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The Constitution of the USA
The United States Constitution is the second oldest written constitution still
in use by any nation in the world after the 1600 Statutes of San Marino. It holds a
central place in United States law and political culture. The handwritten original
document penned by Jacob Shallus is on display at the National Archives and
Records Administration in Washington, D.C.
It is the basic law from which the U.S. government gets all its power. It is the
law that protects those who live in the USA.
The constitution defines three branches of government. They are the
legislative branch, which enacts (makes) laws; the executive branch, which
enforces those laws, and the judicial branch, which interprets them (=decides what
they mean). The separation of powers between the three branches was designed to
provide a series of checks and balances, so that no branch would become too
powerful. The constitution said that it was a responsibility of the US government to
protect individual states. It also set a rather difficult process by which it could be
amended (changed). Compared with other constitutions, the US one is brief and
simple. The entire Constitution, with its amendments, is just over 7,000 words
long. It does not attempt to spell out every detail of how government will operate.
The Founders wisely left it to generations to work out such details in the process of
actually running the government.
Congress of the USA
In the USA the legislative branch is called Congress. It is made up of two
groups of legislators - the Senate and the House of Representatives. A member of
the Senate is addressed as Senator. Members of the House of Representatives are
called congressmen or congresswomen from each state. The Senate has 100
members - two senators from each state. Both senators represent the entire state.
Senators are elected for six year terms. Every two years, one - third of all senators
face reelection.
The lower house, which is called the House of Representatives, has 435
members. All of whom are elected every two years. The number of representatives
from each state is determined by that state‘s population. While the seven smallest
states have only one representative, California, the most populous state, had 52
representatives in the 108 Congress (2002-2004). For the purpose of electing
representatives, each state is divided into congressional districts. The districts
within a state are about equal in population. One representative is elected from
each district. One of the representative's major duties is to protect the interests of
the people in that district.
The job of Congress is pass laws (Before a law is passed, it is called a bill. In
order to become a law, a bill must be approved by a majority of each house of
Congress and by the president. If the president vetoes (disapproves of) a bill, it can
still become law if at least two-thirds of the members of each house of Congress
override the veto by voting for it when it is voted on again).
When both the House of Representatives and the Senate have passed the same
version of a bill they must ask for the President's approval. The President has three
choices: to sign the bill, in which case the bill becomes law to do nothing, in which
case the bill becomes law after ten day; or to veto the bill and send it back to
Congress without his approval. If the President vetoes a bill, it still has one more
change: if two -thirds of the members of the House of Representatives and the
Senate vote for the bill, they can override the veto and the bill becomes law.
1. In the USA the legislative branch is called Parliament.
2. It is made up of two groups of legislators - the Senate and the House of
Representatives.
3. The House of Representatives, has 635 members.
4. California is the most populous state, it had 152 representatives in the
Congress
5. The job of Congress is pass bills (Before a law is passed, it is called a law
6. The President has three choices: to sign the bill, in which case the bill
becomes law to do nothing, in which case the bill becomes law after ten day;
or to veto the bill and send it back to Congress without his approval.
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