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ABOUT

AMERICAHow the United States Is Governed

For Braddock Communicaions:
PUBLISHER: JASON L. STERNWRITER EDITOR: PAUL A. ARNOLDTHIS PUBLICATION IS MADE POSSIBLE BY BP AMERICA INC.

For the Bureau of International
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EXECUTIVE EDITOR: GEORGE CLACKEDITOR: PAUL MALAMUDDESIGNER: CHLOE ELLISPHOTO RESEARCH: MAGGIE SLIKER

Cover: Bottom left: The dome of the U.S. Capitol building, Washington, D.C., headquarters of the Legislative
Branch of the U.S. government. Top: The White House, headquarters of the federal executive. Bottom right: The
Supreme Court building, headquarters of the federal judiciary.

Credits from top to bottom are separated by dashes, left to right by semicolons. All photos are AP/Wide World unless otherwise noted. Cover: PictureQuest RF—Garry Black /Masterfile; Catherine Gehm.Page 3: Michael Ventura/
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Copyright © 2004 Braddock Communications, Inc. P.O. Box 710720, Herndon, Virginia 20171-0720

AMERICAABOUT

How the United States Is Governed
Table of Contents

Overview of national, state, and local governments in the United States ................3
Understanding how the American system of government operates .........................3
The role of the U.S. Constitution .…………………………………………………………4
How federal, state, and local governments interact ..................................................5
Similarities and differences between the U.S. system of government andother forms of democratic government .......................................................................7
The federal government ………………………………………………………………………9The Legislative Branch ..............................................................................................9How a bill becomes law .....................................................................................9
The Senate .......................................................................................................12
The House of Representatives .........................................................................12
The Executive Branch .............................................................................................13
Executive departments and agencies..............................................................14
The Judicial Branch .................................................................................................17
Chart: Checks and balances .........................................................................................20
State governments .......................................................................................................21
Structure of state governments ................................................................................22
Powers and responsibilities of state governments ..................................................22
Local government.........................................................................................................25
Structure of local governments ................................................................................25
Elections and the electoral process ...........................................................................28
Nongovernmental organizations and institutions that inﬂuence public policy .....29
The media ..............................................................................................................29
Special interest groups / nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) .........................30

Public policy research associations ........................................................................30
Trade associations ...................................................................................................30
Labor unions ............................................................................................................30
Individuals and private-sector businesses ..............................................................32
State and local governmental associations .............................................................33
Political parties.........................................................................................................33
Foreign governments and multilateral organizations...............................................33
Chart: Funding government in the United States ..........................................................34
Glossary ........................................................................................................................35
Acknowledgments
The publisher would like to extend a special note of thanks to Michael P. Brien and Howard
Miller of BP America Inc. for their assistance in making this publication possible. The assistance of the following individuals in providing information and assistance for this publication is
also gratefully acknowledged:
Douglas K. Barry, Ed.D., U.S. Commercial Service, U.S. Department of Commerce
Carol A. Bonosaro, Senior Executives Association
Elizabeth A. Sherman, Ph.D., Presidential Classroom
Donald A. Ritchie, U.S. Senate Historical Office
Paul Rundquist, formerly Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress
Vincent T. Tizzio, American International Group
Dr. Andrew R. Uscher, Senior Executives Association
David K. Voight, U.S. Small Business Administration

Overview of national, state, and local governmentsin the United States

Visitors closely inspect the original pages of the
U.S. Constitution of 1787 in the rotunda of the National Archives building in Washington, D.C. The
Constitution as interpreted by courts still governs
life in America.

The American system of government, begun
as an experiment in liberty and democracy in
1776, has proven to be remarkably resilient
and adaptable.
While often categorized as a democracy,
the United States is more accurately deﬁned
as a constitutional federal republic. What does
this mean? “Constitutional” refers to the factthat government in the United States is basedon a Constitution which is the supreme law of
the United States. The Constitution not only
provides the framework for how the federal
and state governments are structured, butalso places signiﬁcant limits on their powers.
“Federal” means that there is both a national
government and governments of the 50 states.
A “republic” is a form of government in which
the people hold power, but elect representatives to exercise that power.

UNDERSTANDING HOW THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT OPERATES
To a visiting observer, the U.S. government may seem straightforward: the Congress
makes the laws and the President implements them. A closer inspection reveals amuch more complex system of interactions and inﬂuences.
As a republic, the ultimate power within the American system rests with the people.
This power is exercised through regular, scheduled elections in which voters select the
President, members of Congress, and various state and local ofﬁcials. These ofﬁcials
and their staffs formulate policy, make laws, and direct the day-to-day operations ofgovernment.
“I know of no safe depository of theultimate powers of the society but the people themselves.”– Thomas Jefferson, 1820

3

HOW THE U.S. IS GOVERNEDTHE ROLE OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTIONThe U.S. Constitution is the blueprint
for the American system of government.
Ratiﬁed in 1788, the Constitution deﬁnes
three separate branches of government(legislative, executive, and judicial), theirpowers, and how positions in each are to
be ﬁlled.
One deﬁning characteristic of
the Constitution is the system ofchecks and balances it created to
distribute power among the threebranches.
Eachbranchexercisessome formof powerover theothers. For
example,justicesof theSupremeCourt (judiciary) are appointed by the
President (executive), but subject to theconsent of the U.S. Senate (legislative).
Likewise, the judiciary can strike down
as unconstitutional laws passed by Congress and signed by the President. Theseand other checks and balances ensurethat no single branch of government
exercises too much power.
Because the government may exercise only those powers specificallygranted to it in the Constitution, theConstitution is an important protectionof the rights and powers of the people.
The first ten amendments to the Constitution are collectively known as the Bill
4

of Rights. The Bill of Rights guarantees
important freedoms to every American,
including freedom of speech, press, andreligion, and the right to be free fromunreasonable searches, and to have atrial by jury.
The Constitution, as the supreme lawof the land, limits thelegislative and executive powers of alllevels of government.
Any law or portion ofa law that is deemedby the courts to be
in conﬂict with theConstitution is nulliﬁed,with the U.S. Supreme
Court having the ﬁnal
say in suchmatters.
Amendments to theConstitution
are adopted
when proposed by
two-thirds ofthe House
and Senate
and ratiﬁed by three-fourths of the states.
This is a difﬁcult process, with only 27
amendments having been made since theConstitution was ratiﬁed. Of these, only 16
have been adopted since 1800.
On the right, two overlapping pages of the original textof the Constitution. On the left, a printed, annotatedversion of a House joint resolution amending theConstitution and proposing a Bill of Rights with 17
amendments, August 24, 1789.

HOW FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS INTERACTThe Constitution not only deﬁnes
the structure and powers of the federal
government, but also contains generalprovisions regarding state government.
Each state, in turn, has its own
constitution which contains provisions
for local governments within the state.
Local governments may include cities,
counties, towns, school districts, andspecial-purpose districts, which governsuch matters as local natural resources
or transportation networks.
The federal government is limited tothe powers and responsibilities speciﬁcally granted to it by the U.S. Constitution. Some of the powers listed in theConstitution include regulating commerce
between the states, providing for national
defense, creating money, regulating immigration and naturalization, and entering
into treaties with foreign countries.
Over time, however, the Constitution
has been interpreted and amended toadapt to changing circumstances, and thepowers exercised by the federal government have changed with it. Working withthe states, the federal government cre-ates certain laws and programs that are
funded federally, but administered by thestates. Education, social welfare, assisted
housing and nutrition, homeland security,transportation, and emergency response
are key areas where states deliver services
using federal funds and subject to federal
guidelines.
This gives the federal government thepower to inﬂuence the states. For example, in the 1970s, the federal government
wanted to lower highway speed limits to
reduce energy consumption. Rather thansimply legislate a lower speed limit, thefederal government threatened to withhold money for road projects from statesthat did not themselves lower the speed
limit in their states. In many cases, thestates must also partially fund the programs to qualify for federal funds.
A local government is chartered according to its state’s constitution. Just as
the policies enacted by the state government must not conﬂict with federal law, alocal government is subject to the legal
environment created by the state’s constitution and statutes.

5HOW THE U.S. IS GOVERNED

Sovereignty of Indian Tribes

Matthew Thomas, leader of the Narragansett Indian tribe, addresses 24 eastern U.S. tribes at a
meeting in Mashantucket, Connecticut, in 2003. Like other groups, Native Americans pursue uniﬁed
political agendas.

F

ederally recognized American Indian tribes are considered sovereign

entities within the United States. This sovereign status—sometimes called“nation-within-a-nation”—is protected by treaty, federal law, and court
rulings. Members of tribes are not subject to state or local income, sales,or property taxes, and states have little power to regulate Indians in tribal
territories. Tribes have their own rule-making bodies and judicial systems
to settle disputes arising on tribal lands or between tribal members. Whilesigniﬁcant, tribal sovereignty is not absolute; Indians are subject to federal
taxes and to laws passed by the U.S. Congress.

6Similarities and differences between the U.S.
system of government and other forms of
democratic government
President (or comparable ofﬁcial).
In the United States,
the President is both headof government and head ofstate. The President is elected
separately from the legislature and may or may not beof the legislature’s majority
political party. The President’s
cabinet consists of individuals
who are Constitutionally prohibited from being membersof Congress at the same time.
Arab-Americans vote in the 2004 U.S. presidential election in a school
The United States is priin Dearborn, Michigan.
marily a two-party system, instark contrast to many parAs a constitutional federal republic, theliamentary
systems where there may be
United States is not unique. Many “deten or more parties represented in the
mocracies” are in fact constitutional relegislature. This results in clearly deﬁned
publics, and share with the United Stateslong traditions of democratic representa- political lines in the United States, without the formal need for coalition-building
tion, the rule of law, and constitutional
often required to create a ruling majorprotections.
ity in a parliamentary system. One factor
One signiﬁcant difference between
contributing to the two-party system in
the United States and some other major
the United States is the single-member
democracies is the selection and role of
district system of electing Representathe head of government. In parliamentives. In some parliamentary systems,
tary systems, the head of government
proportional representation is used,
is a prime minister selected from thewhich allows many parties to be repreparliament, and is typically the leader ofsented in parliament.
the majority political party or coalition.
One other signiﬁcant difference is
The prime minister appoints a cabinetthat elected ofﬁcials in the United Statesof ministers often consisting of othermembers of parliament. A separate head serve for a deﬁned period of time before
facing reelection. In many parliamentaryof state may be a monarch or an elected

7

HOW THE U.S. IS GOVERNED

Texas: In a scene played out in many courtrooms, an attorney addresses jurors in a civil trial. Civil cases, unlike
criminal cases, revolve around damages for wrongful acts and sometimes result in monetary awards.

systems, elections may be called suddenly by the ruling party or if there isa vote of no conﬁdence in the government. In some parliamentary systems,
parliament may be dissolved by the headof state and new elections ordered.
Differences in the judicial system are
not as signiﬁcant as in the legislative,
because the United States legal system is based predominantly on English
common law. Defendants in criminalcases have the right to a public trial by
jury and the right to be represented bycounsel. One major difference in the judiciary, however, is the power of the U.S.
Supreme Court to declare laws unconstitutional, thereby nullifying them. Few

8other countries vest such authority intheir judiciaries.
Finally, the revenues and expenditures of the U.S. government are muchsmaller than most of its counterparts inother industrialized nations when measured as a percentage of gross domestic
product. Much of the difference is due tothe social services and beneﬁts (such as
health care and old-age pensions) thatgovernments in some other nations pay
for. In the United States, many of these
services are delivered by the private sector or are not funded to the same extent
by the government, and thus are notcounted in government expenditures.

The federal government

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. has long symbolized representative government in America. It is
divided into two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate, both of which need to concur for a newlaw to take effect.

The federal government is madeup of three distinct branches, each withclearly deﬁned Constitutional powers
and responsibilities. These are the legislative branch, the executive branch andthe judicial branch.

THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The legislative branch of the federal
government is comprised of two chambers of Congress: the U.S. Senate andthe U.S. House of Representatives. Legislation must pass both houses before it ispresented to the President to be signed
into law.

How a bill becomes law
Each year, thousands of bills are
introduced in Congress, but only a few
hundred are passed into law. The following is a summary of how a bill makes its
way from draft to being signed into law
by the President.
1. A bill is written. A Senator or Representative may draft original legislation,
or a trade association or private citizen
may request that a bill be prepared andmay assist in its writing. Only a Senator
or Representative, however, can actually introduce a bill. Once written, theauthor of the bill will seek co-sponsors
from among his or her colleagues to add
greater credibility to the initiative.

9

HOW THE U.S. IS GOVERNEDTHE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS

Committee and subcommittee
A bill is introduced and assigned
to committee

Committee and subcommittee
hearings and markup

Full chamber
Vote by full chamber

Debate and amendments
by full chamber
If passed by full chamber, bill isreferred to other chamber

Full CongressIf passed in different form by other chamber, bill goes toconference committee, which negotiates differences

2. The bill is introduced in the Senate
and/or House. It is assigned a number
and its title and sponsors are publishedin the Congressional Record.
3. The Parliamentarians of the Houseand Senate assign the bill to the committee with appropriate jurisdiction. The
chair of the committee may then assign
the bill to the most appropriate subcommittee. It is important to note that thecommittee and subcommittee chairs
have a great deal of power over how abill assigned to them is considered. If
the chair opposes the legislation, he or
she may simply not act on it.
4. The subcommittee may hold hearings on the bill and invite testimony
from public and private witnesses. Many
witnesses are Executive Branch ofﬁcials,
experts, or affected parties from tradeassociations, labor unions, academia,
public interest groups, or the business
community. Individuals may also maketheir views known by testifying, by providing a written statement, or by allow10

ing interest groups to represent theirviews.
5. Once the hearings are completed, thesubcommittee may meet to “mark up”
the bill, which is the process of proposing and considering amendments to thebill as written. It then votes on whether
to report the bill favorably to the fullcommittee. If not favorably reported, thebill dies.
6. The full committee may repeat any
or all of the subcommittee’s actions:hearings, markup, and vote. If thecommittee votes favorably on the bill,
it is ordered reported to either the fullHouse of Representatives or the full
Senate, depending on which chamberis considering the bill.
7. When the bill reaches the ﬂoor of theHouse or Senate, the membership of theentire body may debate it. At this point,
the bill may be further amended, referred back to committee, or voted on.
8. If the bill is passed by the House or
Senate, it is referred to the other cham-Vote by full committee

Vote by subcommittee

If passed by full committee, billis referred to the full chamber

President
If passed in identicalform by other chamber,bill is presented to the
President

ber. A House-passed bill may be placed
directly on the Senate Calendar, bypassing the subcommittee and committee
reviews. Usually, however, the subcommittees and committees in both bodies
have an opportunity to hold hearings,
and amend the bill. Related or identicallegislation often proceeds through theHouse and Senate simultaneously.
9. If a bill is passed in identical form by
the House and Senate, it is delivered to
the President. If there are differences
between the House and Senate versionsof the bill, a conference committee isappointed by the President of the Senate
and the Speaker of the House to resolve
the differences. If the conferees are unable to reach agreement, the legislation
dies. If they do reach an agreement,
the bill is sent back to both chambers,
which must vote on them without further
amendment.

If the President signs the billor takes no action while
Congress is in session, thebill becomes law

If both chambers approve theconference committee bill, it goes to the
President for signature. The President
has four options: (1) Sign the bill
into law; (2) Take no action while theCongress is in session, in which case thebill becomes law after ten days; (3) Takeno action while a Congress is in ﬁnal
adjournment, in which case the bill dies;or (4) Veto the bill.
If the President vetoes a bill,
Congress may attempt to override theveto. This requires a two-thirds vote byboth the House and Senate. If either fails
to achieve a two-thirds majority in favorof the legislation, the bill dies. If both
succeed, the bill becomes law.
In addition to creating laws, oneof the most important activities ofCongress is oversight of the Executive
Branch. Congress may hold hearings toinvestigate the operations and actions of
the Executive Branch to ensure that it iscarrying out the law with integrity.

11

HOW THE U.S. IS GOVERNEDThe House of Representatives

Members of the House of Representatives take theoath of ofﬁce in the House chambers in the Capitol inJanuary, 1989.

The Senate• Considered the “Upper Chamber,” it is considered more deliberative than the House.
• Comprised of 100 Senators (two from eachstate).
• Senators serve six-year terms, with no limiton the number of terms they may serve.
• For election purposes, senators are divided
into three classes; one class stands forelection every two years. This ensures that
there are always experienced legislators
serving in Congress.
• Vacancies in the Senate are generally ﬁlled
by appointment by the governor of thestate where the vacancy exists.
• The Vice President of the United States
serves as the President of the Senate,voting only in cases of a tie.*
While sharing broad legislative powers
with the House of Representatives, theSenate has several unique powers to itself:• The Senate must conﬁrm presidential
appointments to the Supreme Court, lower
federal courts, and key positions within the
Executive Branch before the appointees
can take ofﬁce.
• The Senate approves or rejects international
treaties negotiated by the President.
• In cases of impeachment of the President
or a member of the Supreme Court, the full
Senate conducts the trial and acts as jury.
12• Considered the “House of the People.”• Comprised of 435 Representatives,
apportioned among the statesaccording to population. Five U.S.
territories and possessions also havenonvoting representation in the House:
the District of Columbia, American
Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the
U.S. Virgin Islands.
• All Representatives serve two-year termswith no limit on the number of terms
they may serve, and all are elected at thesame time.
• Each Representative is elected from adeﬁned geographic area within a state
called a Congressional District.
• Vacancies in the House of Representatives
are ﬁlled only by a special election or in a
general election.
• The members of the House elect a
Speaker of the House, who is theleading ofﬁcer of the chamber and, inpractice, is a member of the majority
party.
Special powers and responsibilitiesof the House not shared with the Senate
include:• The power to bring charges of
impeachment against the President
and Supreme Court Justices.
• All bills for raising revenue must
originate in the House.
• The House selects the President in cases
where no presidential candidate receives
a majority of electoral votes. In suchcases, each state delegation has one vote.
*In practice, ties are so infrequent that the Vice President
spends very little time presiding over the Senate. When
the Vice President is not present, the Senate selects
a president from its members to preside over daily
proceedings.

President Bush chairs a cabinet meeting, November, 2004.

THE EXECUTIVE BRANCHThe Executive Branch is by far the largest
branch of the federal government. At its
head is the President, who serves a fouryear term. The Vice President is elected
at the same time, and is ﬁrst in line toassume the presidency should the President die, become incapacitated, or beremoved from ofﬁce upon impeachment
and conviction.
Although the Executive Branch shares
powers co-equally with the other two
branches of government, the President
is the most powerful individual in thegovernment. Among the powers and rolesof the President are:
• Appointing Supreme Court justices andlower federal court judges, all of whommust be conﬁrmed by the Senate;•Appointing a cabinet of department secretaries and agency heads who must be
conﬁrmed by the Senate;• Acting as Commander-in-Chief of themilitary;• Acting as titular head of state;• Negotiating international treaties andtreaties with American Indian tribes,
which must be ratiﬁed by the Senate;
13

HOW THE U.S. IS GOVERNED• Vetoing legislation passed by Congress;• Granting pardons and reprieves for federal crimes (except impeachment).
In addition to these constitutional
powers, the President in practice has other powers that are either informal or not
expressly provided for in the Constitution.
First and foremost, the President may
issue Executive Orders, which are directives that have the force of law. Executive
Orders are commonly used for purposessuch as:• Establishing new programs, ofﬁces, orcommissions to promote or carry out
the President’s political agenda;• Creating policies that affect how legislation passed by Congress is to be carriedout or enforced;• Declaring when the federal workforce
will observe holidays.
Executive Orders can be a powerfultool for the President to achieve policy
objectives, and this power has been
upheld by the Supreme Court. Individual
Executive Orders may be overturned or
modiﬁed by Congressional legislation, butsuch legislation requires the President’s
signature to have effect, unless Congress
overrides a presidential veto. Executive
Orders may also be challenged in court if
they are perceived to violate the Constitution or conﬂict with existing law.
Finally, the President serves as thehead of his or her political party, andcan use the stature and visibility of thepresidency to articulate political views andadvance political objectives, both with the
public and with members of his or her
party in Congress.

Executive departments and agencies
Beneath the President and Vice President are 15 departments and numerous
agencies which together make up the“government” that we see every day. They
are responsible for administering the law,enforcing it, and delivering various governmental services. Their functions are
far-reaching and affect the lives of every
American.
The 15 departments are:• Department of Agriculture (USDA)• Department of Commerce (DOC)• Department of Defense (DOD)• Department of Education (ED)• Department of Energy (DOE)• Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS)• Department of Homeland Security (DHS)• Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD)• Department of the Interior (DOI)• Department of Justice (DOJ)

Federal government agencies collect data, as well as
initiate programs. This scientist, who works for the U.S.
Department of Energy, uses an aircraft to collect dataon air pollution over New England.

14

Old-age pensions, known as Social Security in the United States, are paid to millions by the U.S. government.
Above, printed checks wait to be mailed from the U.S. Treasury’s ﬁnancial management facility in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

• Department of Labor (DOL)• Department of State (DOS)• Department of Transportation (DOT)• Department of the Treasury• Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Each department is headed by a secretary, who is appointed to the position by
the President subject to Senate conﬁrmation. The departmental secretaries by law
make up the President’s Cabinet, a groupof people who advise the President on any
subject relating to their responsibilities.
The President may also accord cabinetlevel status to other top Executive Branchofﬁcials. Typically this includes the Vice
President, the President’s Chief of Staff,
the director of the Ofﬁce of Management

and Budget, and the U.S. Trade Representative. Other positions that are currently or have recently been consideredcabinet-level positions are the director of
the Environmental Protection Agency, thedirector of Central Intelligence, and thePresident’s national security advisor.
In addition to the cabinet-level departments, there are numerous independent
Executive Branch agencies and commissions, some of which are quite large.
Some examples include the U.S. Postal
Service, the Environmental Protection
Agency, and the National Aeronautics andSpace Administration (NASA).
Regulatory agencies are an especially powerful type of agency. They are
15

HOW THE U.S. IS GOVERNED
empowered by Congress to make andenforce rules governing speciﬁc parts ofthe economy often dealing with complex
technical issues. Major regulatory agencies include:• Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC)• Federal Trade Commission (FTC)• Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)• Food and Drug Administration (in HHS)
(FDA)
• Federal Communications Commission(FCC)• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)• Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC)• Occupational Safety and HealthAdministration (in DOL) (OSHA).
Together with other regulatory agencies, these bodies make rules that affectnearly every business and consumer.
Commission members and agency heads

are appointed by the President subject
to Senate approval. Their rules have theforce of law, but may be challenged in the
courts or overturned by Congress.
Of all the independent agencies, none
is more independent than the Federal
Reserve System, the nation’s central bankalso known simply as “the Fed.” The
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve is responsible for establishing thenation’s monetary policy, setting interest rates, and determining the supply ofmoney. Decisions made by the Fed havefar-reaching effects on the nation’s economy, interest rates, inﬂation, job creation,and international trade. In fact, many
consider the Chairman of the Board ofGovernors to be the second most powerful individual in government after the
President.

Presidential SuccessionT

he Department of Homeland Security is the nation’s newest cabinet-level department. The date of creation is important because the presidency passes to the Vice
President in case of death or incapacitation of the President. If the Vice President isunable to serve, the line of succession is as follows:• Speaker of the House;• President Pro Tem of the Senate;• Department secretaries, generally in the order the departments werecreated, beginning with the Secretary of State.

16

The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., houses the nation’s highest court. The nine justices on the
court play a decisive role interpreting legal and constitutional issues for the nation.

THE JUDICIAL BRANCH
The judicial branch is responsible forpassing judgment on legal cases thatchallenge or require interpretation of actsof Congress and for trying criminal cases
in which the defendant is accused of violating federal law. Federal courts also haveappellate jurisdiction over state laws whenchallenged on constitutional grounds,
and jurisdiction over cases involving morethan one state, citizens of more than one
state, or foreign parties.
The judicial branch consists of theSupreme Court and the lower federal
courts, including the Courts of Appeal(also known as Circuit Courts or Appellate
Courts), federal district courts, bankruptcy
courts, and courts of federal claims. The
courts of the federal judiciary hear both
civil and criminal cases appealed fromstate courts. Their original jurisdiction
covers cases relating to patents, trademarks, claims against the federal government, bankruptcy, ﬁnancial securities,
maritime law, and international claims.
As a separate branch of government,
the judiciary is independent of the othertwo branches, subject only to the checks
and balances deﬁned in the Constitution.
An independent federal judiciary is

17

HOW THE U.S. IS GOVERNED
considered essential to ensure fairness
and equal justice for all citizens. The
Constitution promotes judicial independence in two major ways. First, federal
judges are appointed for life, and they
can be removed from ofﬁce only throughimpeachment and conviction by Congress of “Treason, Bribery, or other highCrimes and Misdemeanors.” Second, theConstitution provides that the compensation of federal judges “shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Ofﬁce,”
which means that neither the President
nor Congress can reduce the salary of afederal judge. These two protections help
an independent judiciary to decide cases
free from popular passions and politicalinﬂuence.
Although the judiciary was envisionedby the writers of the Constitution to be abranch insulated from political pressures18

and popular opinion, the process of selecting judges has become highly political. Supreme Court Justices and lower
court judges are nominated by the President and take ofﬁce only when conﬁrmedby the Senate.
The Supreme Court currently hasnine justices, a number set by law. Lower
federal courts, including their jurisdictions, number of judges, and budgets,are established by Congress. All federal
judges require conﬁrmation by the Senate
in order to take ofﬁce permanently. The
President, however, may appoint judges
for a temporary term while the Congress
is not in session. Federal magistrates, who
perform judicial activities such as setting
bail, issuing warrants, and conducting
hearings for minor offenses, are appointed to eight-year terms by Federal District
Court judges.

The Supreme Court and Civil Rights

T

White and black students study together at Clinton HighSchool in Clinton, Tennessee, in 1964. The 1960s saw
many advances in racial integration in the United States,
prompted by public opinion and the federal court system.

he Supreme Court’s role as an equal
partner in government was solidiﬁed by
the famous case of Marbury v. Madisonin 1803. In this case, the Supreme
Court for the ﬁrst time declared a law
passed by Congress and signed by the
President unconstitutional, thereby nullifying the law. Rather than being simply
a court that interprets the law, the Supreme Court has the power to void laws.

Although it was 54 years before the Supreme Court declared another law unconstitutional, it has become increasingly active since the middle of the 20th century, especially in the area of civil rights. A succession of landmark cases was a driving force inthe expansion of rights for minorities and protections for defendants in criminal cases.
Many of these, though controversial at the time, are now praised as enduring victories
over injustice. The following are examples of some cases that had a lasting impact:• In 1954, the court held in Brown v. Board of Education that having separate
schools for whites and blacks was inherently unequal, and resulted in a massive
desegregation effort in public schools.
• In 1956, the court upheld a lower court ruling overturning state laws that discriminated against minorities. Practices such as forcing blacks to sit at the backof buses (the situation that originated the case) were outlawed.
• In the 1967 Miranda v. Arizona case, the court held that individuals in police
custody must be told of their rights to remain silent and to have legal counsel.
These rights are now known as “Miranda rights.”
In these and many other important cases, the Supreme Court overturned state andlocal laws and practices that had the effect of denying minorities equal rights under
the law. An important basis for these decisions was the Fourteenth Amendment, whichstates in part:“No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life,
liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”“… the judiciary is the safeguard of our liberty and our property under theConstitution.”
Charles Evans Hughes, Chief Justice of theUnited States, 1930-1941

19

HOW THE U.S. IS GOVERNED

Checks and Balances• Senate confirmspresidential
appointments to
executive and judicial
posts• Congress can overridea presidential veto
• Congress exerts
oversight of executive
activities

Executive• Appoints federal
judges and justices• Can veto legislation• Vice President is
President of the Senate
and can break tie votes• Represents federal
government before
the court• President canissue pardons foroffenses other than
impeachment• Congress controls
budget• Congress can impeach
and, upon conviction,
remove the President
from office• Chief Justice presides
over trials of presidential
impeachment• Can declare presidential acts
unconstitutional• Senate confirms judges andjustices• Can impeach and remove judges
and justices• Sets size of Supreme Court• Can initiate constitutional
amendments• Creates federal courts inferior to
the Supreme Court

Legislative• Interprets legislation with power todeclare it unconstitutional

20

Judicial

State governments

The state Supreme Court building in San Francisco, California, hosts that court and other regional courts as well,including a federal appeals court. A system of federal courts stretches throughout the nation, and provides anational legal structure, in addition to state courts and state laws.

As a federal system of government,
the United States has several layers ofgovernment ranging from the federal
government at the national level, to stateand local governments. Two of theselayers—the national and state—areaddressed in the U.S. Constitution.
The U.S. Constitution gives Congress
the authority to admit new states to theunion. Since the ratiﬁcation of theConstitution by the original 13 states, theUnited States has grown to encompass
50 states, varying widely in populationand geographic size. In addition to the 50

states, there is a federal district—theDistrict of Columbia—which is the national
capital and not part of any state. The
District of Columbia is governed by thecity government, with budgetary control
and administrative oversight by the U.S.
Congress.
State governments are not subunits ofthe federal government; each state is sovereign and does not report in any constitutional way to the federal government. The
U.S. Constitution and federal law, however,supersede state constitutions and state laws
in areas where they are in disagreement.

21

HOW THE U.S. IS GOVERNEDSTRUCTURE OF STATE GOVERNMENTS
The U.S. Constitution guarantees eachstate a republican form of government—that is, a government run by popularlyelected representatives of the people.
State governments generally mirror thefederal government: In each state there
is an elected head of the executive branch(the governor), an independent judiciary,
and a popularly elected legislative branch.
Executive
The executive branch of each state is
responsible for administering the day-today operations of government, providing
services and enforcing the law. It is led bya governor, elected by statewide ballot fora two- or four-year term, depending on
the state. Other top executive ofﬁcials who
may be elected rather than appointed are
the lieutenant governor, secretary of state,
attorney general, comptroller, and members of various boards and commissions.
Positions not ﬁlled by election are usuallyﬁlled by appointment by the governor.
Legislative
All states have a popularly elected
legislature consisting of two chambers, except
Nebraska, which has a single-chamber
legislature. Legislators are elected fromsingle-member districts and typically servea two-year or four-year term. The namesof the chambers vary by state. In moststates the upper chamber is called thesenate, while the lower chamber may becalled the house of representatives, houseof delegates, or state assembly.
Primary duties of the legislatureinclude enacting new laws, approving the22state’s budget, conﬁrming appointments
to the executive or judicial branches, andconducting oversight of executive branch
operations. In many smaller states, legislators serve part-time and receive only
nominal compensation. They may meetjust a few weeks or months of the year
before returning to their full-time occupations. In larger states, legislators serveyear-round and receive the compensation
and beneﬁts of a full-time job.
Judicial
State court systems have jurisdiction over matters not covered by federal
courts, including most civil cases between
parties in the same state, criminal cases
where violations involve state or local
laws, family law, and issues relating to thestate constitution.
The highest court in each state is thestate supreme court or court of appeals.
Justices are typically elected to lengthy
terms, but do not serve for life. The highcourt usually has only appellate jurisdiction—reviewing decisions by lower courts—and its decisions in turn may be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The
structure of lower state courts varies
widely by state. Some states have separate courts for civil and criminal matters,
and all states have some form of local
municipal or county courts to handle minor offenses and small claims.
POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIESOF STATE GOVERNMENTS
As sovereign entities within the framework of the U.S. federal system, each state
has its own constitution, elected ofﬁcials,
and governmental organization. States

Members of the energy committee of the Massachusetts State Legislature listen to testimony by experts on a proposal to site energy-generating wind turbines offshore, 2003.

have the power to make and enforce laws,
levy taxes, and conduct their affairs largely
free from intervention from the federal
government or other states.
State governments have primary responsibility for providing many important
services that affect the everyday lives of
their residents. These include:• Setting educational standards and establishing methods for funding public
education;• Building and maintaining transportation
networks;• Establishing state-sponsored colleges
and universities;• Licensing and regulating businesses
and professions;• Creating and overseeing non-federal

courts and the criminal justice system;• Generally providing for the public safety;• Issuing marriage licenses and driver’s
licenses;• Issuing and recording birth and deathcertiﬁcates;• Administering publicly funded health,housing, and nutrition programs for
low-income and disabled residents;• Managing state parks and other lands
for recreation and environmental conservation purposes;• Administering and certifying elections,
including elections for federal ofﬁcials;• Commanding the state National Guard,
except when called to national service.
Some of these responsibilities aredelegated to or shared with local govern23

HOW THE U.S. IS GOVERNED
ments in many states. For example, inmost states, marriage licenses are issuedby city or county governments.
The role of state constitutions

State legislatures rival state governors’ ofﬁces in powerat the state level. In this 2003 photo, a Texas state
senator uses her laptop in the state Senate chamber tocheck some data.

A state legislator in Texas signals an “aye” vote on the
ﬂoor of the Texas House of Representatives during ﬁnal
passage of a school ﬁnance tax proposal, 2005. His
bill then headed to the state Senate for further debate,as Texas has a bicameral legislature.

24

In contrast to the U.S. Constitution,
which is broadly written, state constitutions can be very detailed and speciﬁc.
Many state constitutions go on for pages
describing, for example, the rules for issuing bonds or deﬁning the jurisdiction ofvarious state courts. Why so much detailin state constitutions? One reason is thatthey are more readily amended than the
U.S. Constitution. In most states, approval
by a majority of voters in a statewide election is all that is required.
Another reason is that states, incontrast to the federal government, arelargely free to exercise any power notprohibited to them. In order to effectively
restrict state government powers, therestrictions must be spelled out in thestate’s constitution.
Finally, most states are required bytheir constitutions to have a balanced
budget. Exceptions, such as borrowing toﬁnance transportation or other construction projects, must be provided for in theconstitution.

Local government
STRUCTURE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Each state constitution provides forthe establishment of local governmental
entities. In all states, these local entities
include counties* and cities, but moststates also provide for other types of local government, including wards, school
districts, conservation districts, townships,
and transportation authorities. These
special types of local government haveregulatory, administrative, or taxing authority as deﬁned in the state constitution
or in state law.
There are over 500,000 elected ofﬁcials in the United States. Of these, fewer
than 8,500 are at the national and statelevel. The rest are local government ofﬁcials — city council members, schoolboard members, mayors, sheriffs, andan array of other individuals who serve invarious capacities.
County government
Counties are the basic territorial division within a state and range in size fromunder 100 square kilometers to over
200,000 square kilometers. In 48 states,
counties are also the primary governing
entity below the state government (counties in Connecticut and Rhode Island do
not have governmental functions).
Major functions of county governments include recordkeeping (births,
deaths, land transfers, etc.), administration of elections (including voter registration), construction and maintenance of
local and rural roads, zoning, buildingcode enforcement, and law enforcement(especially in rural areas). Some counties

Volunteers work to enroll homeless people on to thevoter list in a Salvation Army shelter in Bell, California,
2004. County and municipal governments, sometimes
assisted by citizens, perform all kinds of functions thattouch daily lives.

also share responsibility with the state forproviding social beneﬁts for low-income
residents, monitoring and enforcing environmental regulations and building codes,
overseeing child welfare, and performing
judicial functions. In some states, counties
are the geographic units for public school
districts, but schools usually have a separate administrative structure.
Counties are run by popularly electedofﬁcials. There is typically a board of supervisors or a county commission whichsets policy and often exercises executivefunctions as well. Other elected county positions may include sheriff, judge, justiceof the peace, medical examiner, comptroller, assessor, or prosecutor, among
others. In addition to these elected ofﬁcials, many counties have a professional
administrator, who is hired to manage thecounty government’s overall operations.

*In Louisiana, the political division which would be called acounty in other states is known as a parish. In Alaska, it is
known as a borough.

25

HOW THE U.S. IS GOVERNED
Municipal government
Municipalities are incorporated cities,
towns, or villages within or independent ofa county having their own governing andtaxing authority. They range in size fromsmall towns with fewer than 100 residents
to large metropolises spanning several
counties (such as New York City).
Municipal government responsibilities include public safety, maintenance ofcity streets, parks and recreation, wastewater treatment, trash removal, zoning
and building code enforcement, ﬁre andrescue services, animal control, public
transportation, and other essential services. Larger cities may also provide assisted
housing, operate public hospitals,

who may or may not have a seat on the
council, is the head of the municipal government and is responsible for overseeing
day-to-day administrative functions. Somecities have adopted the city manager formof government, where the city council
hires a professional manager to run theoperations of the city. A city manager isthe chief administrative ofﬁcer of the city
and, though not elected, reports directly
to the elected city council or mayor.
Special district governments

According to the U.S. Census Bureau,
over one-third of all governmental entities in the United States are so-called
special district governments. Special
district governments operate
independently of other local
governments and are usually
established to serve a speciﬁc purpose within a speciﬁc
geographic region. Examples
include:• Water and natural resource
conservation;• Fire prevention;• Water supply;
Small towns throughout America, such as this idyllic spot in the Napa
Valley, California, rely on local governments to deal with the basics of• Emergency services;municipal and community life.
• Transportation.
Leaders of these governmental
entities
may be elected or
and administer social welfare programs
appointed. Powers of special district
funded by the city, the state, or the fedgovernments vary widely, but many haveeral government. Many cities also own
signiﬁcant regulatory and taxing authority.
or regulate public utilities such as water,
Their activities are commonly funded by aelectric power, natural gas, and telecomspecial sales tax or property tax collectedmunications.
within their area of jurisdiction, or by fees
Cities and towns are governed bycharged to users of their services.
elected ofﬁcials. These ofﬁcials usually
include a mayor and a city council who
make decisions and set policy. The mayor,
26

Children peer with curiosity out of a school bus. Of all the forms of local government in the United States, school
districts are often the ones that draw the most attention from the public. In the United States, school districts haveconsiderable autonomy setting education policy.

Public education
Public education through grade 12*
is available at no charge to virtually every
school-age resident. Each state’s constitution or public laws provide for the mannerby which public education is to be administered and funded. In most cases, school
districts are established with a popularlyelected school board or board of trustees.
These boards create budgets, set policy,
and hire the administrators who run theschools. School districts do not necessarily coincide with other political boundaries,
though often they serve a speciﬁc city or
county. In most states, public education isfunded by taxes assessed on personal andbusiness property, and state governments
may provide additional funding from general state revenues or dedicated revenues
from state lotteries. State governments
are responsible for setting education
standards and general policies within thestate, but implementation is left to the local school boards.

*The end of secondary school, approximately 17-18 yearsof age.

27

HOW THE U.S. IS GOVERNEDElections and the electoral process
Federal elections are held in November of even-numbered years. Just as the
President, Senators, and Representatives
have overlapping constituencies, theirterms also overlap.
• All Representatives are elected every two
years by the voters of the district they
represent.
• Senators serve six-year terms, with onethird of them up for election every evenyear. Senators are chosen in statewide
elections and represent all residents of
their states.
• The President and Vice President areelected together every four years in anationwide election.
The election process begins well inadvance of the actual election as individuals declare their candidacies for ofﬁce.
In the congressional election process, if
more than one candidate from the same
party seeks the ofﬁce, a primary electionis held to determine which candidate will
be on the ballot in the general election.
The primary process for presidential
elections is different from congressional elections. Beginning in January andlasting through June of the election year,
states hold presidential primaries or caucuses. The results of these ballots determine how many delegates will represent
each respective candidate at the national

28

party nominating conventions, which areusually held in July or August. These political conventions are where each party’s
nominee is actually selected.
In the general election in November,
Senators and Representatives are electedby plurality vote—the candidate receiving
the most votes wins, even if it is not a majority. In presidential elections, each stateis allocated a number of electoral votes
equal to the sum of U.S. Representatives
and Senators for that state. The District ofColumbia, though not a state, has threeelectoral votes.
The presidential candidate who wins
the popular vote in a state “wins” thatstate’s electoral votes, usually in a winnertake-all manner. After elections in eachstate are certiﬁed, the electoral votes won
by each candidate are counted. If a candidate receives a majority of the electoral
votes (at least 270 of the 538 total), he or
she is declared the winner. If no candidate
wins a majority of electoral votes, the U.S.
House of Representatives chooses thewinner, with each state delegation having one vote. Because the President is notelected directly by the people, it is possible for a candidate to receive a plurality ofthe popular vote and yet lose the election.

Nongovernmental organizations and institutions
that inﬂuence public policy

The then-Governor of Massachusetts Paul Cellucci addresses members of the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C.
think tank, 2001. Think tanks, groups of scholars who research and write on public policy, are one of many kinds ofprivate organizations in the United States that seek to inﬂuence the government.

The U.S. system of government was
designed to be deliberative, accessibleby citizens, and open to a wide variety ofopinions and interests. Just as the government has evolved and grown overtime, so too have the institutions that
seek to inﬂuence the government.
THE MEDIA
The media in the United States is controlled by the private sector and faces nopolitical censorship by the government.
There is a strong tradition of independent
newspapers, magazines, television, radio,

and other forms of media publicizing
varying opinions, both critical and supportive of government policy.
The media serves at least threeimportant functions in inﬂuencing public policy. First, policy makers are underconstant scrutiny by the extensive media
industry. Public ofﬁcials realize that almost
anything they do or say—even in private—may appear in the media, and so are reluctant to make decisions or perform actsthat they would not want publicized.
Second, the media reports facts andconducts independent analysis concerning
29

HOW THE U.S. IS GOVERNED
public policy issues, thereby educating the
public. Finally, the media provides a forum
for publishers and broadcasters (and theirreaders and listeners) to present editorial
opinions that may inﬂuence others. Manylarge newspapers, for example, endorse
particular candidates for ofﬁce or publish
guest articles favoring one policy overanother.
By bringing the acts of public ofﬁcials
to light, educating the public about theissues, and deliberately favoring certain
candidates and policies, the media caninﬂuence policy directly or, by shaping
public opinion, indirectly.
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS /NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS(NGOs)
Special interest groups are privatesector organizations whose members
share common interests or positions on
public policy, and who pool their resources with the intent of gaining a more prominent voice in policy debates. There are
literally thousands of such groups representing almost every conceivable interest.
Some organizations have a long historyof working towards a general goal, whileothers are formed temporarily to advocate
for or against a speciﬁc policy proposal.
Prominent examples of special interest groups are those who advocate for environmental protection, beneﬁts for seniorcitizens, protection for minority groups,
and free trade policies.
PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCHORGANIZATIONS
These organizations, sometimes
called “think tanks,” conduct original
30

research, publish books and articles, andprepare position papers on topics related
to public policy. Their experts are often
called to testify before Congress, and their
published works are often cited by others
to support their own positions.
While some of these groups have a
distinct partiality towards liberal or conservative policies, many are highly respected as authoritative sources of study
on matters that affect public policy. Some
prominent think tanks with a long historyof contributing to the public policy debate
include the Brookings Institution, Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, American
Enterprise Institute, Center for Strategic
and International Studies, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute, among
others.
TRADE ASSOCIATIONS
Trade associations are membershiporganizations that represent the interestsof a particular industry or profession.
They communicate the concerns of theirmembers to policymakers both in thelegislative and executive branches. Just
as importantly, they report back to theirmembers about new policies, rules, andproposals so that the members are educated about what is required of them.
LABOR UNIONS
While the primary purpose of labor
unions is to represent their members innegotiations with employers, unions also
play a signiﬁcant role in inﬂuencing public
policy. In speaking for their members,
their input is considered whenever trade,
environmental, workplace safety, healthcare, and other key issues are debated.

How organizations attempt to
influence public policyVarious organizations and institutions attempt to inﬂuence

policy and public opinion in a variety of ways:• Educating public ofﬁcials and their staffs about the positive or
negative effects of policy proposals;• Conducting advertising campaigns and public relations initiatives supporting their views;• Arranging for expert opinions and providing facts, data, andopinion polls to support their positions;• Arranging for witnesses to testify before congressional
committees;• Encouraging their members to vote, communicate with theirelected ofﬁcials, and write letters to the media supporting theirpositions;• Forming political action committees to contribute money to thecampaigns of candidates who support their positions.

31HOW THE U.S. IS GOVERNED

A union ofﬁcial addresses a labor rally in New York City, 2004. This group
had gathered to demonstrate support for striking grocery store workers in
California.

Unions are considered inﬂuential
because of their ability to mobilize theirmembers to vote and speak out. Unlike
business associations, which typically represent a relatively small number of companies, trade unions represent thousands or
millions of workers, who are also voters.
INDIVIDUALS AND PRIVATESECTOR BUSINESSES
Private citizens and businesses commonly form coalitions or interest groups
to make their voices heard in the halls ofgovernment, but many also take steps on
their own to inﬂuence government policy.
These activities include writing to theirelected ofﬁcials about particular policies,
writing letters to the editor of their local
newspaper, and appearing at hearingsand other public functions where policy isdebated.
Because businesses are affected toa great degree by government policies,
many corporations have establishedgovernment relations ofﬁces to represent
their interests in Washington. While a primary function of these corporate representatives is to educate and communicate
32

to policymakers how proposed legislation will affectthe corporation, they also
serve other functions:• Ensuring that their employers are aware of laws
and policies that apply tothem. This facilitates compliance with the law.
• Providing expert, substantive advice about theeffects of proposed legislation, which can help lawmakers create fairer lawswith fewer unintended
consequences.

Corporate representatives who are
effective and principled advocates of
the interests of their companies andof the business community as awhole help government arrive at
better-informed … decisions.”
Bryce Harlow, 1984
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL
ASSOCIATIONS
Because state and local governments
can be signiﬁcantly affected by federal
government policy, they have formed theirown associations to ensure that the interests of states, cities, counties, and othergovernments have a voice.
Several major groups in this category are:• National Governors Association• National League of Cities• National Conference of State
Legislatures• National Association of Counties• International City Managers Association• U.S. Conference of Mayors.

and help raise funds for political campaigns. Other activities include:• Conducting voter education programs• Conducting issue and opinion research• Providing information about government ofﬁcials and activities.
The minor political parties also provide organized opposition to those inpower, placing an additional check on
government power.
FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS AND
MULTILATERAL ORGANIZATIONSTop: A worker hangs a banner outside Madison Square
Garden, New York City, in preparation for the 2004
Republican National Convention. Bottom: A sign hangs
on Fleet Center, site of the 2004 Democratic
Convention in Boston.

These organizations are particularly vocal on federal transportation, tax,
environmental, education, and social
policy. Federal policymakers often turnto state and local governments for advice
on how best to structure and implement
programs such as housing, nutrition, andhealthcare that are funded federally, butdelivered locally.
POLITICAL PARTIES
There are two major national politicalparties in the United States: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
Together with minor parties, these organizations are an important part of theAmerican system of government. Politicalparties recruit candidates for public ofﬁce

As the governing power of a sovereign
nation, the U.S. government is technically
responsible only to the American people.
There are ways, however, for foreign governments to inﬂuence policy in the UnitedStates. Treaties, for example, become thelaw of the United States when ratiﬁed. In
negotiating these treaties, foreign governments have inﬂuence over what will
become U.S. law.
Foreign governments and international bodies can inﬂuence the U.S. in otherways, either directly or indirectly. One
good example is on trade disputes where
foreign governments have the authority to impose duties on imports from theUnited States. These governments may
knowingly target goods from inﬂuential
U.S. industries or states, believing that theaffected parties in the United States willcall on the government to change policies
to avoid the duties.
While foreign governments can conduct public relations efforts and lobby
through their embassies in the UnitedStates, they cannot contribute ﬁnanciallyto the campaign of any candidate forfederal ofﬁce.

33

HOW THE U.S. IS GOVERNED

Funding government in the United StatesT

he various levels of government use a wide variety of taxes and fees to pay
for their operations. The following is a summary of the major sources of revenue for each level of government.
Federal• Personal and corporate income tax• Payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare• Excise taxes• Estate and gift taxes• Customs duties
State• Personal income tax (43 states)• Corporate income tax• State sales tax (45 states)• Excise taxes• Business and professional permits and licenses• Lotteries• Transfers from the Federal Government
County, municipal and other local• Real estate and personal property tax• Commercial property tax• Sales tax (where allowed by the state)• Fines for trafﬁc, parking, and other minor offenses• Income tax or business gross receipts tax (where allowed by the state)• Miscellaneous permits, licenses, and fees

34GlossaryAppellate: A court that hears cases appealed from lower courts. Some courts
have both original jurisdiction (that is,cases may be tried ﬁrst in the court) andappellate jurisdiction.
Bill: Legislation introduced in either theHouse or the Senate.
Bill of Rights: Name given to the ﬁrst ten
amendments to the U.S. Constitution because they speciﬁcally protect the rights
of individuals.
Cabinet: The President’s closest advisors,consisting of the Vice President and, bylaw, the heads of the 15 Executive Branchdepartments. The President or Congress
may also accord cabinet-level status toother top ofﬁcials.
Caucus: In U.S. presidential politics, asystem used by some states to selectdelegates to state and national nominating conventions. In a caucus, local party
members gather to discuss candidates
and issues, and then vote. In Congress,a caucus is a meeting of members of thesame political party or special interest
group.
Chamber: A legislative body. The U.S.
Congress is comprised of two chambers:
the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House ofRepresentatives. Chamber also refers to
the hall where each body meets to conduct ofﬁcial business.
Checks and balances: System set forthin the U.S. Constitution which divides
governing power between the Executive,
Legislative, and Judicial Branches. Eachbranch exercises some form of authority
over the others, thereby balancing power
across many individuals and institutions.
Conference Committee: A meeting

between U.S. Representatives and U.S.
Senators to resolve differences when two
versions of a similar bill have been passedby the House and Senate. Identical bills
must pass in both chambers before thebill can be presented to the President.
Conﬁrmation: The act of the U.S. Senate
approving a presidential nominee to an
executive branch post or federal judgeship.
Congressional Record: The ofﬁcial
transcript of the proceedings of the U.S.
Congress.
Constitution: The basic laws and principles of a nation that deﬁne the powers
and responsibilities of government andthe rights of the people. The United States
has a written constitution, but constitutions in some other nations are unwritten.
Department: The highest administrative division of the Federal Government,
comparable to a ministry in parliamentary
systems. Departments are created by law,and the head of a department is calleda secretary (except for the head of the
Department of Justice, whose title is Attorney General).
Electoral College: In U.S. presidential
elections, the Electoral College is thegroup of electors who actually cast ballots for the President. When a voter casts
a ballot for a presidential candidate, he or
she is actually voting for a slate of electors
from their state who will cast their ballots
for their candidate.
Excise tax: A tax on the production orsale of speciﬁc products. In the UnitedStates, excise taxes are commonly leviedat the federal, state, and local levels on
products such as alcohol and tobacco.
35

HOW THE U.S. IS GOVERNEDMarkup: An activity of committees andsubcommittees in the U.S. Congress inwhich proposed legislation is consideredsection by section, debated, revised and/or amended.
Parliamentarian: In the U.S. Congress,
the ofﬁcial who, being an expert on Houseor Senate rules and procedures, assists
the ofﬁcers in legislative procedures, including the assignment of bills to appropriate committees.
Primary: An election held among candidates of the same party to decide which
one will represent the party in the generalelection.
Proportional representation: System ofrepresentative government in which thepolitical makeup of the legislative branch36

is based on the number of votes eachparty receives.
Republic: System of government inwhich the ultimate powers of government
rest with the people who elect representatives to formulate policy and carry out thelaws.
Single-member district: A geographic
district from which a single member iselected by a majority or plurality of the
popular vote to represent it in a legislative
body.
Veto: An act by the President that rejects legislation passed by the Congress,
thereby preventing its enactment. The
Congress can override a veto by passing
the legislation with a two-thirds majority
in each chamber.

Additional Resources
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
The White House
http://www.whitehouse.gov
Click on “Your Government” for a general
overview of the structure of the federal
government and links to the websites ofexecutive departments and agency and toother branches of government.
USInfohttp://usinfo.state.gov
Thomashttp://thomas.loc.gov/“Thomas” is a service of the Library ofCongress, and is an ofﬁcial source oflegislative information. It contains links
to congressional calendars, vote records,
legislation (both proposed and passed),
and other useful legislative information.
FirstGov.gov
http://www.ﬁrstgov.gov
FirstGov is the U.S. Government’s ofﬁcial
Internet portal for information about government beneﬁts, services, and information.
FirstGov also provides links to the websitesof state, local and tribal governments.
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
National Conference of State
Legislatures (NCSL)
http://www.ncsl.org/
Provides current information about
the structure and activities of statelegislatures. Click on “Legislatures” and“Websites” for links to individual states’
legislature websites, state constitutions,and legislation.
National Association of Counties(NACo)
http://www.naco.org/

Contains general information about thestructure and responsibilities of county
governments. Also provides extensive databases with demographic and economic
statistics for individual counties.
PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCHORGANIZATIONS
Private-sector “think tanks” are often thebirthplace of new ideas and innovationin the public policy arena. Their scholars
conduct original research and review thephilosophical, economic, social, culturaland political implications of public policies. The following are the websites ofsome inﬂuential think tanks representing
a cross-section of the political spectrum:
Brookings Institution
http://www.brookings.org
The Heritage Foundation
http://www.heritage.org
American Enterprise Institutehttp://www.aei.org
The Cato Institutehttp://www.cato.org
The Urban Institutehttp://www.urbaninstitute.org
C-SPAN
http://www.c-span.org/
C-SPAN is a service of the cable televisionindustry and provides live television
coverage of the proceedings of the U.S.
House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate,
and other forums where public policy isdebated or discussed. The C-SPAN website
provides current and archived news andinformation about politics, public policy
and governmental actions.

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