American Elections

Résumé du document

The American Constitution was adopted on September 1787 and came into effect in 1789.
- War of Independence (1775-1783)
- declaration Of Independence (Thomas Jefferson) 4 July 1776
- the Founding Fathers : George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison.
-The Congress: This consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate that are elected by the people
-The House of Representatives has 435 members, elected for 2 year terms. They are apportioned according to the population of each state, which is divided into districts. Each district sends one Representative to Congress. The president of the House is called the Speaker and is elected by his peers in the majority party. He is one of the most influential political figures in the country.
- The Senate has 100 members (2 per state), elected to a six year term and 1/3 of the Senate comes up for reelection every two years.

Extraits

[...] American Elections Random information: - American Constitution adopted sept 1787 and effective in 1789. - War of Independence (1775-1783) - Declaration Of Independence (Thomas Jefferson) 4 July 1776 - The Founding Fathers : George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison Congress = House of Representatives and the Senate are elected by the people - House of Representatives members, elected 2-year terms in November apportioned according to the population of each state, which is divided into districts. Each district sends one Representative to Congress. [...]

[...] Elections are very costly billion $ in 04). - The electoral vote: in December, the Presidential Electors, making up the Electorate College, meet in Washington to elect the President. The President elected is sworn into office on January 20th - The American political system is a two-party system (the Democratic Party and the Republican Party even if minor's parties have always existed) - The Democratic Party is the older of the two (1829) while the Republican Party was founded in 1854 - Both parties are attached to democratic principles and individual liberties - The United States is a federation of 50 states (the last one admitted is Hawaii in 1959) Authority is split between the central government in Washington D.C. [...]

[...] They chose for a presidential and vice-presidential candidate: they form together the presidential ticket. - The Popular Vote: on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November: they vote for a fixed list of Presidential Electors, choosing between the Democratic and the Republican list in each state. There are 538 Presidential Electors and a candidate needs to secure 270 to be elected. It is called the principle of winner-take-all, where the entire list of Presidential Electors of the state is won, thus the electoral system does not always reflect voter opinion. [...]