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Structure of US Government The United States of America is a Federation of fifty states plus six territories. A Federation is a country that is comprised of more than one self-governing regions that are united by a central, or federal, government. The term Federation comes from the Latin word focus, meaning covenant, and the term implies a basic relationship between the Central government and its member-states. Certain powers and duties are expressly given to parts of the Federal Government because, for reasons of security and stability, there can be but one system.
Certain other powers are left to the states themselves chiefly because various problems are best dealt with by those closest to them, and it would be counter the spirit of limited government and diversity to create a one-size-fits-all policy for addressing complex issues. Likewise the states do not micromanage every problem that crops up within their borders; they send power to counties and municipalities who work together to form local policy and implement statewide statues. Government in the US is very decentralized, while authority is split between the federal and state governments; the federal government itself consists of three coequal branches. Congress, addressed in the first article of the Constitution, governs the Republic and is responsible for passing all laws as well as controlling the nations currency, levying taxes, borrowing money, establishing courts and distributing funding to every government organization, plus other duties. The House of Representatives represents the people of the various states and seats in the House are given in proportion to state population. Each house of Congress has the power to introduce legislation on any subject except revenue bills, which must originate in the House of Representatives.
A bill must pass a majority in both chambers before it can be sent to the President. Additionally, both bills must be worded identically, for this purpose joint-committees are formed to streamline both chambers versions. The smaller of the two houses of Congress is the Senate, which is made up of two Senators from each state. The Senate has certain powers reserved to it specifically, including the right to confirm presidential appointments of judges, officials and ambassadors as well as authority to ratify all treaties. The House has the sole right to bring charges of misconduct, Impeachment, against an official, but the Senate is granted sole power to remove those officials from office if found guilty (rug. nl, 2004).
Article II of the Constitution creates a president to be the Republics executive and also provides for the election of a vice-president who succeeds the president if he dies or is incapacitated. Section 1 of Article II sets the requirements to hold office of President. The president must be a natural-born citizen of the United States, be at least 35 years of age, and have resided in the US for 14 years. Per the Constitutions instructions, the President serves a term of four years. The 22 nd amendment subsequently limited the President to two terms. Presidential elections are held every four years.
The President is not elected at large, but rather in 50 different statewide elections. Each state is given presidential electors based on its number or Congressmen plus Senators. The people vote for the electors, who then choose the President. Within the executive branch, the President has extensive powers to manage national affairs and the workings of the federal bureaucracy. The President can issue executive orders to federal agencies, which carry the force of law but do not require Congressional sanction. As Commander-in-Chief the President has control of the countrys armed forces, additionally he may also call units of the National Guard into federal service (nationmaster.
com, 2003). The President is also responsible for submitting to Congress an operating budget for the federal government. The third tier at the national level is the judiciary, which consists of the Supreme Court, 11 courts of appeals, 91 district courts, and 3 courts of special jurisdiction. Article III section 1 gives Congress the power to create and eliminate federal courts at its discretion, as well as the authority to set the number of judges who will sit on the federal judiciary. The Supreme Court is a coequal branch and cannot, however, be abolished by Congress (rug. nl, 2004).
Federal judges, including Supreme Court Justices, are chosen by the President and subject to confirmation in the Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee conducts confirmation hearings for each judicial nominee (us courts. gov, 2002). The reach of federal courts extends to both civil actions for damages and to criminal cases that involve federal law. Article III has resulted in an intricate set of relationships between federal and state courts. Typically, federal courts will not hear cases involving the laws of individual states.
Though, some cases over which federal courts exercise jurisdiction may be heard by state courts. Consequently, both court systems have exclusive jurisdiction in select areas and concurrent jurisdiction in others (rug. nl, 2004). According to Article III, federal judges serve during good behavior, which has come to mean they sit until they retire, die, or commit a crime or infraction. Though Congress governs the Republic, the country is actually run by the federal bureaucracy, which is made of political appointees and career civil servants. Vague spheres of authority allow many areas of the bureaucracy to function with a considerable amount of autonomy.
The President nominates, and the Senate confirms, the heads of all executive departments and agencies, together with hundreds of other high-ranking federal officials. In 2003, over 3000 executive agency positions were subject to Presidential appointment, with only 1, 200 requiring Senate approval. The vast majority of federal employees are however selected through the Civil Service system. There are four main sectors in the federal bureaucracy: Cabinet Departments, Executive Agencies, Regulatory Agencies and government organizations. The 15 departments are the major service organizations of federal government and a presidential appointee heads each one. Independent Executive Agencies, such as the EPA, are not located within a particular department but instead are autonomous and report directly to the President.
Independent Regulatory Agencies make and execute policy in a particular area because Congress is unable to handle the intricacy and technicalities necessary to implement specific laws. Such groups include the Federal Reserve Board and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Governmental Organizations usually perform a specific task or function and include bodies such as the TVA and the FDIC (us. edu, 2005). Below the federal level, the United States breaks down into fifty different states, each with an independent government. The states derive their power within the federal arrangement from the 10 th Amendment to the Constitution, which stipulates that powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states.
States are Constitutionally bound to give full faith and credit to the public acts and records of other states, extradite criminals across state lines, and recognize privileges and immunities of all US citizens regardless of their state of residence. Article IV, section 4, dictates that all state governments must be Republican in form and additionally, the states are prohibited from using their powers under the 10 th Amendment to undermine the federal governments authority. Every state has its own constitution from which, all governmental institutions and officials within draw their power. Florida, the 27 th state in the Union, is currently operating under its 6 th constitution, which was adopted in 1968. The Florida State Constitution has 12 articles addressing everything from the branches of government to election procedures to municipal governments.
Like the national government, state governments have three branches that are more or less equal in function and scope to their federal counterparts. The chief executive of a state is the governor, though unlike the federal executive, state executive branches often include more than one elected official. All states except Nebraska, have bicameral legislatures, with the upper house generally called the Senate and the lower house the House of Representatives, though often there is little functional difference between the two (rug. nl, 2004). In the same way as the federal government, the states also utilize a complex bureaucracy to carry out legislation and to regulate and oversee various sectors of the state.
Since the 1970 s, the federal government has been in the process of sending power that had once been national prerogative, back down to the state level. As a result, state bureaucracies have increased dramatically. Floridas laws are made by the State Legislature, which is split between the 120 -member House of Representatives and the 40 -member Senate (myfloridahouse. gov, 2005). House members are elected from the states 120 districts are eligible to serve four 2 year terms. Senators are also elected from districts and may serve two 4 -year terms.
Half of the states Senators are up for election every two years while every four years all House seats are up for election. The House Speaker, Allen Best, leads the House and appoints various committee chairs. The lead...
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Research essay sample on House Of Representatives Federal And State
