October 7th, 2018
Written by - Ria Raj '21, Maeve Cassidy '22, Caroline Davies '22, Sophia Casa '23, Eleanor Pompa '23, Caitlin Ludwig '23, and Abby Preston '23
Everything one needs to know about the United States Government - a cheat sheet on the US government's functionality
The Constitution
Written by - Maeve Cassidy '22
The United States Constitution is the document in which all citizens’ rights and liberties are guaranteed and the institution of the United States Government is defined. Article I begins the document by defining the Legislative Branch, which includes definitions of power, checks and balances, rules for the houses, and elections of the branches, along with the procedure for the passage of bills. Article II details the Executive Branch, with sections on elections, impeachment, presidential power, the state of the union, ambassadors of the United States, and other branch matters. Article III explains Judiciary power and treason. Article IV explicitly states the power, admissions, and guarantees bestowed to the States and is particularly relevant to understanding why the Constitution was established. Subsequent to the Revolutionary War, American elites and political leaders wanted to ensure that an authoritarian, tyrannical government would not preside over the states once more, thus resulting in the creation of a weak central government and strong state sovereignty. Civilian dissent proved that this political model was ineffective and that government power required a stronger national system. However, many leaders still feared an authoritarian model and thus explicitly defined the privileges of states. This debate is further represented in Articles V through VII, which detail Constitutional amendments, ratification, oaths of office, debt, additional judiciary powers, and national supremacy.
Amended to the United States Constitution is the Bill of Rights (amendments 1-10) which guarantees and protects the liberty and the rights of American citizens. The first amendment guarantees the freedom of speech, press, religion, and the right to assembly (organize and/or protest), all of which prevent the aforementioned oppressive regime. The second amendment assures citizens’ rights to bear arms, while the third details that soldiers may not be stationed within one’s home. Search and Seizure, along with the criminal trial procedure and legal rights are defined in the fourth through eighth amendments. The Ninth Amendment states that other existing rights are nonetheless protected whither they are explicitly stated or not. The concluding amendment in the Bill of Rights defines how power interacts between state and national governments. Additional amendments include the abolishment of slavery in the thirteenth amendment, protection of voter rights no matter the race, color or previous condition of servitude in the fifteenth amendment, prohibition (18th amendment) and the removal thereof (21st amendment), the women’s right to vote in the nineteenth amendment, and additional definitions to the executive branch.
Branches of government:
Executive
Written by - Eleanor Pompa '23 and Ria Raj '21
The President -
There are three main components to the Executive branch of the U.S. government: the President, the Vice President, and the Cabinet. The President is elected through the Electoral College and serves as the Head of State as well as the Head of Government. The President stands as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, which entails a large control over military action. Additionally, he or she is responsible for regulating laws. The President has a clear connection to the Cabinet, as he or she appoints the members. The President is also responsible for the appointing of heads of other executive agencies, such as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), along with appointing the heads of over 50 independent federal commissions. The President has the power to sign or veto bills and has the ability to call Congress into a special session at any time.
The Vice President -
The second main component to the Executive Branch is the Vice President. The Vice President is also elected through the Electoral College. He or she is responsible for taking over the Presidency in the case that the President is not able to do their job or is removed from office. The Vice President serves as President of the Senate for tie-breaking votes.
The President's Cabinet -
Lastly, the third main component of the Executive branch, is the Presidential Cabinet. The Cabinet is made up of the leaders of the executive departments, who have been appointed by the President in office. The Cabinet stands as a board of advisors to the President on all matters. Some of the Cabinet administrators are the Treasury, Secretary of State, Defense, etc.
Legislative
Written by - Caroline Davies '22
The legislative branch, also known as congress, is composed of two major parts, The House and the Senate, who primarily pass bills into law. Congress can also create new courts, alter the jurisdiction of existing courts, refuse to confirm a presidential appointee, override a presidential veto, refuse to fund executive interests, impeach elected officials, and amend the Constitution.
The Senate
Written by - Caroline Davies '22
The United States Senate is considered the upper chamber of Congress and is composed of 100 Senators tasked with voting on bills, impeachment, war, and so-on. The Senate is comprised of 100 Senators, two representatives for each state. These representatives serve for six year terms, with re-elections occurring for one third of the senate every even year. The Senate debates issues residing under the following committees: Agriculture, Appropriations, Armed Services, Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Energy and Natural Resources, Environment and Public Works, Finance, Foreign Relations, Governmental Affairs, Judiciary, and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, each of which has a committee leader. The Senate also has two majority party leaders, who are currently Mitch McConnell (Republican) and Chuck Schumer (Democrat). Bills and other matters presented to the Senate are passed if the majority (51/100) of Senators vote “yay” on an issue and the House comes to the same consensus. The Senate has the power to vote on bills with the House, but it also has some of its own unique powers. For example, it has the sole power to conduct impeachment trials, serving as its own jury and judge, as well as confirmation of executive officials, such as federal judges, and finally the ratification or confirmation of treaties.
The House
Written by - Maeve Cassidy '22
The United States House of Representatives is the lower house of the national legislature and thus intended to be the closest to the people. In order to do this, representatives are elected proportionally to the population of the state or territory they represent; as a result, populous states constitute the majority of the house and therefore their interests, which coordinate to the general will of the population, are best represented. There are 435 representatives, all of whom are up for election every two years. Delegates of territories are granted the same power and responsibility as representatives, with the exception that they cannot vote when the Committee of the Whole House is in session. The House obtains certain powers, such as the ability to make and pass federal laws, the choosing of a candidate when the electoral college is tied, impeachment of the President, and the Power of the Purse. This power allows the House to regulate taxes, usually in property, income, or assets. The ability to make and pass legislation begins within Congressional Committees, where members are appointed according to the ratio of Democrats to Republicans in the entire House. These committees range from Agriculture, National Budget, National Defense, and the Environment, to Ways and Means, Infrastructure, and Ethics. In essence, this is where bills and laws begin. Once the bill passes within a select committee, committee leaders may then use their proposal power to propose the bill to the entire house. In accompaniment to committee leaders, leadership of the House is delegated to the Speaker of the House (Nancy Pelosi), and the Minority (Kevin McCarthy) and Majority (Steny Hoyer) Leaders, along with Majority and Minority Whips. Whips are officials of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. They are more commonly known as the party's "enforcers." They ensure that their party legislators attend voting sessions and vote according to official party policy.
Judicial Branch
Written by - Sophia Casa '23
The Supreme Court’s job is to interpret the constitutionality of laws, which is called Judicial Review. Serving on the court are 9 total justices: one chief justice and eight associate justices. When the Supreme Court makes a ruling on a case, its decision is final unless a future version of the Supreme Court finds the previous decision unconstitutional. Justices are nominated by the President and approved or rejected by the Senate. Justices have no term limit, unlike the positions in other branches of government. They can either retire, die or be impeached by Congress. Our current Chief Justice is Chief Justice John Roberts, followed by Associate Justice Stephen Beyer, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, and Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The Judiciary branch has three levels. It begins at the District Courts. These courts are called “Trial Courts” as the judges can try individual cases. There are two formats a case can be held in: jury trials and bench trials (where no jury is present). Their main objective is to decide a verdict and the jury’s verdict is final. However if a party thinks that the judge made an error or that a key piece of evidence related to the verdict was regarded as invalid, then the parties can appeal to the Circuit Courts. These courts stand as the intermediate level in the three levels of courts. In order to decide whether to hear an appeal in court, both parties in a case must submit a brief to a circuit court which outlines each of their legal arguments. In circuit courts there is no new evidence brought forth nor is there a jury. These briefs could either have the judges make a verdict based on the briefs or schedule an “oral argument” in which both sides bring forth their arguments to a panel of three judges. After this, the panel issues a decision. However, if a party views the judge’s decision as unjust they can appeal it to the Supreme Court for the verdict to be reviewed. Most cases that appeal to the Supreme Court are not heard - only 100-150 cases are heard a year. But when a case is heard, each attorney has only 30 minutes to present their argument during which justices will also ask questions about the case and the attorney’s views. After this process, the Justices will have a conference, held twice a week, in which they will discuss their ideas on the cases recently testified before them. When it comes time for voting, each Justice in descending order of seniority (starting from the Chief Justice) states their opinion on the case without interruption. After all is done, the Chief Justice casts their vote and then, in order of seniority, so does every other Justice. Finally, a Justice is assigned by the Chief Justice to write the opinion of the court, which is considered official once it is released to the public.
The Democratic Party -
Written by - Caitlin Ludwig '23 and Ria Raj '21
The Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in the U.S. The modern day Democratic Party generally supports a strong federal government with powers to regulate business and industry. Members of the party generally believe in policies including gun control, less strict immigration laws, and economic and social equality for all. They are large proponents of the on-going fight for Civil Rights. Democrats attempt to find a way to help minorities by creating and backing social welfare programs. Some of these programs include Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and food stamps. Most Democrats also heavily believe in a strong separation of church and state. They generally oppose government regulation of the private, noneconomic lives of citizens, such as with regards to abortion rights, but do believe in high government involvement in the economic world. The fights for environmental protection and reform, and the issue of climate change as a whole, have become key voting issues for current democrats.
Since the Democratic Party is highly decentralized, the party encompasses a wide variety of opinion on certain issues, principally healthcare and gun control, among other key issues. At the national level, the Democratic Party is ideologically less unified than most other political parties, which proves to be a barrier in the party’s growth and progress.
Regarding the party’s foreign policy agenda, Democrats tend to prefer internationalism and multilateralism. This basically means they want foreign relations happening through international bodies. An example of these bodies would be the United Nations or NATO. They were created to mitigate conflict. Democrats are generally anti-isolationist and against unilateralism. Some democratic presidents include Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.
The Republican Party -
Written by - Abby Preston '23 and Ria Raj '21
The Republican party is the second major political party in the U.S. The modern day Republican Party supports states’ rights over the power of the federal government in most cases and generally opposes federal regulation of state and local matters. This platform extends to issues such as policing and education. Because the Republican party is highly decentralized, the party encompasses a wide variety of opinion on certain social issues, principally LGBTQ+ rights, environmental regulations and the role of religion in politics, among various other key issues. However at the national level, the Republican Party is ideologically more unified than most other political parties.
In terms of their specific political beliefs, Republicans generally advocate reduced taxes while simultaneously balancing spending cuts, so that tax cuts and incentives don't have detrimental effects on the economy. This is done as a means of stimulating the economy and advancing individual economic freedom. The party tends to oppose extensive government regulation of the economy, government-funded social welfare programs, and policies aimed toward strengthening the rights of workers. Some current government mandated programs which are not supported by the GOP are: Affirmative Action (a program aimed at favoring groups known to have been discriminated against, largely in the education system) and the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Several Republicans also strongly believe in upholding the second amendment, tightening immigration laws, and promoting a pro-life/anti-abortion agenda. Some are heavily against the legalization of drugs, specifically marijuana. Many Republicans, though not all, favor increased government regulation of the private, noneconomic lives of citizens in certain cases, such as with abortion rights.
Regarding the party’s foreign policy platform, traditionally the Republican Party supports a strong national defense and the prioritization of U.S. national security interests. However, this has been interpreted differently on a president-to-president basis. Some Republican presidents include Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump.
Other Political Parties -
Written by - Caitlin Ludwig '23
Besides the two major political parties, the United States also has multiple minor parties that sometimes have a small role in the government. These include The Libertarian Party, The Green Party, and the Constitution Party. The United States is also home to many independents (individuals whose beliefs don’t completely align with any specific political party), or people who believe in certain policies from multiple parties. Typically, minor parties and independents do not have a large say in the U.S. government.
SOURCES
“U.S. Constitution.” Legal Information Institute, Legal Information Institute, www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/index.html.
“Policy and Structure.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/topic/Republican-Party/Policy-and-structure.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Democratic Party.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/topic/Democratic-Party.
“The Executive Branch.” The White House, The United States Government, www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/the-executive-branch/.
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