英美政体英文比较课件

合集下载

英国、美国、法国政治制度比较(中英文对照版)

一、英国政治体制的模式及特点英国的政治制度是典型的君主立宪制，其主要特点是“议会至上”、以内阁为权力核心、君主虚位、政党组织严密。

首先，英国实行议会民主制，体现“议会至上”的原则。

议会至上，即立法权在三权中居于核心地位，行政和司法机关都是立法机关的一个部分，行政权和司法权实际是立法权的派生，三者互有重叠。

其次，实行内阁制，作为“议会至上”原则在行政权与立法权关系上的制度体现。

即国家的权力体系以内阁为核心，内阁拥有国家的最高行政权力。

再次，英王更多的是一种荣誉性职位，并无真正的实权。

最后，英国政党的组织体系相对比较严密。

可见，英国政治制度最大的特点是“议会至上”，司法权和立法权都出于立法权，民主政治的实质部分居于虚位君主之下。

这种政治制度的优点是，无论是体制形成还是实际运作都相对民主、公正，更有利于决策的科学和周全。

但缺点是，体制或制度容易模式化，导致官僚主义，影响执政效率。

二、美国政治体制的模式及特点美国的政治体制是一个总统制的国家，在其早期的权力构架中，并没有政党的因素，只是在后来政治角逐中，政党不断在其中发挥越来越重要的作用。

其主要特点是：1、总统候选人由政党推荐产生，总统在全国由全体选民直接投票、间接选举产生，当选总统并不一定是得到绝对选票多者，而是为获得选举人票更多者。

总统还是行政首脑，直接控制着行政机构，并且还是三军总司令。

2、美国的政党体制相当松散，政党存在的意义更多的是作为各类选举的工具，选举之后，政党作为一种组织体系作用相当微弱，所以它是一种典型的“选举党”。

美国是一个典型的两党制国家，但它不同于西欧国家的两党制，它不是以意识形态划分的，而是按照区域和利益集团来划分，两党从本质上讲都是代表不同资产阶级利益的政党。

3、美国的国会即众议院、参议院议员一般由政党推荐参选，由全民投票直接选举产生，拥有立法权。

4、美国的总统尽管名义上是所在党的领袖，但当选后更多的是以“全民总统”的面目出现。

The Electoral System英国与美国选举制度 PPT课件

The Electoral System
------Britain and the United States
Buckingham Palace
Electoral system: UK
• In England, elections have been used as a parliamentary process since the 13th century. The secret ballot was adopted in 1872 and full equal voting rights won for women in 1928. All registered members of the public aged 18 and over may vote in parliamentary elections. The British House of Commons is elected for a maximum of five years; the prime minister can call a general election at any time.
By-elections
• A writ for a by-election is issued by the clerk of the Crown on receipt of the Speaker‘s warrant . A by-election must be held not less than 11 or more than 21 days after the issue of the writ.
The calling of an election – the election writ
• The royal proclamation announcing the dissolution of Parliament and the summoning of a new Parliament is the authorization for the writs for a general election.

英美政体英文比较PPT课件

out in the Twelfth Amendment.
.
6
Judicial Power
• Article Three describes the court system (the judicial branch.
• The article establishes the Supreme Court.
• The great weakness of the system is that it makes government slow and complicated which is a huge disadvantage in a world of fast-moving political and economic developments.
• This is also known as 'checks and balances‘.
.
16
Terms of Office
• The President has a term of 4 years. • Members of the Senate serve for 6 years. • Members of the House of Representatives
US Political System
.
1
The Basis
• The government of the United States is based on a written constitution, which is the shortest in the world.
• From this document, the entire federal government was created.

英美政体英文比较ppt课件

1. Legislative power 2. Executive power 3. Judicial power 4. States' powers and limits 5. Amendments 6. Federal power 7. Ratification
4
Legislative Power
8
Amendments
• Article Five sets out the different ways in which Amendments can be made.
• Any new amendment may be approved by twothirds of both houses of Congress, then sent to the states for approval. To be adopted it must be approval by three-quarters of the states.
• Article One describes the Congress, the legislative branch of the federal government. This has two co-equal houses:
– the House of Representatives to represent the people, and
judgments and orders can be reviewed by the Supreme Court. • Article Three also creates the right to trial by jury in all criminal cases and defines the crime of treason.

英美政治体制的比较-in English

Contrasts between the American and British Political Systems SimilaritiesThe first western capitalist political systems created by British are praised as the source and model of the western political system. On the basis of absorbing and drawing lessons from Britain ,U.S.A. has formed the most perfect political system in the contemporary capitalist countries. So there are many similarities between the American and British political systems.1.Head of StateBoth the U.S. and British political systems have a head of state .The president is the official head of state in the US. The president is indirectly elected by the people through the Electoral College to a four-year term.In the U.K., the queen or king is the official head of state. But the queen or king is only a figure head without real authority.However, the prime minister usually has the spotlight on political matters and is the official head of government2.The Upper HouseBoth the U.S. and British political systems have an upper house. The United States has a Senate as the upper house of the legislative branch and the U.K. has the House of Lords.The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. Each U.S. state is represented by two senators, regardless of population. Senators serve staggered six-year terms.The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster.The House of Lords is the second chamber of Parliament. It is independent from, and complements the work of, the House of Commons – they share responsibility for making laws and checking government action.3.The Lower HouseBoth the U.S. and British political systems have a lower house. The U.S. House of Representatives and the British House of Commons have a great deal in common. Each house is made up of representatives elected by the people. In both systems control of the lower house goes to the party that has the most seats.The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The number of districts in a state is determined by a count of the population taken every 10 years.The House of Commons comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords (the upper house). The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members (since 2010 General Election), who are known as Members of Parliament (MPs). Members are elected through the first-past-the-post system by electoral districts known as constituencies. They hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved (a maximum of five years after the preceding election).Differences1.Form of governmentThe USA is a republic, while the UK is a constitutional monarchy.Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution.A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of state is not a monarch.ernmentThe government consisting of three parts，or branches，the executive，the legislative and the judicial in USA. Each branch has powers that the others do not have and each branch has a way of counteracting and limiting any wrongful action by another branch.The president has the power to make treaties with other nations and to make all appointments to federal positions，including the position of Supreme Count justice.The Senate ，however 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.However，the UK government is not split into branches. The House of Commons reigns supreme, and the party with the greatest number of members of the Commons is the governing party. The leader of the governing party becomes Prime Minister, who almost has the power of a king. He or she alone has the power to declare war, to make alliances, to use nuclear weapons, and to appoint the people of his choice to the Cabinet, the various government ministries and offices of state. These appointments are entirely his choice and are not subject to scrutiny or confirmation by any other person of body. The Prime Minister also has the power to dismiss (“demand the resignation of”) any serving minister or secretary of state.3.The constitutionThe United States has a written constitution which is very difficult to change. The UK does not have a single document called the constitution but instead its constitutional provisions are scattered over various Acts of Parliament, any of which can be changed by a simple majority in the Parliament such as statute law, the common laws and conventions.4.The political partiesThe United States has two major political parties.One is the Democratic Party.The symbol of the party is the donkey. The other is the Republican Party. The symbol of the party is the elephant.There are three major national parties in UK—The Conservative party ，the Labour party and the Liberal Democrats.In the United States, the Democratic and Republican Parties absolutely dominate federal and state elections with independents securing only small proportions of the vote. In the United Kingdom, the two main political parties - Conservative and Labour - win a smaller and declining share of the total vote, with a growing share being taken by the likes of the Liberal Democrat Party and the UK Independence Party at national level and by the likes of the Scottish and Welsh Nationalist Parties at the devolved level.In conclusion, a political system is an important integration of a country’s politics and different countries have their distinctive features.。

英美政体比较（英文）

The political system comparison Through learning the course about the society and culture of major English-speaking countries an introduction,I expand my horizons and learn a lot. Now I would like to talk about the similarities and differences of Britain and the United states political system .First of all, we learn about the political system. Political system belongs to the superstructure , is about the state power management form and relevant national political activities .It includes some basic content about the main form of government, national structure and rule method.Britain and the United States both belong to the capitalist countries, but the two countries have different political system. So here we will to compare the differences between the Britain and the United States .Firstly, Britain is a typical constitutionalmonarchy . The parliament is the top legislature and highest organ of state power.the Cabinet responsibility .While the USA is a constitutional federal republic.The second difference is the form of government. British government consists of king or queen,Parliament and Cabinet.American government consists of Congress,president and Supreme Court.Thirdly,the status and power of the head of state is different.Monarch is the official head of state in Britain. But the monarch is hereditary and reigns but does not govern.He is the symbol of nation and has no real power.But in the United States,thepresident is the head of state He is also government leaders and the country's armed forces commander.The executive power concentrated in the President.The President decided to domestic and foreign policies with very broad powers.Fourthly,the relation of legislative and executive is different.The chief executive of Britain is Prime Minister. Prime Minister and Cabinet are responsible to the parliament. Parliament supervise Cabinet.But the prime minister has the right to dissolve parliament.The prime minister, cabinet and parliament check each other.The chief executive of the United States is the president.The President is responsible for the constitution.He has the right to veto the bill, but has no right to dissolve parliament.The vote can be overridden by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and House of sentatives.Congress and the president have equal status and check each other.Fifthly,electoral system is different. The citizens in Britain can elect the house of Commons,the king and the house of lords is not elected by citizens.Inthe United States ,Congress and the president are both directly elected by citizens.So American have bigger rights than British.What causes the difference between Britain and the United States about the political system.There are some reasons.Firstly,the principal contradiction of British bourgeois revolution is the bourgeois class and feudal ruling class contradiction.While the United States is the contradiction of the bourgeois and the colonial rulers.Secondly, the bourgeois revolution in Britain is earlier, the power of the bourgeoisie is limited. Implementing a constitutional monarchy is actually bourgeois compromising to feudal forces.During the bourgeois revolution of the United States, capitalism went through a period of development again, the strength became morepowerful.There are also some Similarities between them. Above all,Britain and the United States both in power of Bourgeois class and capitalist country.They carry out universal suffrage.Then,they implement separation of the three powers.Legislative, executive, and judicial branch restrict and supervise each other,but just decentralization levels are difference.They are built on the foundation of capitalist private ownership of the means of production and service for bourgeois .What's more,they established in the same way.Through the establishment of legal documents, from the rule of man to the rule of law.American and British political system can say have the differences and similarities.As the product of bourgeois revolution, British and Americanpolitical system has its historical progress , so they are worth us to think and study.。

英美政治体制的比较inEnglish

Contrasts between the American and British Political Systems SimilaritiesThe first western capitalist political systems created by British are praised as the source and model of the western political system. On the basis of absorbing and drawing lessons from Britain ,U.S.A. has formed the most perfect political system in the contemporary capitalist countries. So there are many similarities between the American and British political systems.1.Head of StateBoth the U.S. and British political systems have a head of state .The president is the official head of state in the US. The president is indirectly elected by the people through the Electoral College to a four-year term.In the U.K., the queen or king is the official head of state. But the queen or king is only a figure head without real , the prime minister usually has the spotlight on political matters and is the official head of governmentUpper HouseBoth the U.S. and British political systems have an upper house. The United States has a Senate as the upper house of the legislative branch and the U.K. has the House of Lords.The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. Each . state is represented by two senators, regardless of population. Senators serve staggered six-year terms.The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of House of Lords is the second chamber of Parliament. It is independent from, and complements the work of, the House of Commons –they share responsibility for making laws and checking government action.Lower HouseBoth the U.S. and British political systems have a lower house. The . House of Representatives and the British House of Commons have a great deal in common. Each house is made up of representatives elected by the people. In both systems control of the lower house goes to the party that has the most seats.The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislaturewhich also includes the number of districts in a state is determined by a count of the population taken every 10 years.The House of Commons comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords (the upper house). The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members (since 2010 General Election), who are known as Members of Parliament (MPs). Members are elected through the first-past-the-post system by electoral districts known as constituencies. They hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved (a maximum of five years after the preceding election). Differences1.Form of governmentThe USA is a republic, while the UK is a constitutional monarchy.Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution.A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen byelected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition ofa republic is a government where the head of state is not a monarch.2.?GovernmentThe government consisting of three parts，or branches，the executive，the legislative and the judicial in USA. Each branch has powers that the others do not have and each branch has a way of counteracting and limiting any wrongful action by another president has the power to make treaties with other nations and to make all appointments to federal positions，including the position of Supreme Count Senate ，however 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.However，the UK? government is not split into branches. The House of Commons reigns supreme, and the party with the greatest number of members of the Commons is the governing party. The leader of the governing party becomes Prime Minister, who almost has the power of a king. He or she alone has the power to declare war, to make alliances, to use nuclear weapons, and to appoint the people of his choice to the Cabinet, the various government ministries and offices of state. These appointments are entirely his choice andare not subject to scrutiny or confirmation by any other person of body. The Prime Minister also has t he power to dismiss (“demand the resignation of”) any serving minister? or secretary of state.3.The constitutionThe United States has a written constitution which is very difficult to change. The UK does not have a single document called the constitution but instead its constitutional provisions are scattered over various Acts of Parliament, any of which can be changed by a simple majority in the Parliament such as statute law, the common laws and conventions.4.The political partiesThe United States has two major political is the Democratic symbol of the party is the donkey. The other is the Republican Party. The symbol of the party is the elephant.There are three major national parties in UK—The Conservative party ，the Labour party and the Liberal Democrats.In the United States, the Democratic and Republican Parties absolutely dominate federal and state elections with independents securing only small proportions of the vote. In the United Kingdom,the two main political parties - Conservative and Labour - win a smaller and declining share of the total vote, with a growing share being taken by the likes of the Liberal Democrat Party and the UK Independence Party at national level and by the likes of the Scottish and Welsh Nationalist Parties at the devolved level.In conclusion, a political system is an important integration of a country’s politics and different countries have their distinctive features.。

英美政体对比

states’ rights and the interests of workers, small farmers and the petty bourgeoisie.
The Republican Party: representing the interests of business and industry
Clement Richard Attlee
1945,replaced Churchill, became the Prime Minister. Attended the Potsdam Conference . Tony Blair 1997.5,he became the Prime Minister .2005 Mr. Blair has won a historic third consecutive term for his party.
telephone calls, door-to-door visits, public speeches, and so on)

November: The Election Day （全民投票) December: Casting the Electoral Vote （选举人投票）
Britain
Democratic Party(1791/1828) Franklin Delano Roosevelt
c
Republican Party(1854) Abraham Lincoln
Donkey vs Elephant 驴象之争
Donkey vs Elephant驴象之争
The Democratic Party: It is the party that supports

英美政治体制的比较

Contrasts Between American and British Political System
America: Federal
System; Separation of powers President is the head of State and Government. Legislation---Congress Administration-President Justice—Supreme Court When this three Department exercise their rights, they need to comply with the “separation of powers”, which calls for “checks
James I
George I
The Hanover William 汉诺威王朝 IV
George II,III,IV
The Windsor Windsor Edward VII Queen Victoria
George V
Edward VIII
George VI
The Windsor 温莎王朝
Henry VII
Henry VIII ……
Mary I

Elizabeth I
The Stuart 斯图亚特王朝
Charles II
William III and Mary II
James II Charles I Cromwell Cromwell … The Hanover The Hanover
The majority leader of the Low House acted as the prime minister, in charge of the Parliament.

美英政治对比

The similarities and differences between American political system and British political system
Similarities
2、Both countries are two parties holding office in rotation.
The election
• British elections happen once every five years, but the Prime Minister can hold election in advance according to circumstances during his presidency.
国家元首有无任期
国家元首权力政府首脑政府首治” 首相；下院多数党领袖担任，对议会负责；有权组织内阁，并握有行政和立法权。大选中获胜的多数党中选出
任期制（4年）
行使行政权总统；有权提名并经国会同意任命政府官员，有权批准和否决国会法案，是军队总司令。民选
实权掌握者
The three parties in Britain
Parties in Great Britain
The Conservative Party
The Labour Party
The Liberal Democrats
•
Historically, the United Kingdom had two major political parties, though currently three parties dominate the political landscape. Originally, the Conservatives and the Liberals dominated British politics, but the Liberal Party collapsed in the early twentieth century and was largely replaced by the Labour Party.

英式英语与美式英语的比较ppt课件

大家好
11
02.词汇
ＴｈｅＰａｒｔＴｗｏ
大家好
12
02.词汇
ＴｈｅＰａｒｔＴｗｏ
English bank bill billion corn first floor football pants wallet
同词异义
BE
AE
钞票
汇票
十亿
万亿
玉米
谷物，小麦
一层
二层
橄榄球
足球
长裤
内裤
钱包（男女通用）钱包（男用，皮质）
e.g. worker father farm tour ? 字母t：在两个元音之间，
BE：[t] , AE:[d]
e.g. water，letter，waiter，computer
大家好
10
01.发音
ＴｈｅＰａｒｔＴｗｏ
词缀
? 以-ile结尾:
BE?:l][aAE:[l]
e.g. fertile hostile fragile docile ? 以-ary 或-ory结尾:
Lady : What can I do for you? Girl : I'd like a piece of rubber, please! Lady : …Er, a piece of eraser? 1 dollar, please. Anything else? Girl : I'd like some sweets, too. Lady : No problem. All the candy we sell is sweet. Girl : I see, so you sell sweet sweets.
近200字。

英美政体比较

To the political system is concerned, all western countries are a parliamentary democracy, a multiparty system and separation of powers system. However, the organization in specific and different countries have their own characteristics, which are most representative of the U.S. presidential model, the United Kingdom, Germany, parliamentary cabinet system model and the French semi-presidential model.There are some main reasons for difference between British and American system of government: First English bourgeois revolution, the bourgeoisie with the mian contradiction is the contradiction between the feudal ruling class. But in the U.S., the contradiction is between the bourgeoisie with the colonial rulers. So their social contradictions are different. Second the development of capitalism needs a stable external environment, the British has the different political system, the feudal class doesn’t have the same power as Britain. The early days of war continue so the rule requires a relatively concentrated form, therefore Britain is a constitutional monarchy, and United States is the President of the republic. Last objectively, the English bourgeois revolution is earlier, but power of the bourgeoisie is limited, the bourgeois constitutional monarchy is a compromise on the feudal forces. In the United States, after a period of the bourgeois revolution and capitalist development, it have strength and growth, if the King also set in the United States, he must would be overturned.Britain is a constitutional monarchy, the United States is a republic, because the United States does not own a separate monarch as their sovereign, so after independence the monarchy was not appear. United States presidential system, the president heads the cabinet, the United Kingdom is a parliamentary, prime minister heads the cabinet, the cabinet responsible to parliament. Since before independence in the United States, stationed in the colonies by the British Governor, there are representatives of the Governor and the local people-member parliament, the colonial government management of the main by the Governor, when most European countries the king is still head the cabinet, so the natural continuation after independence, the United States This form of organization, the Governor replaced by the president. The UK because many times the nobility and the bourgeoisie to seize power, the king's powers are limited, parliamentary strength has been enhancedAmerica's most thoroughly implemented Decentralization: the legislative, executive and judicial powers, respectively independent exercise controlled by the Congress, the President and the Supreme Court ; three in personnel matters are separate. Congress has no right to overthrow the government said they did not trust them; in turn, the president can not dissolve parliament. Britain to pursue these three countries to maximize the power of fusion with each other, under the doctrine of the supremacy of the parliament, not only a high degree of fusion of legislative and executive power, and even failed to fully independent judicial power, but with the legislative and executive powers in a certain degree of fusion up. Government by the Parliament that the first civilian hospital hospital leadership composition of the majority party; the one hand, in charge of executive power, on the other hand Parliament legislative leadership; The Congress shall have passed no-confidence motion asking the government to resign, the Government also decided to dissolve the Parliament.The advantage of American political system model: the power of large U.S. president, its independence is conducive to making political decisions more quickly and improve the powerperformance. Its weaknesses are: the three major U.S. power system of mutual checks and contain significantly, resulting in a number of institutional consumption. President no power to dissolve parliament, but can veto bills passed by Congress, Congress can impeach the president; the president can appoint the supreme judge, Supreme Court may rule the laws of Congress and the president to decide whether unconstitutional.The advantage of the British regime model, whether the formation or the actual operation of the system are relatively democratic, just and more conducive to scientific and thoughtful decision-making. But the disadvantage is that system or the system is easy mode, resulting in the bureaucracy, the efficiency of governance.Because quite long period of time Canada is Britain's colony。

英美国家政治体制比较

相同点：These two capitalist countries were both regarded as the western democracy, whose powers were controlled by the bourgeoisies. They were two-party system and both have the cabinet. Both of them have the Parliament (Congress), which is the legislative organ of the country. They were both the three-tier countries.相同点：这两个资本主义国家都视为西方的民主，它的权力是由资产阶级控制。

他们是两个政党制度都有内阁。

它们都有议会（国会），这是国家的立法机关。

他们都是三级国家。

不同点：英国：British system of government is known as constitutional monarchy. The central government includes the Monarch, parliament, and the cabinet. The monarch who is the nation’s symbol reigns but not rules. He/She only does what parliament and cabinet want him/her to do. He/She whose appointment is hereditary reigns until he/she die. The prime minister who is the leader of the party in power is appointed by the monarch. He presides over the cabinet. Cabinet is the nation’s supreme executive organ and comes from the parliament. It is responsible to the parliament. Parliament is the nation’s supreme legislative organ. T he government is responsible to parliament and is checked by the parliament.英国：英国政府体系被称为君主立宪制。

英美概况英文课件美国政治

Federal system “Checks and balances” Respect for the Constitution
Introduction to British and American Culture
The Federal System

Definition

Power is shared between the central government and the state government
Introduction to British and American Culture
The Constitution

a single political document in1787 7 articles The Constitution follows three principles:
The Republican Party

The second largest party More conservative Ideology

A small government and free market Letting business compete with little or no government regulation in the marketplace Advocates strong national defense
Chapter 3 Politics
Part Two The Political System of the United States
Introduction to British and American Culture

The-Electoral-System英国与美国选举制度.ppt

and 1974.
ko
6
By-elections
• A writ for a by-election is issued by the clerk of the Crown on receipt of the Speaker‘s warrant . A by-election must be held not less than 11 or more than 21 days after the issue of the writ.
• The royal proclamation announcing the dissolution of Parliament and the summoning of a new Parliament is the authorization for the writs for a general election.
The Electoral System
------Britain and the United States
ko
1
Buckingham Palace
ko
2
Electoral system: UK
• In England, elections have been used as a parliamentary process since the 13th century. The secret ballot was adopted in 1872 and full equal voting rights won for women in 1928. All registered members of the public aged 18 and over may vote in parliamentary elections. The British House of Commons is elected for a maximum of five years; the prime minister can call a general election at any time.

1、下载文档前请自行甄别文档内容的完整性，平台不提供额外的编辑、内容补充、找答案等附加服务。
2、"仅部分预览"的文档,不可在线预览部分如存在完整性等问题,可反馈申请退款(可完整预览的文档不适用该条件!)。
3、如文档侵犯您的权益，请联系客服反馈,我们会尽快为您处理(人工客服工作时间：9:00-18:30)。

• The Bill of Rights consists of the ten amendments added to the Constitution in 1791.
• The English Bill of Rights (1689) was an inspiration for the American Bill of Rights.
• This deals with criminal trials. • Nobody can be punished punishment
without due process of law. • An accused person may not be compelled
to testify against himself. • It also prohibits government from taking
• All federal and state legislators, officers, and judges must swear to support the Constitution.
• The constitutions and laws of any state must not conflict with the laws of the federal constitution.
8
Amendments
• Article Five sets out the different ways in which Amendments can be made.
• Any new amendment may be approved by twothirds of both houses of Congress, then sent to the states for approval. To be adopted it must be approval by three-quarters of the states.
private property for public use without "just compensation."
15
Separation of Powers
• At the heart of the Constitution is the principle known as 'separation of powers.
serve for 2 years. • Members of the Supreme Court effectively
serve for life.
17
Benefits & Weaknesses
• The great benefit of this system is that power is spread and counter-balanced.
• The great weakness of the system is that it makes government slow and complicated which is a huge disadvantage in a world of fast-moving political and economic developments.
1. Legislative power 2. Executive power 3. Judicial power 4. States' powers and limits 5. Amendments 6. Federal power 7. Ratification
4
Legislative Power
– the Senate to represent the States.
• This is known as Representative Democracy.
5
Executive Power
• Article two creates the presidency. • Executive power is vested in a President. • The presidential term is fixed at four years. • A President can only serve for two terms. • The method of electing the President is set
the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of petition.
13
Second Amendment
• This guarantees the right of individuals to carry firearms.
14
Fifth Amendment
• Both require jury trials, include a right to keep and bear arms, and forbid "cruel and unusual punishments.“
3
Seven Articles
• The seven articles of the constitution cover the following areas:
• Article One describes the Congress, the legislative bra. This has two co-equal houses:
– the House of Representatives to represent the people, and
• This is also known as 'checks and balances‘.
16
Terms of Office
• The President has a term of 4 years. • Members of the Senate serve for 6 years. • Members of the House of Representatives
• This means that power is spread between the three branches: the executive, the legislature and the judiciary.
• No single branch has too much power and no individual can be a member of more than one branch.
11
Successful Amendments
• The Constitution has twenty-seven amendments. The first ten, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified simultaneously by 1791. The following seventeen were ratified separately over the next two centuries.
12
First Amendment
• This addresses the rights of freedom of religion.
• Congress cannot establish a State Religion. • It also protects freedom of speech, freedom of
• It is a living document whose interpretation has changed over time.
• When necessary, US citizens are able to make amendments to the constitution.
2
Bill of Rights
7
States' Powers & Limitations
• Article Four describes the relationship between the states and the federal government and between the states themselves.
10
Ratification
• Article Seven sets forth the requirements for ratification of the Constitution. The Constitution would not take effect until at least nine of the original states had ratified the Constitution in state conventions specially convened for that purpose, and it would only apply to those states that ratified it.
• No amendment may deprive a state of equal representation in the Senate, without that state's consent.
9
Federal Power
• Article Six establishes the Constitution, and the laws and treaties of the United States made according to it, to be the supreme law of the land,.
judgments and orders can be reviewed by the Supreme Court. • Article Three also creates the right to trial by jury in all criminal cases and defines the crime of treason.