The administration of the usa

The presidency of the United States is the highest governmental office. President of the USA is the head of the State and the Government, he is also the Commander-in-Chief of the US Armed Forces. “Administration” is a popular term to identify the executive branch of the federal government, responsible for administering and executing the laws.

President is assisted by Vice-President and the Cabinet. The President and Vice-President are elected for a term of four years and can be re-elected for another term, but no longer than that, since the Twenty-Second Amendment to the Constitution (1951) limited the President’s term of office. US President is assisted in Administration by a Cabinet of 12 members. Cabinet secretaries correspond to European ministers. They are heads of different departments and directly and fully responsible to President who appoints them for an indefinite time. Cabinet officials usually serve during his term. When the President’s service ends, it is customary for the Cabinet to resign, so the new President can appoint new chiefs of executive departments. Among the most important departments one should mention the Department of State responsible for American foreign policy, the Department of Defense or the Pentagon, the Department of Justice, the Department of Commerce, etc. The Secretary of State has the duty to negotiate economic and political treaties.

The fifty states all have republican forms of government with a senate and a house. (There is one exception, Nebraska, which has only one legislative body of 49 “senators”). All have executive branches headed by state governors and independent court systems. Each state has also its own constitution. But all must respect the federal laws and not make laws that interfere with those of the other states. Likewise, cities and local authorities must make their laws and regulations so that they fit their own state’s constitution.

The Constitution limits the federal government to specific powers. All others automatically belong to the states and to the local communities. The states and local communities in the US have rights that in other countries generally belong to the central government. All education at any level, for example, is the concern of the states. The local communities elect the school board officials, and their local community taxes largely support the schools. Similarly, there is no national police force, the FBI influence being limited to a few crimes, such as kidnaping. Each state has its own police and its own criminal laws. The same is true with, for example, marriage and divorce laws, driving laws and licences, drinking laws, and voting procedures. In turn, each city has its own police force that it hires, trains, controls, and organizes. Neither the President nor the governor has direct power over it. Police chiefs of counties, or sheriffs are elected, but state and city police officials are not.

There are many other areas which are also the concern of cities and villages. Among these are opening and closing hours for stores, street and road repair, or architectural laws and other regulations. Most states and some cities have their own income taxes. Many airports, some of them international, are owned and controlled by cities or counties.

A connecting thread that runs all the way through governments in the US is the “accountability” of politicians, officials, agencies, and governmental groups. This means that information on crimes, fires, marriages and divorces, court cases, taxes, etc. are public information.

American system tries to satisfy the needs and wishes of people at the local level. Although the states control many of the vital questions, they cannot make laws that would go against the Constitution of the USA.