The political system in Britain and the USA
b) USA
The USA are a federal republic. They consist of 50 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.). Each state is different, it has its own government, laws, education, taxes, etc. The federal government is responsible for matters concerning the country as a whole, such as foreign affairs, defense and finances. Each state has its Governor, Legislature and State Judiciary.
The US system of government is based of the Constitution adopted in 1789. Under this constitution the 13 original states delegated certain powers to the central (federal) government. It consists of a Preamble[1], Articles I – VII, and 26 Amendments[2]. The Federal Government has no other powers than those established by the Constitution. This basic principle was implied but not expressed in the Constitution as first adopted. Therefore the 10th amendment was adopted in 1791, which says explicitly, that “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people.” The whole US system of government is controlled by checks[3] and balances[4]. It is composed[5] of three branches: the Legislative[6] (Congress), Executive[7] (President), and Judicial[8] (Supreme Court[9]). None of them has ultimate power, because that belongs to the people.
[1] ) úvodní formule
[2] ) doplněk
[3] ) kontrola
[4] ) rovnováha
[5] ) složit
[6] ) zákonodárný
[7] ) výkonný
[8] ) soudní
[9] ) soud
