The Higher Power Organs in the USA

According to the US Constitution the government is entrusted to three separate authorities: the Executive, the Legislative and the Judicial. The executive power is vested in the President, who holds his duty during the term of four years, and is elected together with the Vice-President.

Among the duties and powers of the President listed by the Constitution are the following:

· President is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces;

· President makes treaties;

· President appoints ambassadors and other high officers of the USA

· President takes care that the laws be faithfully executed.

From this one can see that the Constitution gives the President some measure of control of the military establishment, imposes upon him a responsibility for foreign policy and assigns to him the obligation to administer federal programmes.

The administrative business of the nation is conducted by Secretaries who form the Cabinet. They are appointed by the President but their nomination must be confirmed by the Senate. The Cabinet is a kind of an advisory group to the President. The Vice-President participates in the cabinet meetings. The cabinet members are: the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defence, the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labour, and the Secretaries of Health, Education and Welfare.

As chief executive officer, the President can remove any Secretary. The Executive Office of the President is represented by a group of agencies. First of all, these are: the White House Office, the Bureau of the Budget, the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Council of Economic Advisers, and the Office of Civil and Defence Mobilisation. These are not advisory bodies but the bodies which carry out administrative functions.

The whole legislative power in the USA is vested in the Congress. There are two chambers in the US Congress: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Besides the legislative function the Senate is entrusted with the power of ratifying or rejecting all treaties made by the President.

The Federal Judiciary

The American court system is complex. It functions as the part of the federal system of government. Each state runs its own court system, and two are identical. In addition, we have a system of courts for the national government. These federal courts coexist with state courts.

Individuals fall under the jurisdiction of two different court systems, their state court and federal courts. They can sue or be sued either system, depending mostly on what there case is about. The vast majority of cases are resolved in the state courts.

 

THE FEDERAL COURT SYSTEM

 

The federal courts are organized in 4 tiers, like a pyramid. At the bottom of the pyramid are the district courts, where litigation begins, Special courts, which deal with tax, trade and etc., and the US courts of appeals. At the top is the US Supreme Court. To appeal means to take a case to a higher court. The court of appeal and the Supreme Court are appellate courts with few exceptions; they review cases that have been decided in lower courts. Most federal courts hear and decide a wide array of cases; the judges in these courts are known as generalists.

Task 7. Write the questions for the following answers:

1. The Constitution gives the President some measure of control of the military establishment.

2. The executive power is vested in the President, who holds his office during the term of four years.

3. The administrative business of the nation is conducted by the secretaries who form the Cabinet.

4. The whole legislative power in the USA is vested in the Congress.

5. There are two chambers in the US Congress: the Senate and the House of Representatives.