= a constituent political entity
Each state has its own government structures, various forms of legislative structure (and various names for it)
The head of the executive is always called the ‘Governor’ of the state
parts of the US not (yet) organized as states
all except the original 13 states became territories first
today, all territories are islands outside the continental
have fewer political rights than a state
=> Washington District of Columbia
does not belong to any state
fewer political rights than a state
reports directly to Congress Art. I 8
Seat of Federal Government: Congress, White House, Supreme Court etc.
Upper house = Senate => all states are represented by two senators
-> elected every six years
-> are elected by the states
Lower House = House of Representatives => each state gets at least one representative; for every 30,000 inhabitants one representative
-> elected every two years by the congressional districts (one district = 30,000 inhabitants)
-> House of Representatives has the sole right to conduct impeachment proceedings
US has no nationally elected legislators
No national party lists
No-one votes for ‘Democratic Party’ or ‘Republican Party’: always for a particular individual for the House or the Senate
This often means strong state loyalties
smaller states wanted equal votes to elect the president (Senate); larger states wanted votes proportional to population (House of Representatives)
compromise => Electoral College seats = Senate seats + House seats + three for Washington D.C. (determined by the 23rd Ammendment in 1964)
currently 538 electors
Representatives and senators may not be electors
usually loyal party members with other political duties
the winner in the electoral college becomes the president
If there isn`t a clear winner, the issue is resolved in the House
You need to win a majority of Electors (key number: 270 votes in te Electoral college)
in rare cases: ignore the election result and the state regulation and make their own decision (= faithless electors)
Parliamentary system => Germany
Voters elect the legislature; the legislature selects the head of the executive (Prime Minister, Chancellor etc.)
Executive therefore has majority support in the legislature
Legislature may remove head of the executive for any reason, by majority => e.g. konstruktives Misstrauensvotum
Cabinett => Collegial body: being in the Bundestag or being part of the government is compatible
Presidential system
Voters elect the legislature, and the head of the executive, separately
Executive may or may not have majority support in the legislature
Legislature may only remove head of the executive in special circumstances e.g. serious crime (“impeachment”) => not possible in principle
Cabinett => Advisory body: being in the Congress is not compatible
the only nationally elected mandate
President = executive
four-year term of office
Elected together with the Vice President
Requirements: born in the USA, at least 35 years old, resident in the USA for 14 years
Is the US like the EU?
It was like the EU under the first US constitution, Articles of Confederation.
Like an intenational treaty all states had
full sovereignity, independence, every power, jurisdication and right, as longs as its not delegated.
Therefore each state could withdraw if it choosed (as with Brexit, under TEU Art 50)
But the Articles of Confederation were replaced in 1789 by the second US Constitution
has no equivalent of state sovereignty provision in Art 2.
It is passed in the name of ‘We the People of the US’, not the 13 states.
any amendments => agreement from most of the states.
Beschreibung: Englischer König sitzt auf einem Pferd und versucht es zu züchtigen, weil das Pferd ihn abschütteln will
Interpretation: Pferd = Amerika; englischer König = Kolonist => amerikanisches Volk ist das Souverän und kann sich sein Oberhaupt aussuchen.
= Each voter submits a ballot choosing one person they want to occupy the office in question, whoever gets the most votes wins.
Senate: whoever wins the state gets the seat
House: whoever wins the district gets the seat
Presidency: usually, whoever wins the state gets all its Electoral College votes
=> First-past-the-post electoral rules favour two-party systems.
If the President refuses to sign (“vetoes”) the bill, the House and Senate may pass the bill anyway if a two-thirds majority of both chambers votes for it.
= vote for one party in one branch and another in another branch
Ambition must be made to counteract ambition
Separation of government power = not a US-American idea => comes from "celebrated" Montesquieu
ultimate sovereignty = people, (therefore the president is directly elected)
no part of the government has a higher claim to power
The executive and both legislative houses have their own electoral mandates
the most important things cannot be done by one branch of power alone => mutual control of the branches of power
When tea was served hot, a shot was poured onto the saucer because it cooled down quicker, so people could drink it before drinking from the cup
Senate = cooling saucer
House of Representatives = hot cup
Definition: groups, within society, that seek their own interest at the cost of others or society as a whole
Argumentation:
if the faction is a minority, the majority can control it
But if the faction is a majority, what controls it?
For Madison, a large republic was safer here
Large size = more factions, in more states
So harder for any one faction to gain decisive control
Problem:
the majority is not always right
this argument assumes politics will remain state-based
Political parties essentially did not exist at the time Madison wrote his argument …
Proportional representation voting system: Election by candidates via lists drawn up by parties => elective offices filled exactly in proportion to the votes
majority representation system: The candidate with the most votes is elected to the body to be elected.
US Supreme Court => final authority for all legal questions
only the SC is constitutionally required
case citations contain ‘US’
Underneath Supreme Court, Circuit Courts of Appeal (Appeal instance for the SC)
currently 13 Circuit courts.
case citation contains ‘F.2d’ or ‘F.3d’
District courts: lowest level of federal courts.
currently 94 district courts.
case citation including ‘F. Supp.’
Writ of certiorari = a request that the SC order a lower court to send up the record of the case for review.
granding cert. = accept a case
cert. denied = opposite
All federal courts have jurisdiction to hear constitutional cases
US does not have a direct individual complaints mechanism for rights issue, rights cases start in District Court
=> In Germany, the court system is ‘integrated’
Lower courts run by Länder, higher courts by the federal government
One court system, partly run by federal and partly by state government
=> In US, the court system is not ‘integrated’
Each state has its own separate judicial system
In addition, there is a federal court system
state courts have the last word on the interpretation of their own state law
federal law is binding => supremacy clause
=> can be transferred to a federal court (doesn`t have to be)
if a case in state court raises a federal question…
if the disputing parties are mixed
… or it can be decided by the state court, with the possibility of appeal
=> 2/3 support in Congress to propose + support of 3/4 of states to ratify…
=> Or convention, 2/3 of state legislatures to propose + support of 3/4 of states to ratify
first ten amendments as a package = Bill of Rights, ratified in 1791
freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, neutrality of the Confederation in religious matters
militia as an alternative to the army => right of citizens to own weapons and defend themselves
no quartering of soldiers in houses without the consent of the owner or statute => never used
inviolability of the home
5-8. rights in criminal prosecution
9. the enumeration of certain rights in the Constitution shall not be construed to deny or diminish other rights of the people.
-> Criticism: Rights are only reduced to the Amendments, hence 9th Amendment => There are other rights
reservations of power for the states and the people
= Interpretation of a constitutional provision in the way it would have been interpreted in its constitution
Questions: Interpreted by whom? => Those who wrote or ratified it, those who applied it, or those who lived before
History => essential to constitutional debates in the US
And it is very important that the constitutional text has often not been changed, even though society has changed a lot.
Last changed2 months ago