THE U.S.

LIFE AND INSTITUTIONS

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED

STATES OF AMERICA

By:
Johan C. Malendra

C11.2009.01021

Ririe Anggraini K.

C11.2009.01024

Mayantina Arafanti

C11.2009.01079

FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
DIAN NUSWANTORO UNIVERSITY

2012

GOVERNMENT

OF

THE

UNITED

STATES

OF

AMERICA
The government of the United States of America is the
federal government of the constitutional republic of fifty states
that constitute the United States, as well as one capitol district,
and

several

other

territories.

The

federal

government

is

composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive and

judicial, which powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the
Congress, the President, and the federal courts, including the
Supreme Court, respectively; the powers and duties of these
branches are further defined by acts of Congress, including the
creation of executive departments and courts inferior to the
Supreme Court.
The full name of the republic is "The United States of
America". No other name appears in the Constitution, and this is
the name that appears on money, in treaties, and in legal cases
to which it is a party (e.g., Charles T. Schenck v. United States).
The terms "Government of the United States of America" or
"United States Government" are often used in official documents
to represent the federal government as distinct from the states
collectively. In casual conversation or writing, the term "Federal
Government" is often used, and the term "National Government"
is sometimes used. The terms "Federal" and "National" in
government agency or program names generally indicates
affiliation with the federal government (e.g., Federal Bureau of
Investigation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
etc.). Because the seat of government is in Washington, D.C.,
"Washington" is commonly used as a metonym for the federal
government.

THE CONSTITUTION
An Outline of the Constitution

The Constitution sets out the basic principles upon which

government in the United States was built.

The Constitution is a fairly brief document.
The Constitution is organized into eight sections: the
Preamble and seven articles. The original document is
followed by 27 amendments.

Section
Preamble
Article I
Article II
Article III
Article IV
Article V
Article VI
Article VII
Articles of

Subject
States the purpose of the Constitution
Legislative branch
Executive branch
Judicial branch
Relations among the States and with the National
Government
Amending the Constitution
National debts, supremacy of national law, and oaths of office
Ratifying the Constitution
the Constitution

Three of the basic principle

1. The principle of popular sovereignty asserts that the
people are the source of any and all government power,
and government can exist only with the consent of the
governed.
2. The

principle

of

limited

government

states

that

government is restricted in what it may do, and each

individual has rights that government cannot take away.

3. Separation of powers is the principle in which the

executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government
are

three

independent

and

coequal

branches

of

government.
More of the Basic Principles

Checks and balances is the system that allows the

legislative, executive, and judicial branches to check, or
restrain, the actions of one another.

The principle of judicial review consists of the power of a

court to determine the constitutionality of a governmental
action.

Federalism is a system of government in which the

powers of government are divided between a central
government and several local governments

Amending the Constitution

The Constitution provides for its own amendmentthat is,

for changes in its written words.

Article V sets out two methods for the proposal and two
methods for the ratification of constitutional amendments,
creating four possible methods of formal amendment.

Formal Amendment Process

The four different ways by which amendments may be added to
the Constitution are shown here:

Amendments to the Constitution

Collectively, the first ten amendments are known as the Bill of
Rights. They set out many of the basic freedoms.

Informal Amendment Processes

Informal amendment is the process by which over time
many changes have been made in the Constitution which have
not involved any changes in its written word.
The informal amendment process can take place by:
(1) the passage of basic legislation by Congress;
(2) actions taken by the President;
(3) key decisions of the Supreme Court;
(4) the activities of political parties; and

(5) custom.

Executive Action and Court Decisions

Executive Action

Presidential actions have produced a number of important

informal amendments, such as the use of the military
under the power of commander in chief.

An executive agreement is a pact made by the President

directly with the head of a foreign state.

Court Decisions

The nations courts, most importantly the United States

Supreme Court, interpret and apply the Constitution in
many cases they hear.

THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

The United States of America today is a federation, or
association, of states The fifty states of the USA make one
independent nation But before 1776, the King of England ruled
thirteen colonies in America The colonists were angry with the
King because of taxes1 and in 1775 they started the war for their
independence from England The colonists won the war and then
the Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas
Jefferson and signed by the leaders of the former colonies in
Philadelphia on July 4,1776 Thus, a new nation was born and
another name for July 4th is Independence Day.
As the United States grew, more states joined the union
The last two states to join were Alaska and Hawaii Each state has
its own name, more than half of which have names of American
Indian origin Each state has a flag with colours that have a
special meaning for the state and is the symbol of the state.
About 250 million people live in the USA The people of the
USA come from all over the world They often named some

American cities after where they came from For example, in the
United States you find Paris, Rome, Delhi, and Frankfurt.
The USA as a union of states is ruled by the federal
government whose power is limited by the Constitution All other
powers belong to individual states The federal government has
three branches: the legislative, the executive and the judicial
Each branch has some control over the other two branches.
The legislative branch is called Congress It consists of the
Senate and the House of Representatives There are 100
senatorstwo from each state and 435 representatives; their
number from each state depends on the size of the state's
population.
The executive branch consists of the President, the Vice
President, the Cabinet and the thirteen Departments The
President has the power to reject any bill of Congress He also
appoints all Supreme Court Justices According to the US
Constitution, a President must be elected every four years and
can serve only two terms This became law in 1951 Before that,
the law was different In fact, Franklin Roosevelt had been
President for 12 years since 1933 till 1945.
The US President is not chosen by a direct vote of the
people He is elected by the Electoral College which is made of
538 electors It means that the candidate who wins a state's
popular vote usually gets all of the state's electoral votes The
election is always held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday
in November.
Traditionally, the candidates belong to one of the two main
political parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party

The Republicans tend to be more conservative and have more

support among the upper classes The Democrats tend to be
more liberal and have more support among the working class
people.
The first President of the USA was George Washington
Presidents of the USA were different people Among its 43
Presidents twenty-two were lawyers, four soldiers, four farmers,
four teachers, two writers, two busi nessmen, one tailor, and one
actor Eight of them did not have a college education.
The White House, the official home of the US President,
was not built in time for George Washington, its first President, to
live in Its construction was begun in 1792 and it was ready for its
first resident, President John Adams in 1800.
The judicial branch of the national government consists of
the Supreme Court, eleven Circuit Courts of Appeals, and ninetyfour District Courts This branch explains and interprets laws and
makes decisions in lawsuits It has power over the other two
branches

because

it

can

declare

their

law

and

actions

unconstitutional.

THE CONGRESS
Through legislative debate and compromise,
the U.S. Congress makes laws that influence
daily lives. It holds hearings to inform the
legislative process, conducts investigations to
oversee the executive branch, and serves as the voice of the
people and the states in the federal government.

What Congress Does

Congress

is

the

legislative

branch

of

the

federal

government that represents the American people and makes the

nation's laws. It shares power with the executive branch, led by
the president, and the judicial branch, whose highest body is the
Supreme Court of the United States. Of the three branches of
government, Congress is the only one elected directly by the
people.
Article Ithe longest article of the Constitutiondescribes
congressional powers. Congress has the power to:
a. Make laws
b. Declare war
c. Raise and provide public money and oversee its proper
expenditure
d. Impeach and try federal officers
e. Approve presidential appointments
f. Approve treaties negotiated by the executive branch
g. Oversight and investigations
Two Bodies, One Branch

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United
States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
The Constitution, Article I Section I - The Legislature
Congress

is

divided

into

two

institutions:

the

House

of

Representatives and the Senate. The two houses of Congress

have equal but unique roles in the federal government. While
they share legislative responsibilities, each house also has
special constitutional duties and powers.

To balance the interests of both the small and large states, the
Framers of the Constitution divided the power of Congress
between the two houses. Every state has an equal voice in the
Senate, while representation in the House of Representatives is
based on the size of each states population.
Known as the Great (or Connecticut) Compromise, this plan for
representation in Congress was introduced by Connecticut
delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Roger Sherman
and Oliver Ellsworth.
The Congress of the United States was created by Article I,
section 1, of the Constitution, adopted by the Constitutional
Convention on September 17, 1787, providing that "All legislative
Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the
United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of
Representatives." The first Congress under the Constitution met
on March 4, 1789, in the Federal Hall in New York City. The
membership

then

consisted

of

20

Senators

and

59

Representatives.
New York ratified the Constitution on July 26, 1788, but did not
elect its Senators until July 15 and 16, 1789. North Carolina did
not ratify the Constitution until November 21, 1789; Rhode Island
ratified it on May 29, 1790.
The Senate is composed of 100 Members, 2 from each State,
who are elected to serve for a term of 6 years.
Senators were originally chosen by the State legislatures. This
procedure was changed by the 17th amendment to the
Constitution, adopted in 1913, which made the election of
Senators a function of the people. There are three classes of
Senators, and a new class is elected every 2 years.

The

House

Representatives.

of

Representatives

The

number

comprises

representing

each

State

435
is

determined by population, but every State is entitled to at least

one Representative. Members are elected by the people for 2year terms, all terms running for the same period.
Both the Senators and the Representatives must be residents of
the State from which they are chosen. In addition, a Senator
must be at least 30 years of age and must have been a citizen of
the United States for at least 9 years; a Representative must be
at least 25 years of age and must have been a citizen for at least
7 years.
A Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico (elected for a 4-year
term) and Delegates from American Samoa, the District of
Columbia,

Guam,

and

the

Virgin

Islands

complete

the

composition of the Congress of the United States. Delegates are

elected for a term of 2 years. The Resident Commissioner and
Delegates may take part in the floor discussions but have no vote
in the full House or in the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union. They do, however, vote in the committees to
which they are assigned.
Officers of Congress
The Vice President of the United States is the Presiding Officer of
the Senate; in his absence the duties are taken over by a
President pro tempore, elected by that body, or someone
designated by him.
The Presiding Officer of the House of Representatives, the
Speaker, is elected by the House; he may designate any Member
of the House to act in his absence.

The positions of Senate majority and minority leader have been

in existence only since the early years of the 20th century.
Leaders are elected at the beginning of each new Congress by a
majority vote of the Senators in their political party. In
cooperation

with

their

party

organizations,

leaders

are

responsible for the design and achievement of a legislative

program.

This

involves

managing

the

flow

of

legislation,

expediting noncontroversial measures, and keeping Members

informed regarding proposed action on pending business.
Each leader serves as an ex officio member of his party's
policymaking and organizational bodies and is aided by an
assistant floor leader (whip) and a party secretary.
The House leadership is structured essentially the same as the
Senate, with the Members in the political parties responsible for
the election of their respective leader and whips.