How USA Elects Its President

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Introduction to Political Democracy in USA  The United States is States is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States (the head of state and head of government), Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments The !"ecutive branch is headed by the President and is formally independent of both the legislature and the judiciary #egislative power is vested in the two chambers of Congress, the Senate and the $ouse of %epresentatives The judicial branch (or judiciary), composed of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts, e"ercises judicial power (or (o r judiciary) The judiciary&s function is to interpret the United States Constitution and federal laws and regulations This includes resolving disputes between the e"ecutive and legislative branches The federal government&s layout is e"plained in the Constitution Political Parties Two political parties, the Democratic Party  and  and the Republican Party , have dominated 'merican politics since the 'merican Civil ar, although there are also smaller parties lie the #ibertarian Party, the *reen Party, and the Constitution Party There are major differences between the political system of the United States and that of most other developed democracies These include greater power in the upper house of the legislature, a wider scope scop e of power held by the Supreme Court, the separation of powers between the legislature and the e"ecutive, and the dominance of only two main parties Third parties have parties have less political influence in the United States than in other developed country democracies+ this is because bec ause of a combination of stringent historic controls These controls tae shape in the form of state and federal laws, informal media prohibitions, and winnertaeall elections, and include  ballot access issues and e"clusive debate rules The federal entity created by the US Constitution is the dominant feature of the  'merican governmental system $owever, most people are also subject to a state government, and all are subject to various units of local government The latter include counties, municipalities, and special districts