英美文化问答题

King Arthur was a legendary British leader of the late fifth and early sixth centuries, who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early sixth century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and his historical existence is debated and disputed by modern historians. The sparse historical background of Arthur is gleaned from various sources, including the Annales Cambriae, the Historia Brittonum, and the writings of Gildas. Arthur's name also occurs in early poetic sources such as Y Gododdin.

Explain your understanding of how the United States is governed according to its constitution , including its polity and the check and balance mechanism of governing.

In the course of the Convention, the delegates designed a new form of government for the United States. he plan for the government was written in very simple language in a document called the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution set up a federal system with a strong central government. A federal system is one in which power is shared between a central authority and its constituent parts, with some rights reserved to each. The Constitution also called for the election of a national leader, or president. It provided that federal laws would be made only by a Congress made up of representatives elected by the people. It also provided for a national court system headed by a Supreme Court.

There are three branches of the federal government: legislative branch, executive branch and judicial branch.

The legislative Branch is made up of elected representatives from all of the states and is the only branch that can make federal laws, levy federal taxes, declare war or put foreign treaties into effect. It consists of a Congress that is divided into two houses: The House of Representatives and The Senate.

The chief executive of the United States is the president, who, together with the vice president, is elected to a four-year term. Under a Constitutional Amendment passed in 1951,a president can be elected to only two terms. The power of the presidency are formidable, but not without limitations. And the president has the authority to appoint federal judges as vacancies occur, including members of the Supreme Court. Under the Constitution, the president is primarily responsible for foreign relations with other nations.

The judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Court, which is the only court specifically created by the Constitution. Federal judges are appointed for life or voluntary retirement, and can only be removed from office through the process of impeachment and trail in the Congress. The Supreme Court today consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices.

When Americans talk about their three-part national government, they often refer to what they call its system of "checks and balances". This system works in many ways to keep serious mistakes from being made by one branch or another. But sometimes they do not work the way as they are supposed to work. Here are a example of checks and balances:

If Congress proposes a law that the president thinks is unwise, the president can veto it. And the Senate must approve all treaties and confirm all appointments before they become official. In this way the Congress can prevent the president from making unwise appointments.