THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OF THE USA 

            The USA under the Constitution is a republic. This means that its citizens elect those people who govern them. The USA is also a democracy. It means that the citizens have certain rights.

Under the constitution the federal government is divided into three branches: the legislative, the executive and judicial.

The legislative branch is made up of elected representatives from all the states and it is the only branch that can make federal laws, declare war or put foreign treaties into effect.  It consists of Congress that is divided into two groups called houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The members of the House of Representatives are elected for two-year period term. Each House member represents a district of his or her home state. The House has 435 members. The Senate has 100 members: two for each state. The Senators are elected for a period of 6 years. Americans who are not yet 25 years old have no rights to be elected to the House of Representatives and those who are under 30 cannot be elected to the Senate.

The main duty of the Congress is to make laws. A law begins as a proposal called “a bill”. It is read, studied, commented on and amended in the Senate or in the House. Then it is voted upon.

The second branch of power is executive. The chief executive of the United States is the President, who together with   the Vice President is elected for a four-year term. A President can be elected for only two terms. Election Day is always in November on the first Tuesday of the month.

The President appoints the heads of the government departments: Defense, Justice, Agriculture, Education, Energy, and others. He also appoints federal judges, ambassadors and is responsible for foreign relations with other nations - he represents the United States abroad.

The judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Court.

Compare political systems of Ukraine, Great Britain and the USA.

	LEGISLATIVE			EXECUTIVE	JUDICIAL
Responsibility	Make laws			Carries out (executes) laws	Interprets the constitution and reviews laws. It determines whether laws are in accordance with the Constitution.
Ukraine – parliamentary presidential republic	The Verkhovna Rada			The President & the Government (Cabinet of Ministers)	Supreme Court & Constitutional Court
Great Britain – parliamentary monarchy	Parliament			Monarch &  the Government (Cabinet of Ministers)
	The House of Lords	The House of Commons
The USA  – federal republic	Congress			The President	Supreme Court
	The House of Representatives		Senate