Four Main Principles Of The American Political System

The American Political System is based upon the constitution and four main principles. These principles are as following: republic, federalism, separation of powers and the system of checks and balances. (Llewelyn, Paul, 2016). The United States is a republic which means that it is the people who have the power, but give it it the elected representatives. However, “In modern times, the definition of a republic is commonly limited to a government which excludes a monarch.” (Republic, 2016) US has no monarch, instead they have a President who represents the country externally and is the head of state. The second principle is federation. The US political system is based on a federal model which means that the power is split between the states and Washington. (Llewelyn, Paul, 2016). The US government is structured upon the tripartite system. This means that the political powers is separated between three key institutions. There is the legislative, the executive and the judicial branch in which …show more content…
“Congress has wide-ranging powers including control over federal taxing and spending and the right to coin money or declare war on other countries. Its primary duty is to write, debate and pass bills before they are sent to the president.” (News.bbc.co.uk, 2016). This is duty executed by the Congress. The Congress is a bicameral body divided in to the Senate and The House of Representatives and meets meets in the Capitol in Washington D.C (Llewelyn, Paul, 2016). The people in each state decides who are going to sit in both the Senate and the House of Representatives through direct elections. The Senate is based on equal representation. There are 100 representatives, two representatives from each state, with a six-year term. In comparison, there is The House of Representatives which the number representing the state correspond to population size and the members are replaced every two years. (News.bbc.co.uk,