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1、The Rich Get Richer and Elected,What are the two parties in the USA? the Republican Party (the Republicans) the Democratic Party (the Democrats),Bipartisanship,Two major political parties? the Republican and the Democratic Parties What are the symbols for the two parties? elephant and a donkey The t
2、wo parties / both have ruled the nation alternatively for different lengths of time Whats the name of the system? bipartisanship or two-party system The organization of both parties is the same. Each consists of committees of three levels: national, state, and district or city,Bipartisanship,Both of
3、 the parties have voluntary membership. There is no admittance procedure nor any party dues. All the party expenditure are covered by donations from their party members. A person can either be a Democrat, a Republican, or an independent with no party affiliation. It is not rare that a Democrat votes
4、 for a Republican candidate or vice versa. Any person had the liberty to decide which party he would like to be in and he can also change his membership at any time. As there is no registration of party membership except at the time of voting, it is hard to say how many members each party has. The s
5、upporters of the two parties? The Republican Party : strong support from big industrial capitalists and well-to-do middle and upper middle class people, including some most famous learned people and very wealthy farmers. The Democratic Party: has had much support from minor ethnic groups, workers, a
6、nd poor farmers,Bipartisanship,The different political tendency toward of the two parties? Todays Republican Party does not favor federal involvement in the nations economy. It elects to have a less powerful central government, giving more right to the states. The Democratic Party veered toward grea
7、ter federal involvement in the nations economic issues. It insists on a more powerful central government and less states rights. The different views often lead to factional strife between liberals and conservatives. These differences become very sharp especially during the presidential election year
8、s as each faction wants its own members to be nominated,In order to understand what is happening in Washington, it is important to know not only the party of the President, but also which parties control the House and the Senate. Because both the House of Representatives and Senate must agree on all
9、 legislation before it goes to the President, legislation may pass on one house but be blocked in the other.,Separation of the Three Powers,What does three powers refer to? The government of the United States is composed of three branches: (1) Congressthe legislative branch which makes the law; (2)
10、the President who represents the executive branch (3) the system of courts or the judicial branch which explains the law. To prevent any of the three branches from being too powerful, the Constitution implies that they are all equal but separate each being to some extent dependent on the other two.
11、If the federal government is to function smoothly, the three branches must work together harmoniously. The Constitution also provides that each can break and counteract the powers of the other two through a system called checks and balances.,Separation of the Three Powers,(1)The president checks Con
12、gress and the federal courts The President checks Congress by vetoing bill passed by it. He may also exert influence on Congress by calling it into special session and by recommending legislation. He may check the federal courts by nominating judges, by granting pardons and reprieves,(缓刑） and by ref
13、using to enforce court orders. 2) Congress checks the other two branches of the government Congress may check the President by refusing to pass legislation and to appropriate funds. It may override the Presidents veto by a two-thirds vote of each houses. （the Senate / the House of Representative ) a
14、 bicameral / two-chamber Congress ）,Separation of the Three Powers,Terms: Members of the House of Representatives are elected for two-year terms . The Senate terms: senators serve six-years terms , one-third of the senators run for re-election every two years The House of Representative may bring im
15、peachment charges against the President. In this case, the Senate will act as the jury. If the president is found guilty, the Senate can remove him from office. The Senate may check the President by refusing to approve his appointments and to ratify treaties. Congress may also check the Supreme Cour
16、t by passing a new law to replace a law held unconstitutional, by initiating an amendment to the Constitution, by impeaching and convicting judges of high crimes, and by increasing the number of judges on the Supreme Court. The Senate can refuse to approve the judges nominated by the President. (3)
17、The Supreme Court may check the President and Congress. The Supreme Court may check the President or Congress by declaring his actions or its laws unconstitutional.,U.S Presidential Election,Qualifications for the Office of President？ Every four years, Americans elect a president. Constitution speci
18、fies: To be President or Vice President, a person must be a natural-born citizen of the United States, at least 35 years of age, and a resident of the United States for at least 14 years. There are many political parties in the United States / and most of these will havecandidates for president. The
19、 process ofelecting a president takes nearly a year.,U.S Presidential Election,The process of electing the President is essentially divided into 4 stages: (1) the prenomination phase (January-July) candidates compete in state primary elections (January to June) or caucuses for delegates to the natio
20、nal party conventions (2) the national conventions (in July or August) the two major parties nominate candidates for President and Vice President and ratify a platform of the parties policy positions and goals; (3) the general election （ presidential election）campaign (begin on the first Tuesday in
21、November in each election year) the major party nominees, as well as any minor party or independent contenders, compete for votes from the entire electorate, (4) the electoral college ballot phase (in December) the President and Vice President are officially elected.,Stage 1 Primary elections (Janua
22、ry-June),(1)Primary elections (January to June) The long process of choosing the President of the United States begins with a series of individual state primary elections The process of electing delegates to a partys national convention .While typically voting for a particular candidate, voters actu
23、ally choose a slate of delegates for each party to represent that state at the partys national convention Campaigning for the primaries often begins 6 to 12 months before the first primary. Incumbent presidents seeking re-election have nearly always won their partys nomination. Iowa/ caucus vote,Sta
24、ge 2 The National Convention (July or August),(2) National convention ( in July or August) the Democratic National Convention the Republican National Convention Proceedings Day One. routine business such as examining the credentials of delegations, ratifying rules and procedures Day Two: adoption of
25、 Platform Day Three Balloting for presidential candidate . The final choice is made when one candidate receives two thirds of the votes.,If nobody wins the supports of absolute majority on the first ballot, a second, or a third ballot is held. Each party chooses a person to run for president and a p
26、erson to run for vicepresident. The two candidates work as a team. They will win or lose the election together. Day Four The fourth day of the convention is usually dominated by the nomination of the presidential and vice presidential nominees acceptance speeches. With particular attention to televi
27、sion coverage. a carefully staged campaign event designed to draw public attention and favor to the nominee.,Immediately following the conventions, the nominees are faced with several tasks. (1) Uniting the party behind the candidates (2) establishing a general election campaign organization (3) pre
28、paring a campaign plan. Candidate Activity As soon as the convention is over, the whole party helps its candidates to start campaigning all over the country.,Positive Messages Positive political advertising seeks to portray the candidate and issues in a favorable light. If he is an incumbent running
29、 for reelection, the achievements of his administration are detailed. Positive campaign spots generally seek to solidify party support and attract undecided voters of either party. Negative Messages So-called negative, or comparative, political advertising has been used increasingly in recent years.
30、,It conveys or seeks to evoke a basically unfavorable view of the opposing candidate or party, often by means of comparison Negative spots are intended to establish doubts among the public about a candidate or his policies, in hopes of persuading them to vote against that candidate or party, or not
31、to vote at all. Positive campaigning (high road) Negative campaigning (low road).,Stage 3 The General Election,(3) The General Election (begin on the first Tuesday in November in each election years) States elect their Presidential electors. (总统选举人)The number of Presidential electors for each state
32、is equal to the total number of its Representatives in the house and Senate. Since the size of state delegations in the House of Representatives may change after the reapportionment mandated by the decennial census, the size of state representation in the electoral college has similarly fluctuated.
33、The total number of Presidential electors for the nation is 538. California has more than 40 Presidential electors while Nevada has only three. (must-win state). All the candidate for Presidential electors are party nominees who have made it clear to the public that they will vote for their party ca
34、ndidate for the Presidency. Their names are put on two lists, a Democratic list and a Republican one. As a matter of fact, the voter is actually electing the President when he casts his vote for electors.,Stage 3 The General Election,As prescribed by the Constitution, the election of the President w
35、as left to electors (presidential elector )chosen by the states. Final authority for selecting the President still rests with the electoral college(选举团).All but two states award electoral votes on a winner-take-all basis（胜者全得）to the candidate with a plurality of the states （plurality rule 简单多数原则）pop
36、ular vote（普选票）. This is so much recognized that the voting papers (or machine) just put the names of the Democratic Presidential candidate and the Republican Presidential candidate instead of the names of electors before the voters. The party that wins most votes (simple majority) in a state wins al
37、l the electoral votes for the state and the defeated party gets none.,Stage 4 The electoral college ballot phase (December),(4) the electoral college ballot phase Since all the electors, who form the electoral college, are already committed to voting for a certain candidate, the next stage is only a
38、 kind of formality. The Winning candidates receive an absolute majority of electoral votes (currently 270 of the 538 total). If no president candidate win an absolute majority electoral votes, the president will be choosen by the House of Representatives. Sometimes a presidential candidate can win t
39、he general election even if he failed to win the majority of the popular votes. As soon as the election returns are announced, the defeated candidate makes a public speech to concede his defeat while the President-elect (当选总统）will prepare his inaugural address to be delivered at the inauguration cer
40、emony which is held in front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20. He will be busy forming his administration. No President can stay for more than 8 years.,Bill: a bill is a proposed law that is being considered by a legislature. Civil disobedience: Civil disobedience refers to the sincere and delibera
41、te breaking of a law to draw attention to the unfairness of a law. Persons engaged civil disobedience do not resist the police and accept whatever penalty is ordered by the courts. e.g. Anti-war demonstrators engaged in civil disobedience to protest against the war. Filibuster: A filibuster is an ef
42、fort to stall, delay, and ultimately block the consideration of a bill by the US Senate through the making of many long speeches. A filibuster may continue for weeks or even months until the Senate decide it must move to other business. e.g. The bill was filibustered to death.,Specialized terms used
43、 to describe contemporary US politics,Fiscal year (FY): The fiscal year is the official accounting period for the federal budget. It runs from October 1 through September 30. Fiscal year is often abbreviated FY. e.g. The budget for Fy99 is the first budget in decades to be in balance. Focus group: A
44、 focus group is a technique used by election campaign organization to measure the reaction of the public to specific themes, issues, and advertisements used during an election campaign. Typically, about a dozen people-chosen at random-are assembled and probed for their reactions to what has been don
45、e by a candidate in a campaign or to what a candidate may do in a campaign. e.g. The focus groups indicate that foreign policy is not an important issue with the voters this year. Freedom of Information Act: The Freedom of Information Act is a federal law enacted in 1967 which requires federal gover
46、nment agencies to make open to the public all documents and information which they possess. Only information which pertains specifically to national security or privacy is exempt from the law. e.g. The journalists used the Freedom of Information Act to force the government to release the documents.,
47、Impeachment: Impeachment id a charge brought by the US House of Representative against an official in the judicial or executive branches of the federal government. In essence, the House of Representatives sits as grand jury considering the evidence against a president, vice-president, or a federal j
48、udge. If the House of Representative votes a charge of impeachment against an official, the US Senate conducts a trial and decides the guilt or innocence of the accused official. e.g. A committee of the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Nixon in 1975but he resigned before the full
49、House of Representatives could vote on the impeachment. Iron triangle: An iron triangle is a powerful relationship between members of the Congress, the bureaucrats in federal government agencies and certain interest groups. For example, the Congress appropriates the money for the federal highway bureaucrats who them issue multi-million dollar contracts to road construction companies which then contribute millions of dollars to the re-election campaigns of congressmen helping to ensure the re-election of those congressmen who then work to appropriate more dollars for the highway program, etc.