State and Local Governments
Each state has got a local state constitution, that doesn’t contradict the Federal one. Each constitution is structured the same as the main one. The central part in it is occupied by the questions of the division of powers and forming the spheres of activities. Thus the legislative branch is represented by the state “Congress” usually consisting of 2 Houses (the Senate & the House of Representatives/ the House of Delegates/ the General Assembly). The members of the Houses may serve from 2 (HofR) to 4 (Senate) years. The executive branch is the Governor, who usually serves 4 years and is elected by a popular vote. The judicial power is headed by the State Supreme Court.
NB! The local “congresses” may not pass laws that would contradict the Constitution. According to the doctrine of “national supremacy”, in case of any conflict between federal and state authorities, the federal should always have the upper hand.
As the US is a highly urbanized country with lots of cities, there is an issue of running them. In many aspects the cities function independently of the states. But still most big cities function in cooperation with both state and federal organizations. There are 3 distinct types of city government:
a) the mayor-council
b) the commission
c) the city manager
(for more details see Hello, America! Unit 25, p.149)
Political Parties
The importance of political parties:
a) They are the basis of the American political system;
b) They are important institutions in the American democratic life;
At the national level, the US has a 2 party system, which remained practically unchanged throughout the history. The major parties are:
| The Democratic Party | The Republican Party | |
| When it was formed? | 1792 (historical) 1828 (modern) | 1854 |
| Who formed it? | Andrew Jackson | the people of the northern and western states |
| Symbol | the donkey | the elephant |
| Nicknames | - | the Grand Old Party (GOP) |
| Who is the current leader? | Debbie Wasserman Schultz (chairman) Barak Obama (the President of the US) Joe Biden (the Vice-President of the US) | Reince Priebus (chairman) John Boehner (the Speaker) |
| Views | ¶ more liberal views ¶ they think that the federal government should provide social economic programmes for the needed ¶ they established Social Security Programme | ¶ more conservative views ¶ they think that social programmes are rather costly and may hurt the economy ¶ they rely more on private enterprises |
| Party Membership | It is rarely formal. Any person may become a member during the electoral campaign by a) a simple declaration; b) associating oneself with the party. They do not have to join a party to vote or become a candidate for public office. The voting is by a secret ballot so none knows how the voices are distributed. | |
Other Parties
The main competition during the elections is between the 2 major parties. Though there are some smaller parties, they haven’t got enough popular support to win the elections. However, some of them are quite influential in some states or cities.
| Party (Official 2012 Nominee) | Year Founded# | Registered Members | Party Logo | Party Policy (major issues) |
| Constitution Party ( Virgil Goode ) | 1992 | 366,937 | 
| e Non-intervention foreign policy e Imposing immigration restrictions e Stand for the capital punishment e Imposing abortion restrictions |
| Green Party (Cynthia McKinney (in 2008)) | 1996 | 289,177 | 
| e Non-intervention foreign policy e Stand for limiting private financing campaigns e Imposing progressive taxation e Stand for the universal healthcare e Stand for drug liberalization e Stand for the legalization of the same-sex marriages |
| Libertarian Party ( Gary Johnson ) | 1971 | 235,500 | 
| e Non-intervention foreign policy e Stand for drug liberalization e Stand for the legalization of the same-sex marriages |