The United States has the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world, with a GDP per capita of $47,200. In this market economy, individuals and companies make most of the decisions, and federal and state governments buy needed goods and services primarily from private individuals. manufacturers. American firms have more flexibility than their counterparts in Western Europe and Japan in their decisions to expand production, lay off redundant workers, and produce new products. At the same time, they face higher barriers to entry into domestic markets than foreign companies.
American companies are leading the way in technological advances, especially in computers and in medical equipment, space, and military technology; though their advantage has diminished since the end of World War II. The flow of technology largely explains the gradual development of a "two-tier labor market" in which those at the bottom lack the education and professional/technical skills of those at the top and cannot receive comparable pay increases, health insurance coverage, and other benefits. .
Since 1975, virtually all household income has gone to only the top 20 percent of households. The March-April 2003 war between the US-led coalition and Iraq, and the subsequent occupation of Iraq, required a redistribution of national resources in favor of the armed forces. High oil prices since 2005 and the first half of 2008 have created inflationary pressures and unemployment as higher gasoline prices cut consumer budgets. Imported oil accounts for approximately 60% of US consumption of this commodity. Long-term problems include inadequate investment in deteriorating infrastructure, rapidly rising medical and pension costs for an aging population, large trade and budget deficits, and the lack of wage growth among low-income families.
The trade deficit reached a record $840 billion in 2008, narrowed to $507 billion in 2009, but rose again to $647 billion in 2010. The global economic crisis, the subprime mortgage crisis, investment bank failures, falling domestic prices and bad credit led the US into recession in mid-2008. US GDP contracted until the third quarter of 2009, the deepest and longest recession since the Great Depression. To help stabilize financial markets, the US Congress passed a $700 billion stimulus program in October 2008.
The government spent public funds to buy shares in American banks and industrial corporations. Most of these funds were returned to the government by early 2011. In January 2009, the US Congress approved and President Barack Obama signed into law a bill providing an additional $787 billion in financial stimulus to the economy, which will be used for more than 10 years - two-thirds in additional spending and one-third in tax cuts - to create jobs and help the economy recover from the crisis. Approximately two thirds of these funds were injected into the economy by the end of 2010.
In 2010, the US budget deficit reached almost 9% of GDP; total government revenues from taxes and other sources turned out to be lower as a percentage of GDP than in any other developed country. In March 2010, President Obama signed the Health Insurance Reform Act into law, which would allow 32 million more American citizens to receive health insurance coverage by 2016 through private health insurance for the general population and health care for the poor. In July 2010, the president approved a banking sector reform and consumer protection law designed to promote financial stability by protecting consumers from financial abuse and dealing with troubled banks that are "too big to fail" and increasing accountability and transparency in the country's financial system.
Basic elements of the US economy
The first element of a country's economic system is its natural resources. The United States has rich mineral resources and fertile agricultural land, and a temperate climate is another advantage. In addition, the country's coastline stretches for vast distances on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, as well as the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Rivers originate in the heart of the continent, and along the border with Canada, the Great Lakes - five huge inland water reservoirs - provide additional opportunities for navigation. Over the years, these ramified waterways have contributed to the growth of the national economy and helped to unite the 50 individual states of the country into a single economic body.
The second element is labor power, which turns natural resources into commodities. The health of an economy is determined by the size of the labor force available and, more importantly, by its productivity. Throughout the history of the United States, the size of its labor force has steadily increased, which in turn has contributed to almost uninterrupted economic growth. In the period ending shortly after the end of World War I, the majority of workers were immigrants from Europe, their immediate descendants, and African Americans whose ancestors were brought to the Americas as slaves. At the beginning of the 20th century, numerous emigrants from Asia rushed to the United States, and later Latin Americans followed them.
While the US has gone through periods of both high unemployment and labor shortages, immigration has tended to rise during times of high labor demand. Many of the newcomers were willing to work for less pay than the already assimilated natives and tended to prosper because their wages far exceeded those in their home country. Together with them, the country grew richer, the economy of which grew at a fairly rapid pace and attracted more and more new workers.
The success of a national economy depends at least as much on the quality of the labor force - on how hard people are willing to work and how skilled they are - as on the size of the labor force. In the early years of the existence of the United States, the life of settlers on the developed lands was fraught with hard work, and the so-called Protestant morality of hard work contributed to the rooting of this tradition. A strong focus on education, including technical and vocational training, as well as a willingness to experiment and change existing practices, also contributed to the success of the American economy.
Another important factor in the ability of the US economy to quickly adapt to changing conditions is labor mobility. As immigrant influx flooded the east coast labor markets, many workers moved inland, often taking over vacant land for farming. And in the first half of the 20th century, economic opportunities in the industrial centers of the northern part of the country attracted many black Americans from southern farms.
The quality of the labor force remains an important issue. Today, "human capital" is considered in America the key to success in numerous modern, high-tech industries. As a consequence, government and business leaders are increasingly emphasizing the importance of education and training to develop workers with flexible minds and versatile skills for emerging industries such as computers and telecommunications.
However, natural and labor resources are only part of the economic system. These resources need to be organized and channeled in the most efficient way. Within the American economy, this function is performed by managers who respond to market signals. The traditional management structure in the United States is based on the top-down principle of organization: all powers are vested in the top executive of the company, who ensures the efficiency and coherence of all business activities. In his work, he relies on lower management structures responsible for the functioning of various departments of the enterprise, up to the foreman in the shop. Numerous tasks are distributed among various departments and employees. In early 20th-century America, this specialization, or division of labor, was thought to reflect "scientific management" based on systems analysis.
Many businesses are still guided by this traditional system, but there are also those that are approaching management in a new way. Faced with increasing global competition, American companies are seeking to create more flexible organizational structures, especially in high-tech industries that use highly skilled workers and who must quickly develop and improve their products and even adapt them to the requirements of specific consumers. More and more business people are inclined to think that too rigid a hierarchy and division of labor hinder creative processes. As a result, many companies are "straightening" their organizational structures, reducing the number of managers and granting ever greater powers to complex groups of employees of different specialties.
Of course, before management or work teams can create anything, they must be organized into enterprises. In America, the corporation has proved to be an effective vehicle for raising capital to start a new business or expand an existing enterprise. It is a voluntary association of owners, or shareholders, who create an enterprise that is guided in its activities by a rather complex set of rules and customs.
Corporations require certain financial resources to acquire the resources needed to produce goods or provide services. They raise the necessary capital primarily by selling shares (interests in their assets) or bonds (which are a means of raising long-term loans) to insurance companies, banks, pension funds, individuals and other investors. A number of institutions and organizations, primarily banks, also lend directly to corporations or other enterprises. The federal and state governments have developed detailed rules and regulations to ensure the security and stability of this financial system and free access to information so that investors can make informed decisions. A measure of the total production of goods and services during a certain year is the gross domestic product. In the United States, this figure has steadily increased from more than $3.4 trillion in 1983 to about $8.5 trillion in 1998. But while this figure helps determine the health of the economy, it does not reflect all aspects of national welfare. GDP is the market value of all goods and services produced by an economy, but does not serve as an indicator of the quality of life in a country. And it completely fails to reflect a number of very important variables, including personal well-being and confidence in the future, the quality of the environment and the health of the population.
Mixed economy: the role of the market
The American free enterprise system is based on private property. Most goods and services are produced by private enterprises, and private consumption accounts for two-thirds of all national production (the remaining third of goods and services is purchased by the state and enterprises). The role of the consumer is really so high that the national economy is often characterized as "consumer".
This emphasis on private property is partly due to American commitment to the principles of personal freedom. From the very moment of the birth of their statehood, Americans feared that state bodies would receive excessive powers, and sought to limit the power of the state over the individual, including in the field of the economy. In addition, most Americans believe that an economy based on private ownership should work more efficiently than an economy characterized by a large share of state-owned enterprises.
According to the Americans, if you do not limit the forces of the market, the prices of goods and services determine supply and demand. Prices, in turn, tell business people what to produce: when the demand for a particular good exceeds its current output, the price of that good rises. This fact attracts the attention of existing and new companies, which, anticipating profits, expand the production of such a product. On the other hand, if the demand for a particular good decreases, its price falls, causing less competitive firms to either shut down or redirect production to other products. This system is called a market economy.
Americans have always believed that the state provides a number of services better than the private sector. For example, in the US, the state is primarily responsible for the administration of justice, education (although there are many private schools and training centers), roads, social statistical reporting, and national defense. In addition, there is often a need for state intervention in the economy in order to correct the state of affairs in cases where price market regulation does not work. For example, the state regulates "natural monopolies" and resorts to antitrust laws to control or break up business conglomerates when they become powerful enough to resist market forces. The state also deals with issues that are not subject to market forces: it pays social benefits and unemployment benefits to people unable to support themselves as a result of personal problems or loss of work due to unfavorable economic conditions, covers a significant part of the costs of medical care for the elderly and the poor, regulates the activities of private enterprises in order to limit air and water pollution, provides soft loans to people who have lost property as a result of natural disasters, etc.; it has also played a leading role in space exploration, an activity far too costly for any private enterprise.
In such a mixed economy, citizens can take part in the management of the economy, not only by making their choice as consumers, but also by casting their votes for elected officials who determine economic policy. In recent years, consumers have raised concerns about product safety, environmental damage from certain industrial processes, and potential public health concerns. The response of the state to these sentiments was the creation of institutions to protect the interests of consumers and improve the general welfare of citizens.
The American economy has also seen a different kind of change, namely a massive shift of both population and labor from the countryside to the cities and from agriculture to industry and especially to the service sector. In today's economy, the number of workers and employees engaged in the provision of personal and public services greatly exceeds the number of agricultural and industrial workers. As the economy has become more complex over the past fifty years, statistics also point to a strong long-term trend of declining self-employment with a concomitant increase in the number of employees.
The role of the state in the economy
Despite the fact that most economic-shaping decisions are made by consumers and producers, government activity has a significant impact on the US economy in at least four areas. Ensuring economic stability and growth. Perhaps the most important role of the federal government is to control the overall pace of economic activity, trying to ensure continued economic growth, high employment and stable prices. By changing government spending and tax rates (fiscal policy) or by controlling the money supply and controlling the use of credit (monetary policy), they can slow or speed up economic growth while affecting prices and employment levels.
For many years after the Great Depression of the 1930s, periods of recession, characterized by slow economic growth and high unemployment, were considered the most serious threat to the economy. When the likelihood of another recession seemed most real, the government sought to strengthen the economy by significantly increasing its own spending or cutting taxes in order to stimulate higher levels of spending by consumers, as well as by rapidly increasing the money supply, which also increases spending. In the 1970s, a significant increase in prices, especially for energy, raised serious fears of inflation, i.e. an increase in the general price level. As a result, the government shifted from fighting the economic downturn to trying to control inflation by cutting spending, maintaining tax levels, and curbing the growth of the money supply.
In the period between the 60s and 90s of the last century, views on the most effective ways to stabilize the economic situation were significantly revised. In the 1960s, the state relied primarily on fiscal policy; transactions with government revenues in order to influence the economy. Since taxes and revenues were controlled by the President and Congress, these elected officials played a leading role in the direction of economic processes. What followed was a period of high inflation, high levels of unemployment and huge government deficits, and confidence in fiscal policy as a tool to influence the overall pace of economic development was undermined. Monetary policy began to take the first place - the regulation of the size of the money supply in the state through such instruments as interest rates. This policy is developed by the country's central bank - the Federal Reserve System - largely independently of the president and Congress.
Regulation and control. Regulation of private enterprise is carried out by the US federal authorities in many ways. Control measures fall into two main categories. The task of economic regulation is direct or indirect control over the price level. Traditionally, the state has sought to keep monopolies, such as electricity companies, from raising prices above a level that provides them with a reasonable profit. At certain periods of time, the state subjected other industries to economic regulation measures. After the Great Depression, it developed a complex system to stabilize agricultural prices, which are subject to large fluctuations as a result of rapid changes in supply and demand. A number of other industries, incl. trucking, and later airlines, themselves resorted to government regulation, not without success, to combat what they saw as the dangerous practice of underpricing. Another form of economic regulation, antitrust legislation, aims to strengthen market forces in order to make direct regulation redundant. The state, and sometimes private businesses, have resorted to this legislation to prohibit or prevent business practices or corporate mergers that could unduly restrict competition.
The state also exercises control over private companies in order to solve certain social problems, incl. public health and safety and environmental protection. For example, the Food and Drug Administration bans unhealthy drugs, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration takes care of workplace safety issues, and the Environmental Protection Agency takes action to control water and air pollution.
In the last 30 years of the past century, Americans have significantly revised their views on government regulation. Since the 1970s, fears have been growing among the country's leadership that state intervention in the economy in industries such as air and road transport is protecting inefficient companies at the expense of the consumer. At the same time, technological progress has given rise to new competitors in a number of industries - for example, in the field of telecommunications - that were previously considered as natural monopolies. Both of these processes have led to the adoption of a number of laws to ease regulation.
Despite the fact that in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s the leaders of both political companies were generally in favor of reducing the scale of intervention in the economy, there was some disagreement regarding regulatory measures aimed at addressing social goals. In the periods after the Great Depression and World War II, as well as in the 1960s and 1970s, the role of social regulation increased. But in the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan was president, the government weakened the protection of employees, consumers, and the environment on the pretext that regulations hindered free enterprise, increased costs, and thereby fueled inflation. However, many Americans continued to express concern about certain developments and trends, forcing the government to introduce new regulations in some areas, including the environment.
Under these conditions, some citizens, who believe that their elected representatives are slow or do not pay due attention to certain problems, began to apply to the courts. For example, in the 1990s, first individuals, and then the state, filed lawsuits against tobacco companies demanding compensation for the harm caused by smoking. Huge sums of compensation paid have provided the governments of individual states with the means to pay for the treatment of diseases caused by smoking.
Direct Services. A range of direct services are provided at every level of government. For example, the federal government is responsible for national defense, supports product research programs, is involved in space exploration, and runs numerous training and employment programs. Public spending has a significant impact on the local and regional economy and even on the overall dynamics of economic activity.
The individual state governments are in turn responsible for the construction and operation of most highways. State, county, or local governments play a leading role in funding and operating public schools. The police and fire departments are primarily the responsibility of local authorities. Public spending in each of the above areas can also have an impact on the local and regional economy, although the decisions made at the federal level are the main thing for the economy.
Overall, in 1997, federal and local government spending (including spending at the state level) accounted for almost 18 percent of GNP.
Direct help. The state also provides a variety of assistance to both enterprises and individuals. For example, soft loans and technical assistance are offered to small businesses, and students can also qualify for higher education loans. Enterprises with state participation redeem housing mortgages from lenders and issue securities against them for investors, thereby contributing to the development of housing construction lending. In addition, the state actively encourages the development of exports and seeks to influence those foreign countries that maintain trade barriers to imports.
Citizens who are not able to properly ensure their existence also receive state assistance. The largest share of Americans' retirement funds comes from Social Security, funded by taxes on employers and employees. Medicare pays a significant portion of the elderly's health care costs, and Medicaid covers the medical costs of low-income families. Many states maintain state-funded facilities for mentally and physically handicapped patients. The federal government provides food stamps to low-income people to help them buy food, and works with states to provide financial support to low-income families with children.
Many of these programs, including social insurance, are a kind of continuation of programs developed under the New Deal policy of Franklin Roosevelt, President of the United States from 1933 to 1945. A fundamental element of Roosevelt's reforms was the belief that poverty, as a rule, , is a consequence of socio-economic conditions, and not the flawed moral qualities of the individual. This approach rejected conventional wisdom, rooted in New England puritanism, that success was a sign of God's favor and failure was a sign of his wrath. This represented a major change in American socio-economic thinking. However, even today, echoes of former views are heard in debates on individual issues, especially such as social security.
In addition, during the 1960s, during President Lyndon Johnson's (1963-1969) "War on Poverty" period, many other programs to help families and individuals were initiated, including Medicare and Medicaid. Although a number of such programs ran into financial difficulties in the 1990s, resulting in various options for their reform, they continued to enjoy strong support from both major US political parties. At the same time, critics have pointed out that social assistance for the able-bodied, healthy unemployed actually encourages dependency rather than solves the problem. The welfare reform laws passed in 1996 under President Bill Clinton (1993-2001) made employment a condition of receiving social assistance and limited the period of receipt of social assistance to certain time frames.
Poverty and Inequality
Americans are proud of their economic system and believe that it enables all citizens to secure a decent standard of living. However, this belief is somewhat clouded by the fact that poverty persists in many parts of the country. The state's efforts to combat poverty have brought some success, but on the whole the problem has persisted. Periods of strong economic growth, accompanied by growth in both employment and wages, have not been able to end poverty, although in such conditions the scale of the problem is reduced.
The federal authorities determine the value of the minimum income required to meet the primary needs of a family of four. This figure may fluctuate depending on the cost of living and where the family lives. In 1998, a family of four with an annual income of less than $16,530 was considered to be living in poverty. The proportion of Americans living in poverty fell from 22.4 percent in 1959 to 11.4 percent in 1978, but this has fluctuated very narrowly since then. Thus, in 1998 it amounted to 12.7 percent.
In addition, these general figures hide much more depressing facts. For example, in 1998, more than a quarter of all African Americans (26.1 percent) lived in poverty. This depressing figure still represents some improvement from the state of affairs in 1979, when 31 percent of the black population of the country was officially classified as poor, and this was the lowest level of poverty since 1959. Mothers are especially often included in the category of the poor. singles, and partly because of this factor, in 1997 almost one-fifth (18.9 per cent) of all children lived in poverty. The poverty rate for black children was 36.7 percent and for Hispanics was 34.4 percent.
Some analysts point out that official poverty statistics overestimate the real level of poverty because they only take into account cash income and do not take into account a number of government assistance programs, including food stamps, medical care and public housing. But according to another opinion, assistance under these programs rarely covers all the needs of the family in food and medical care, and there is not enough public housing for all those in need. It is also said that even families whose incomes are above the official poverty line sometimes go hungry, skimping on food to pay for housing and medical care or to buy clothes. In addition, people living on the edge of the poverty line sometimes receive cash income through casual employment or work in the "underground" sector of the economy, which is never reflected in official statistics.
In any case, it is clear that wealth is distributed unevenly within the American economic system. According to the Washington Economic Policy Institute, in 1997 the richest 20 percent of American families accounted for 47.2 percent of national income, while the poorest 20 percent received only 4.2 percent and the poorest 40 percent 14 percent of income.
Although the American economy is generally doing very well, concerns about inequality persisted throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Increasing global competition posed a threat to workers in many traditional manufacturing industries, and their wage growth stopped. At the same time, the federal authorities gradually abandoned the implementation of tax policies aimed at some redistribution of benefits in favor of poorer families at the expense of richer sections of the population and at the same time reduced spending on a number of domestic social programs to help the disadvantaged. In the meantime, wealthy Americans have received most of the extra income generated by the explosive growth in the value of shares in the stock market.
In the late 1990s, there were some signs of a reverse trend: wage growth accelerated, especially for the poorest workers. But even at the end of the decade, it was too early to talk about the sustainability of this trend.
The growth of the scale of the state
Since the administration of President Franklin Roosevelt, the scale of the US state apparatus has increased significantly. In an effort to end the unemployment and suffering of the Great Depression, Roosevelt's policies, known as the New Deal, launched many new social programs and expanded existing ones. The growth of the scale of public administration was also facilitated by the transformation of the United States into one of the largest military powers during the Second World War and after it. The expansion of public services became more feasible with the growth of cities and suburbs in the post-war period. As the requirements for education grew, the state began to allocate significantly more funds for the maintenance of schools and colleges. In the 1960s, the nationwide desire for scientific and technological progress led to the emergence of a large number of new institutions and a significant increase in public investment in fields ranging from space exploration to health care. Federal spending has increased even more as a result of the increasing dependence of many Americans on health care and retirement programs that simply did not exist at the beginning of the 20th century.
Many Americans believe that the federal government in Washington is bloated beyond measure, but this fact is not supported by employment statistics. In the public sector, there was indeed a significant increase in employment, but mainly at the level of state and local governments. Between 1960 and 1990, the number of state and local civil servants rose from 6.4 million to 15.2 million, while the number of federal civil servants increased only slightly, from 2.4 million to 3 million. As a result of job cuts in the federal government, that figure dropped to 2.7 million by 1998, but the decline was more than offset by growth in state and local employment, which reached almost 16 million that same year. (U.S. military personnel dropped from nearly 3.6 million in 1968, when the U.S. was fighting the Vietnam War, to 1.4 million in 1998.)
In the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, tax increases to fund broader public services, as well as Americans' general dislike of the "big state" and the growing power of civil servants' unions, led many top leaders to question whether the state was the most efficient service provider. A new word was coined - privatization - which quickly gained popularity around the world as a definition of the process of transferring certain functions of state power to the private sector.
In the United States, privatization was carried out primarily at the municipal and regional levels. Major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Phoenix, have begun to engage private companies or non-profit organizations to carry out a wide variety of work previously performed by municipal services, from street lighting repairs and municipal solid waste disposal to data processing and maintenance of prisons. At the same time, some federal institutions have tried to partially reshape their activities in the image and likeness of private enterprises: for example. The US Postal Service operates largely on a self-financing basis rather than relying on appropriations from a tax-generated budget.
However, the privatization of public services remains a contentious issue. Its proponents believe it reduces costs and improves efficiency, while opponents argue the opposite, pointing out that private entrepreneurs should make a profit and that their activities are not necessarily more efficient. Naturally, public service unions are strongly opposed to most privatization plans. They state that, in some cases, private contractors understate their bids in order to win contracts and subsequently raise their prices substantially. Proponents of privatization point out that privatization can be effective if it promotes competition. Sometimes the threat of privatization can even spur local civil servants to perform better.
As debates on government regulation, government spending, and welfare reform show, more than 200 years after US independence, the role of the state in the national economy remains a hot topic of debate.
Based on the criteria we have introduced, it should be noted that the US political system is democratic, functions, as a rule, in a democratic or expanded democratic regime, the form of government is a presidential republic, and the territorial structure of the country can be characterized as a federation of states.
The United States Constitution, the first modern constitution, was adopted on September 17, 1787. The theoretical basis of the American constitution are such fundamental political theories, the category of natural rights, the theory of social contract, the theory of separation of powers. In addition, important “functional” theories are embodied in the US Constitution: the theory of federalism, the theory of checks and balances, which allow all levels of government (federal government, state authorities, local authorities) and all branches of government (legislative, executive and judicial) to work without crisis.
Legislative power in the United States is vested in the Congress, which consists of two chambers.
The lower house - the House of Representatives - has 435 seats, which are distributed proportionally among the states depending on the population.
Only a resident of this state who has been a US citizen for at least seven years and has reached the age of twenty can be a member of the House of Representatives.
Elections for members of the House of Representatives are held every two years (usually in November in even-numbered years), and the House of Representatives is headed by a speaker chosen by it.
The upper house of the American Congress - the Senate, is formed from 100 members, representing not the entire federation as a whole, but their states. Voters in 49 states and the District of Columbia (mainly the capital, Washington) elect two senators each for a six-year term. Elections are held every two years (together with elections to the House of Representatives); while one-third of the senators are re-elected. A senator may be a resident of this state who has been a US citizen for nine years and has reached the age of thirty.
The President of the Senate is ex officio the Vice President of the United States, but he only votes if the votes are equally divided;
The Senate and the House of Representatives usually sit separately.
The functions of the US Congress include:
Establish and levy taxes;
Make laws;
To issue money;
Form the federal budget and control its expenditures;
Establish judiciary;
Declaring war, recruiting and maintaining an army, etc.
The relationship between the legislative and executive authorities is based on the so-called system of checks and balances. Its essence lies in the fact that each bill, in order to become law, must be discussed and receive a majority of the votes of the House of Representatives and the Senate. In addition, it must be signed by the president. Thus, the executive branch (president) has a veto over the legislative branch (congress). But Congress can override a presidential veto by a qualified majority, that is, if, during a second vote, at least 2/3 of the members of the House of Representatives and 2/3 of senators support the adoption of the bill, then it becomes law without the approval of the president.
The legislature has the exclusive right to remove from office the head of the executive branch - the president.
The House of Representatives has the right to initiate the process of impeachment (removal), and the Senate exercises the court in the manner of impeachment. In this case, the session of the Senate is chaired by a representative of the Supreme Court. Impeachment is carried out with the consent of at least 2/3 of the senators present.
Americans most often elect lawyers (up to 45), businessmen (30), scientists (up to 10) into the congress, other social or professional groups are represented by one or more deputies. Such a composition testifies to the efficiency and rather high professionalism of American legislators. The activities of each member of the House of Representatives are served by up to 20 assistants, the senator - up to 40 or more.
Executive power in the United States is exercised by the president. He is elected for a 4-year term, but not by direct vote (like Congress), but by electors who are elected in each state (according to the number of senators and members of the House of Representatives). Only a US citizen who has reached the age of 35 and has lived in the country for at least 14 years can be the President of the United States. The President of the United States, unlike congressmen, cannot be elected by the same citizen for more than two terms.
The President, as the head of the executive branch, forms the Cabinet of Ministers (US Government). The Cabinet of Ministers consists of secretaries (ministers), other officials appointed by the president. The most important ministries, the heads of which make up the so-called internal cabinet, are:
1. Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
2. Ministry of Defense.
3. Ministry of Finance.
4. Ministry of Justice.
The heads of less prestigious ministries make up the so-called external cabinet. In total, there are 14 ministries (departments) in the USA.
In addition to the functions of the head of the executive branch, the President of the United States acts as the head of state, that is, he symbolizes the unity of the nation, heads state ceremonies, represents the country abroad, and receives official foreign representatives. As head of state, the president has the right to conclude international treaties (subject to their subsequent ratification by the Senate). Appoint ambassadors, Judges of the Supreme Court, and other officials.
The President of the United States is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. He appoints senior military leaders, orders the use of the army. In the event of death, impeachment, or inability to perform his duties, the president is replaced in office by the vice president, who is elected along with the president. The executive branch periodically reports on its activities to Congress. The most common form of such reporting is the annual State of the Union report. A form of direct appeal to the people is the weekly so-called "fireside talks" (in fact, radio talks introduced by President F. Roosevelt (1933-1945)).
The judicial power in the United States is exercised by the Supreme Court and the lower courts. The Courts, as we know, are established by Congress; The highest judicial offices are appointed by the president.
Judicial power extends to all matters, including the assessment of the constitutionality of the actions of the legislature and the executive. Thus, the US Supreme Court performs not only the functions of the highest court in civil and criminal cases, but also the functions of the Constitutional Court.
This is the structure of the horizontal division of power in the United States
The vertical distribution of power, the state-territorial structure of the United States is carried out on the principle of federalism. The constitution clearly indicates all the functions of the upper, federal echelon of power, and all other powers: civil and criminal law, education and health care, public order, control over the use of natural resources, construction of communications (except mail), etc. Transferred to the state level and municipalities (local authorities). The states have not only their own constitutions and laws, but also other paraphernalia of state sovereignty: flags, coats of arms, anthems, symbols. But the US constitution establishes the supremacy of federal law over the laws of the states, which corresponds to the federal, and not the confederal territorial-state structure of the country.
The United States has historically had a two-party system. The Democratic Party expresses the interests of the middle class, farmers, as well as blacks, "Chicanos" (Americans of Hispanic origin), as a rule, living below the average level, poor, less educated segments of the population. The Republican Party in its programs appeals to the middle class, large and medium-sized entrepreneurs (and these are predominantly white), skilled workers and engineers, people in highly paid professions: doctors, lawyers, etc.
The political system of the United States under the rule of Democrats usually heads for the implementation of large social programs in education, health care, assistance to the poor, the poor, aimed at a certain leveling of the financial situation of Americans (due to progressive taxes on the haves). With the coming to power of the Republicans, as a rule, taxes are reduced (both from citizens and corporations), the number of social programs decreases, the level of social assistance decreases, and the social differentiation of society increases. This is in the interests of the upper middle class, wealthy entrepreneurs. The capital released from social programs is invested in the development of production. The country is increasing the pace of economic development. It should be noted that the changes introduced into the functioning of the political system by Democrats or Republicans do not affect the foundations of democracy: freedom of speech, the activities of parties and public organizations, the formation of public opinion, etc.
Election system in the States is quite complex and confusing, and sometimes completely incomprehensible even to the Americans themselves, not to mention Russian-speaking immigrants. Today our task is to figure out how the President of the United States is elected and how the votes are counted.
Let's start with the basic requirements for candidates running for the presidency of the country.
Primary requirements
According to the US Constitution, a citizen of the country of age from 35 years old who was born and lived in its territory for at least the last 14 years. President is elected once every 4 years and may be re-elected for a second term.
Have you ever wondered why the presidential elections in America are always held precisely on Tuesday following the first Monday in November? The tradition of Tuesday elections has been followed since 1845. If you dig into the depths of history, then the choice of the day will become completely clear. Saturday was considered a working day, Sunday was given to God by attending church, and Wednesday was a market day. That's how Tuesday became voting day.
The US presidential election is 3 levels:
- federal (nationwide),
- at the state level
- and on the ground.
More than 18,000 leading officials are elected together with the country's president, from the vice-president to sheriffs of rural communities.
The country has a two-stage election system. It happened historically, since the founding of the United States as an independent state in 1789 and to this day, presidential and vice-presidential elections have an indirect, multi-stage character and take place in several stages.
First stage
From February 1 to June 31, the primary elections for presidential candidates in the United States are held - primaries(organized and paid by the government, last all day) and caucuses(caucuses last several hours and are paid from the budget of the parties), during which the Americans determine candidates- a Republican and a Democrat who will fight for the presidency.
Second phase
Holding national conventions. This is the name of the national conventions of Democrats and Republicans, during which the leadership of the parties approves 2 competing candidates (one from each) for the main election race.
Third - main - stage
Such an intricate system is rooted in the history of the formation of an independent America, when the question arose of the centralized management of the young state.
Being opponents of the monarchical system of government, the founders of the new state were skeptical about the system of direct democracy, because the population density in the states was heterogeneous and each had its own legislative system. In order to prevent ochlocracy in the union of the states-states, it was decided:
- First, the population determines electors of the most authoritative and worthy men of their state, who shall make up the Electoral College.
- Then these electors (each state has its own number of persons representing the opinion of the people) express the will of their countrymen in the presidential election and cast their vote for the candidate chosen by the state by a majority of votes.
Fourth stage
The Electoral College enters the arena. Each state has its own number of electoral votes, proportional to the number of electors. The larger the population of the state, the more electoral votes it has: for example, California has 55, Florida has 29. The total number of electoral colleges is 538 people. To win the election, a presidential candidate needs 270 votes.
So, the inhabitants of the state made their choice by voting for the candidate they liked and determining the list of electors of his party. How will their votes be distributed further? All states except Maine and Nebraska follow the winner-take-all policy. This means that the pair "president + vice president", who received the majority of votes in a particular state, as a result, gets all the electoral votes of the electoral votes from that state. That is, if the residents of the state cast their votes for the Republicans, then the Republican electors will choose the president, and the Democrats will remain out of work and vice versa.
How worthy electors are chosen in a particular state
Most often, electors are elected at state party conferences. This practice is followed by 36 states. In another 10 states, committees of state party organizations determine the electors, offering their own list from each party.
Who can apply for the position of elector:
- prominent state officials;
- party activists;
- well-known personalities who maintain relationships with any of the candidates.
Who is not eligible to be an elector:
- persons serving in the executive authorities;
- persons holding positions related to the distribution of property;
- persons who took part in a rebellion or rebellion against their country.
The Electoral College must elect the new president of the country independently and objectively.
According to the results of the 2016 elections, the electoral votes were distributed as follows:
republican Donald Trump received 290 electoral votes; Democrat Hillary Clinton - 228 electoral votes.
Wherein for Clinton more voters in the country voted (60 839 922), how for Trump (60,265,858). (Data as of 23.34 on 11/12/2016.) However, Republican Trump won by electoral votes, his victory enabling the Republican Party to take the majority of seats in the US Parliament (Congress).
The final results of the elections are approved by both houses of Congress. This is followed by the inauguration of the new President of the United States.
Our entire story about the complex US electoral system can be presented in a visual step-by-step instruction.
Everyone knows that the American system of measures differs significantly from the Russian system. It can be difficult for every tourist who comes to the states to navigate the stores and take exactly as much as they need. In this article, I will tell you why the US still uses inches, pounds, and yards.
Instead of the traditional system of measurement, officially adopted in almost all countries of the world, America uses the U. S. Customary System (Traditional US System). It includes hundreds of different units of measurement, but it is interesting that with the same name they can mean different things. Take an ordinary ton, for example, from us Russians, this means 1000 kilograms of a substance, no matter what. And in the US, there are about 10 definitions of the concept of "ton": short ton, fuel ton, register ton, and so on.
Let's take a look at history. In the 18th century, the French developed a convenient metric system, then the states were dependent on Britain, which used its own British Imperial System. As soon as America gained independence, the country began to make active attempts to switch to a new system of calculation.
France invited representatives of all countries of the world, including the United States, to an international meeting in 1798 to acquaint everyone with the invented metric system. Although the trip was very costly for the United States in financial terms, they nevertheless sent their representatives, who were delighted to see the new measurement rules. However, an attempt to convince the authorities to change the already established canons of measurement in the United States was crowned with defeat. American leaders declared that the U.S. Customary System was sufficiently unified that there was no point in changing it.
After the Civil War, the Americans again raised the issue of international standards for the system of measurement. Looking around, they found that almost all European countries had switched to the decimal system. And at the end of the 19th century, the country officially adopted an act on the transition to other dimensions in all categories. After the signing of the international convention in 1866 on the transition of all countries to the metric system, standards of metric standards were developed in the French city of Servais, and copies were sent to other countries, including America.
Having received international standards for the meter and kilometer, the Americans translated everything in their own way and defined the yard as 0.9144 meters, and the foot as 0.453 kilograms. What happens? Formally, the United States still switched to international metric units more than a century ago, but in fact, making a decision on paper does not at all mean putting it into practice.
To date, less than half of all industries use the new system. The pharmaceutical industry is called strictly metric, since the composition and other characteristics of medical products are specified in accordance with international standards. "Soft metric" consider the industry of drinks, tools and bicycles. In other areas, even in new ones, they are measured in the old fashioned way.
There are a number of quite logical reasons why the Americans have not yet fully accepted the system proposed by France. Firstly, the translation of all scientific papers, instructions, drawings, programs in a new way is a very costly business. Secondly, the psychological factor interferes. Stubborn and conservative Americans will resist innovations that are uncomfortable for them, especially those that are imposed by foreigners, to the last. And, thirdly, the largest and most advanced corporations in the world, as you know, are located in the United States. Their products are competitive on international markets, even despite unusual measures. Therefore, when traveling around the country, be prepared that you will often have to use all sorts of reference books so as not to accidentally acquire too much.
The USA is a federal republic with a presidential form of government. The constitution entered into force in 1788, includes 27 amendments adopted from the date of its ratification (26 of them are in force - the XVIII amendment, which introduced Prohibition in 1919, was repealed in 1933 by the XXI amendment). The first 10 amendments - the Bill of Rights - were adopted in 1789. The amendments come into force after their ratification by the Legislative Assemblies (legislatures) of 3/4 of the states. Universal suffrage applies to US citizens who are 18 years of age or older.
Administrative division? 50 states and the District of Columbia. The states are divided into counties (districts) (in the state of Louisiana - a parish), which, in turn, are divided into municipalities that exercise self-government in cities, and townships, representing self-government in rural areas.
The functioning of the US state mechanism is based on the constitutional principle of "separation of powers", which provides for the existence of 3 branches of power - legislative, executive and judicial - and excludes the possibility of abuse of power by any one of its branches.
Legislative power is exercised by the US Congress, which consists of two chambers - the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators (100 people - 2 representatives from each state) are elected for a 6-year term; every 2 years there is a renewal of the composition of the Senate by 1/3. Elections to the House of Representatives are held every 2 years, during which all 435 representatives of the corresponding number of constituencies are re-elected. Constituencies are determined according to population. The House of Representatives also includes 3 representatives of the Federal District of Columbia with an advisory vote. Officially, the chairman of the Senate is the Vice President of the United States (he participates in the work of the Senate and votes if the votes of the senators are equally divided during the voting on any issue). In this case, his vote becomes decisive. In the absence of the vice president, the Senate is led by a president pro tempore. The work of the House of Representatives is led by the Speaker - a representative of the party that has the majority of votes in the House. In the Senate and the House of Representatives, the heads of standing and special committees and subcommittees, as well as the leaders of the majority and minority and their deputies - "whips" are elected. In each of the 2 chambers, there are 20 permanent committees functioning independently of each other on the main areas of legislative activity; as well as 3 joint (joint) committees. Joint meetings of both chambers are convened to consider especially important issues of domestic or foreign policy. The Congress of each convocation works in the format of two annual sessions. The tradition of numbering sessions of the US Congress has historically developed - after the 2002 congressional elections, the 108th session is running.
Congress has broad prerogatives in most areas of government activity, primarily finance. He approves the federal budget, establishes taxes and other fees, regulates foreign and interstate trade, controls the activities of government departments and their spending of federal funds. Control over public funding is carried out by Congress through specialized agencies created under it: the General Financial Control Department, the Office for Technology Assessment and the Budget Office.
Along with the powers exercised jointly or separately by both houses of the US Congress, each of them has its own functions. Thus, all bills in the field of budgetary policy, including the approval of the annual budget, can only come from the House of Representatives, the Senate has the right only to discuss them and amend them. The House of Representatives is given the right to elect the President of the United States if none of the candidates for this post received more than half of the votes of the members of the Electoral College, and to bring charges of impeachment of the President or Vice President. The US Senate, "on the advice and consent" of which the most important presidential decisions are made, has the right to declare war, a state of emergency, approve international treaties, make amendments and additions to them, approve candidates for office positions and a number of senior positions in the state apparatus, heads of diplomatic US missions abroad, members of the US Supreme Court, federal judges, and also makes the final decision on the impeachment resolution passed through the House of Representatives. The Senate does not have the authority to approve appointments to positions in the White House apparatus.
Local legislative power is exercised by state legislatures, which consist of two or one (Nebraska) chambers.
The President is the highest official of the United States - the head of state and at the same time the head of government. His residence is the White House, located in the federal capital of Washington. The President is elected for a term of four years and, in accordance with Article XXII of the Constitution adopted in 1951, cannot be elected for more than two terms. The Vice President is elected at the same time as the President. Candidates for president and vice president are nominated and approved by delegates to the national party conventions, convened every 4 years. Elections for President and Vice President (as well as elections for all members of the House of Representatives, 1/3 of Senators and up-and-coming state governors) are held on the 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November of each leap year. The American electoral system provides for the election of the president and vice president by the votes of members of the Electoral College, elected in each state by popular vote from among local party activists. Voting for this or that presidential candidate, the ordinary voter simultaneously votes for the elector of a particular party, who, as a rule, is obliged to support the candidate of his party. Each state elects a number of electors equal to the total number of representatives of that state - senators and members of the House of Representatives - in the US Congress. Electors elected by popular vote meet (separately by state) in their state capital on the 1st Monday after the 2nd Wednesday in December of a leap year and elect the President and Vice President of the United States by filling out special forms. If a presidential candidate does not receive a majority of the electoral votes, the question of the future president is transferred to the US House of Representatives, which elects the president from the 3 candidates who received the largest number of ordinary votes. Under the XX Amendment to the US Constitution adopted in 1933, the official date of entry of the president into office is noon on January 20 of the year following the election year. In the event of the death or inability of the president to perform his duties, the vice president becomes his successor. In the event of the death or absence of the vice president, the order of succession of power provides for its further transition to the speaker of the house of representatives, the interim president of the senate, and then to the members of the cabinet of ministers according to the chronology of the creation of the relevant ministries - the State Department, defense, finance, etc.
The president can be a US citizen "by birth", over 35 years old and lived in the country for at least 14 years. The constitution does not provide for a higher age limit for persons elected to the presidency. The constitution gives the president wide powers. He has the power of legislative initiative, represents the country abroad, is the supreme commander of the armed forces, appoints (with subsequent confirmation by the US Senate) members of the cabinet and senior officials of government agencies, as well as federal judges, including members of the Supreme Court and ambassadors. The President has the power to enter into international agreements in the form of an executive agreement, not subject to the approval of the Senate, but having the same legal force as an international treaty. The Constitution grants the President the power to pardon and reprieve the execution of those convicted under federal law. He has the power to convene emergency sessions of one or both houses of Congress and the power to adjourn ordinary sessions of Congress. The President submits the draft federal budget to Congress and has the right to veto bills approved by Congress, as well as the issuance of presidential orders, which are practically equivalent to laws. A presidential veto can be overridden by a second vote of 2/3 members of Congress. In the event of acute international or domestic crises, the President may resort to the use of emergency powers. Under the War Powers Act of 1973, the President of the United States has the right to send troops into the territory, airspace or territorial waters of a foreign state for up to 60 days without the approval of the US Congress.
The functions of the vice president in a particular administration are determined by the president, but are predominantly representative in nature. A resident of the same state as the president's residence cannot be elected vice president.
The structure of the executive power of the United States includes: a cabinet of ministers, consisting of the heads of federal departments of the highest category - 15 ministries (State Department, Defense, Finance, Justice, Commerce, Interior, Agriculture, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security), non-government departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force; Executive Office of the President (including the White House staff, advisers and assistants to the President); Office of Management and Budget (OMB); Economic Council under the President; National Security Council (NSC); Office of Defense Policy and more than 60 federal agencies and departments, including the Federal Reserve, CIA, National Science Foundation, Export-Import Bank, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Small Business Administration, Farm Credit Administration, Postal Service USA.
The head of executive power in the state is the governor, elected for 4 or 2 (New Hampshire, Vermont) years, who directs the work of state administrations (governments). States have autonomy in matters of state building and socio-economic regulation. Executive power in the city is exercised by an elected mayor or an appointed manager (elections and appointments are the prerogative of the City Council).
The supreme body of the federal judiciary - the US Supreme Court consists of 9 federal judges, including the Chief Justice. Members of the Supreme Court are appointed by the president for life terms with the right to retire at will. There are also 94 federal district courts at the federal level, special courts including 12 regional courts of appeal and bankruptcy, and a foreign trade court. The US judiciary also includes the courts of individual states and districts (counties).
The basis of the political process in the United States is the existence of a two-party system. The leading parties are: the Democratic (formed organizationally in 1828, received its current name in the early 1830s) and the Republican (founded in 1854), between which the struggle for the leadership of the country is mainly waged. Relying on various social groups in society, the Republican and Democratic parties share the starting points that underlie the American political and socio-economic system. They can be distinguished by approaches to solving specific issues of domestic and foreign policy, determining the degree of state regulation and reforming the socio-economic life of the country. The symbol of the Republican Party is an elephant, the Democratic Party is a donkey.
At certain stages of the historical development of the United States, there were many other parties that never managed to get their candidate for the presidency of the country or to occupy a dominant position in the US Congress. Usually, 5 to 8 parties take part in presidential elections, including the two leading ones. The so-called third parties do not have any noticeable influence on public policy. Only once in the history of the country, the "third" party - the Progressive Party of T. Roosevelt - was able to push one of the two leading parties (Republican) to 3rd place in terms of the number of votes received in the presidential election (1912). "Third" parties have repeatedly succeeded in gaining significant support from the traditional electorate for one of the two main parties, thus preventing it from winning elections. The Communist Party of the USA (founded in 1919) never represented a significant political force, but regularly participated in the presidential elections of 1924-84. 900 thousand votes.
Financing of party activities is carried out mainly through voluntary donations through fundraising among supporters of the respective parties. There is no clear organizational structure and official membership in the parties; the popularity of a party and its political influence are determined only in the course of election campaigns by the number of votes cast for their candidates. The little-noticed day-to-day activities of the leading parties are led by the national committees of the respective parties, headed by national chairmen. Branches of national party committees exist in all states. Their activity (mainly in the form of fundraising and election campaigning) is manifested only on the eve and during election campaigns. The formal leader of the party is the incumbent president of the country, nominated by a particular party, or (until the next election) a candidate for the presidency of the country from the party that was defeated in the previous election.
There are over 2,500 independent trade unions and associations in the USA. The leading trade union association - the American Federation of Labor - the Committee of Industrial Trade Unions (AFL-CIO) unites 63 branch trade unions (13 million members). In total, about 16.2 million people are members of trade unions. (13.2% of the national labor force). In the beginning. 21st century there is a further reduction in the number of trade union members: in 1983-2002 their number decreased by 6.9%. Trade union membership is dominated by men and blacks; about 40% of trade union members are civil servants and less than 10% work in the private sector. The most widely covered by trade unions is the transport sector (23.8%). The average weekly wage of employees who are union members is $740; the average salary of employees - non-union members - $ 587. The largest number of union members live in the states of California, New York and Illinois.
There are more than 25,000 major national associations and societies in the United States and more than 53,000 regional, state, and local public organizations. The largest of them are the American Automobile Association (45 million members), the American Association of Retirees (32 million members). In the 1960s and 70s in the United States there were a large number of public organizations opposed to the war, in defense of civil rights and freedoms, for racial equality, as well as women's and youth organizations. To con. 20th century many of them have ceased to exist or have significantly reduced the scope of their activities due to the decrease in the social relevance of the problems they raise. A similar situation is observed in the activities of extremist organizations of a racist or anti-communist nature (Ku Klux Klan, John Birch Society, etc.). The largest of the organizations of black Americans is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (500,000 members), which annually (since 1915) awards African-Americans with a medal to them. Springarn for high achievements in various fields of political and social activity, science and culture. Significantly increased the activity of public organizations acting in defense of the environment and civil rights, consumer interests. The main organizations of the US business world: the National Association of Industrialists (18 million members), the US Chamber of Commerce (215 thousand), etc. Feminist organizations deal with gender issues: the National Organization of Women (500 thousand members), the League of Women Voters of America (150 thousand .) and etc.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the country is the President of the United States. They are directly managed by the Ministry of Defense. The department's headquarters is a building in Washington, DC, known as the Pentagon (Pentagon). The secretary of defense is appointed by the president (with the consent of the senate) from among civilians. The Armed Forces include the Ground Forces (Army), Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. The general management of these types of aircraft is carried out by the ministers of the army, navy and aviation, as well as the commander of the marine corps. Ministers and employees of the apparatus of ministries are civilians. The working body of the Ministry of Defense is the Committee of Chiefs of Staff (KNSh) consisting of the chairman, deputy chairman, chiefs of staff of the army, air force and navy and the commander (commandant) of the marine corps. The KNSh exercises operational control of the country's Armed Forces.
The number of regular armed forces is 1.3 million people in active military service. 86% of US military personnel are men. The aircraft are recruited on a voluntary basis from persons who have reached the age of 18; All military personnel receive a salary. Military personnel who are demobilized with an impeccable record of service enjoy advantages in enrolling in higher education institutions, obtaining a preferential housing loan and in employment. In addition to military personnel in active service, in the US Armed Forces there are 650-750 thousand people. civilian personnel. The Armed Forces also include the National Guard (about 470 thousand people), consisting of the Ground and Air Forces, as well as organized reserves of the army (about 780 thousand people). The National Guard is designed to defend the territory of the United States in the event of the landing of enemy troops, performs certain air defense tasks, and is also used to combat riots, the consequences of natural disasters, etc. United States Coast Guard troops are subordinate to the Department of Transportation in peacetime; in wartime, they are transferred to the department of the Ministry of the Navy.
The National Security Council (NSC) is the coordinating body under the President of the United States, directing the activities of all government agencies in the military field. The National Security Council consists of permanent members of the council: the president (chairman of the council), vice president, secretary of state, minister of defense. By decision of the president, it may also include the chief of staff of the White House, the ministers of finance, justice, homeland security, and some other responsible government officials. As permanent advisers, the chairman of the KNSh and the director of the CIA participate in the meetings of the council as the main advisers to the president on military issues and intelligence. The National Security Adviser (Assistant) to the President is the head of the working apparatus of the NSS.
US military spending is (at current prices) $347.99 billion (3.2% of GDP, 16.96% of the federal budget) (2002).
Crime and the penitentiary system. Serious crimes per 100 thousand people. - St. 500. The number of prisoners - 1.3 million people.
