Revision Notes: United States of America: Political Structure & Government | Indian Polity for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Political Structure

• The USA is a federal republic. Each of the 50 States and the District of Columbia exercise a measure of internal self-government. The President is the head of the executive and is elected for four-year term by an electoral college directly elected from each State. The President appoints to other members of the executive, subject to the consent of the Senate.
• The Constitution of the United States of America was adopted on 4 March, 1789.
• Political parties are the basi s of the American political system. At the national level, the United States enjoys a two-party system that has remained remarkably durable  throughout the nation's history, even though rival national parties have appeared and disappeared from the political scene. Today, the Democratic Party, which traces its origins back to the nation's third President Thomas Jefferson, and the Republican party, founded in 1854, continue to dominate politics at the federal, state and local levels.

The Congress 

• The US Parliament, referred to as Congress, is a bicameral body. The Congress consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
• Members of the Congress are all directly elected, on the basis of simple plurality of vote.
• The Senate is composed of 100 Senators, elected on the basis of two senators for each of the country's 50 States. Each Senator enjoys a term of six years.One-Third of the Senators are chosen every two yeas in such manner that, in each State, both Senators are not normally standing for election at the same time.The Vice-President of the country is the ex-officio Presiding Officer of the Senate. In his absence, a President protempore is elected by the Senate or someone designated by the Vice-President, Presides.
• The House of Representatives is composed of 435 members elected for two years from each of the 50 States in such manner that each Member represents roughly the same number of citizens provided that each State has at least one representative. The Speaker, chosen by the House, is its Presiding Officer with a Clerk of the House to assist him. The number of representatives of each State in Congress is determined on the basis of the State's population.