American Government

. The justices 	- are appointed by the president and approved by a vote of the Senate. 	- serve for life unless they choose to retire. 	- is responsible for interpreting laws passed by Congress. Since our government was established, more than one hundred justices have served on the Court, and until recently, all were men (only 2 women). The Supreme Court Justices Congress and the Courts balance each other. Congress makes laws, passes "necessary and proper laws." But what is necessary? What is proper? The Supreme Courts 	- decide if a law fits the meaning of the Constitution 	- explain and interpret the Constitution 	- may need to decide in special situations. And Courts of all level can 	- interpret/ explain laws. 	- apply the rules of the Constitution to the nation's business. 	 Any citizen can go to a court to protect his civil liberties. The citizen may even go to the Supreme Court to get a final verdict. Congress - Courts Keeping the Balance Elections: Election Day One of the most important events in American government and politics is the election of the president. This event is held every four years and is often compared to a race. We say that someone is “running for office” and that the “presidential race” is on. People who are trying to be elected to a particular official job are called “candidates.” Almost any citizen who wants to be president can announce that they are a candidate. Usually, serious candidates for president are people with a lot of experience in government (e.g., governors of states or members of Congress). Choosing presidential candidates can begin more than two years before the actual election. The Election of the President Candidates for public office want to make sure that voters know about them and are familiar with their ideas. Presidential candidates 	- try to travel to all fifty states. 	- appear in public - shaking hands, greeting people, and give speeches. 	- appear on television and radio shows, run ads in newspapers. Most importantly, candidates argue with other candidates during televised debates. Presidential candidates want the voters 	- to know what they stand for, 	- their ideas on important issues and problems. 	- what they will do if they win the race for president. Elections: Candidates Candidates usually belong to one political party whose members have similar ideas about government. The United States has two main political parties: the Democratic party and the Republican party. There are some smaller parties, too. This allows for more than two candidates to run for president. Ross Perot ran for president in 1992 as a third-party candidate against Democrat Bill Clinton and Republican George Bush. Elections: Political Parties To begin with, there may be many candidates. Only one candidate from each party will eventually be chosen to run for president. People who are members of the two main political parties often help to select that one person months before the actual presidential election. They do this by voting in primary elections that are held in many states. The primary election season usually begins in February and ends early in June. Party members choose the candidate they prefer from their state in each state primary. Candidates in some states are chosen at a large state meeting called a “convention,” or at smaller meetings called “caucuses.” Elections: The Primary Election The Democrats and Republicans hold huge national conventions every four years, and all of the states participate. This event takes place in the summer before the presidential election. Representing the state’s voters, each state party sends delegates to vote for the candidate preferred in their state. Each party 	- will have chosen its final candidates for president and vice president when the conventions end. 	- also writes its platform at the conventions. “Platform” is a plan of action for the government in the next four years. (The platform lists the ideas that the party will “stand” on. It also outlines the party position on the important problems that face the nation.) Eg. 	- Slavery was the biggest issue when Abraham Lincoln was a candidate. 	- The Vietnam War was on everyone’s mind in the 1960s and 1970s. 	- Candidates and parties, more recently, have had to show where they stand on health-care reform, the economy and budget, and the environment. Elections: National Conventions All the delegates gather in a huge hall to choose the party’s candidate for President at the national convention. 	- Each of the fifty states has sent a group of people called a "delegation" to represent its voters. Smaller states may have only a few delegates, while states with large populations have many delegates. 	- The names of all the candidates are placed in nomination to be considered by the entire convention during the roll call of the states. As a state is called, the delegates cast their votes for the candidates who are most popular in their states. One candidate can be declared the winner if the candidate has a majority of votes after just one ballot or roll-call vote. If no one has a clear majority, there must be another call of the roll. The candidate with the most votes wins and becomes the party’s choice for President of the United States. National Conventions – An Inside View The convention closes. The really hard work is just beginning for the candidates. The final campaign gets under way after the major parties choose their candidates. The race for the White House is front-page news for the next few months. The candidates go out on the road again, meeting and greeting the voters. During this time, they give hundreds of speeches and interviews. It is during this period that presidential debates take place, too. Elections: The Campaign Elections: The Campaign(Quiz) Question 1: What does a candidate hire a political media expert to do? Question 2: Two-time presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson said he often stayed awake worrying after a long, hard day of campaigning. What are some of the things a candidate might worry about? Elections: The Campaign(Suggested answer) Question 1 - Answers will vary but should include that a political media expert is hired to figure out how to reach the greatest number of voters through radio, television, and newspapers. Question 2 - Answers will vary but may include money, standing in the polls, debating other candidates, the work of staff and volunteers, and the campaign schedule. Almost everyone is happy that the campaigns are ending by the time November arrives. It has been an exhausting year for the candidates and all their workers. The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November is Election Day for national elections. People all over the country go to polling places in their neighborhoods to vote. Some people mark paper ballots to choose the candidate they want for President of the United States, but most use electronic voting machines. The nation will know who the next President will be when all the votes are counted. Voters are questioned by reporters as they leave polling places. Along with early electronic results from voting machines, the information they gather enables the television networks to predict winners even before all the polls close. A winner is announced based on the popular vote. Once the winner is known, he makes a victory speech. The loosing candidate makes a concession speech. Elections: Polling Places Did you know that voters in the United States don't vote for the president? People actually vote for a group of electors when they go to the polls on Election Day. These electors have pledged to support a party's nominee for president. In many states the ballot lists only the names of the nominees and not the names of the electors, so many people believe they are voting for the president. Political parties want winner-take-all elections for electors. This means that the candidate that receives the most popular votes wins all the state's electoral votes. All the states except Maine use this winner-take-all system today. The Electoral College The Electoral College  A nominee needs a majority of the electoral votes to win the presidency. You'll notice, on election night, that the TV commentators keep track of the states each nominee wins. They add up the number of electoral votes that each state win represents. The race is over as soon as one of the nominees gets one more than half, or 270, of the total of electoral votes. By the end of election night or early the next morning, the nation usually knows the winner of the election. The president is not officially elected until the members of the Electoral College cast their state's votes in December, however, and Congress counts those votes on January 6. The Electoral College  The Constitution allows each state to have as many electoral votes as it has representatives in Congress. No state has fewer than three electoral votes. This is because each state has two senators and at least one representative in the House of Representatives. The winner-take-all system is the second criticism. By getting just one more popular vote that the opponent, a nominee can get all of a state's electoral votes. As a result, in history, three nominees have been elected president even though their opponents received more popular votes nationally. The new President is inaugurated on January 20. A President who is re-elected must be sworn in again. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court reads the Oath of Office outside the Capitol Building. The President and Vice President swear to do their jobs to the best of their abilities and to be faithful to the Constitution. There is a huge parade up Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House after the official ceremony. The new President rides in a limousine or walks along the parade route, smiling and waving to the crowd. Many fancy inaugural balls are held all over the city of Washington at night to celebrate the President’s election. Elections: The Inauguration