Question

What is the democratic system in America. How is the government setup? What are the branches and how does it work?

What reasons exist for continuing federalism in its current form? Does society operate more efficiently if government power is centralized?

Answer 1

‘America is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President who is the head of state and head of government, Congress, and judiciary share their powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments’. Its is one of a kind. The executive system is headed by the President and is independent of the legislature. Legislative power resides with the two chambers of Congress, which are the Senate and the House of Representatives. The judicial system, consist of the Supreme Court at top and lower federal courts. They exercise the judicial powers. Their function is to elucidate the United States Constitution, federal laws and other regulations. The democratic system of America is different in many ways, which includes ‘increased power of the upper house of the legislature, a wider scope of power held by the Supreme Court, the separation of powers between the legislature and the executive, and the dominance of only two main parties’. One interesting fact about the democracy of America is that, ‘it is one of the world's developed democracies where third parties have the least political influence’.

The branches in the democratic system includes state governments, various units of local governments such as counties, municipalities, and special districts.

State Governments

State governments also have three branches, which are executive, legislative, and judicial. The chief executive of a state is an elected governor, who has a term of service of 4 years. The constitutions of different states differ in some details but generally follow a pattern similar to that of the federal Constitution. “State governments have the power to make laws on all subjects that are not granted to the federal government or denied to the states in the U.S. Constitution”.

Local governments

The united states of America have got 89,500 local governments. Which includes 3,033 counties, 19,492 municipalities, 16,500 townships, 13,000 school districts, and 37,000 other special districts. “Local governments directly serve the needs of the people, providing everything from police and fire protection to sanitary codes, health regulations, education, public transportation, and housing”.

Mayor-Council- ‘It is the oldest form of city government in America, its structure is like that of the state and national governments, with an elected mayor as chief of the executive branch and an elected council that represents the various neighbourhoods forming the legislative branch’

County government- The county is a subdivision of the state, may containing two or more townships and several villages. It is a part of an efficient administration, by having its own administrative executives.

Reasons for the existence of federalism includes ‘protecting from tyranny, dispersing power, increasing citizen participation, and increasing effectiveness’. In America, the states existed first, and they struggled to create a national government.

On taking the case of centralised government, ‘centralized government works quickly to achieve the goals set by the government itself. It also benefits in shaping the parameters of success for upcoming governments and allow cohesion to work for common goals. It also promotes cultural exchange and keeps people united’. But it also has some disadvantages such as bureaucratic leadership, lack of employee loyalty etc.