments varies widely across the United States. They have common specific features, but their organizations differ. Regardless of their design, state and local governments often have a far greater impact on people's lives than the federal government. Marriage, birth, and death certificates. School policies. Driving age and qualifications for licensure. Laws regarding theft, rape, and murder, as well as the primary responsibility of protecting citizens from criminals. These critical issues and many others are not decided by distant Washington authorities, but by state and local officials.

What is a county?

Every state is subdivided into smaller political regions called counties. Each county is made up of a number of cities and towns. County representatives are elected by citizens of the county and meet as "boards" to organize county affairs. County governments can levy taxes, such as property tax, on citizens. In many cases, the county is also responsible for organizing public education throughout the county, though in some states education is handled on a city level.

At the end of it all, we have a structure like this:

Municipality (towns/cities) - Counties - States - Federal Government