States and Governors

States are vested with many powers and responsibilities, so they need to have strong leadership. The leader of each state is called a governor. Each state decides how much power its governor has, so some governors have more power than others. However, most governors have many of the same duties.

In many ways, governors lead their states like the U.S. president leads the national government. For example, the way that governors are involved in lawmaking at the state level is similar to the way that the U.S. president is involved in lawmaking at the national level. Governors also appoint many state-level officials, just like the U.S. president appoints many federal officials.

State governors are also responsible for managing the budget and they try to balance the budget of their state.

Governors have many ceremonial duties. They often go to important events in the state, speaking to the people who are there. The governor normally works in the state capitol. Many state governments have an official residence near the state capitol building.

Governors are elected by the state’s residents. In all but two states, governors serve for four years at a time. The governors of Vermont and New Hampshire, two states in the Eastern part of the U.S., serve for only two years at a time.

Republicans and Democrats

More than 300 million people live in the United States and they have many different opinions about how the government should be. If each of them voted independently, then it would be very difficult to predict how the government would be, and no one would be able to have very much power in American government. However, the country has many political parties that people can be affiliated with (connected to as a member).

The two biggest political parties are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

The Democratic Party is more liberal, believing that wealth should be shared among all people and that the government should make laws to help this happen, even if that means having higher taxes so it can give help and services to everyone. The Democratic Party is also leftleaning socially, emphasizing protecting the environment, equal rights for all people, and other social issues.

The Republic Party is economically conservative, believing that the economy should operate freely with little government intervention. The Republican Party favors low taxes and less control and influence by the federal government. The Republicans also emphasize traditional values, such as strong families, little immigration, and the right for individuals to own guns.

The Democratic Party is symbolized by a donkey, which is an animal that is similar to a small, strong horse. The Republican Party is symbolized by an elephant. The parties are also symbolized by colors, with blue for the Democratic Party and red for the Republican Party. For example, a blue state is a state where most people vote for the Democratic Party and a red state is a state where most people vote for the Republican Party. After an important election, newspapers usually print maps of the country with blue and red states to show where each party won.

“Only in America!”

This extract is taken from the introduction to the book ‘Stephen Fry in America’ written by a Britain's best-loved comic genius Stephen Fry who turns his celebrated wit and insight to unearthing the real America as he travels across the continent in his black taxicab.

“Having said that this book presumes to draw no conclusions, I will offer this: the overwhelming majority of Americans I met on my journey were kind, courteous, honourable and hospitable beyond expectation. Such striking levels of warmth, politeness and consideration were encountered not just in those I was meeting for on-camera interview, they were to be found in the ordinary Americans I met in the filling-stations, restaurants, hotels and shops too.

If I were to run out of petrol in the middle of the night I would feel more confident about knocking on the door of an American home than one in any other country I know – including my own. The friendly welcome, the generosity, the helpfulness of Americans – especially, I ought to say, in the South and Midwest – is as good a reason to visit as the scenery…

…There is one phrase I probably heard more than any other on my travels: ‘Only in America!’

If you were to hear a Briton say ‘Tch! Only in Britain, eh?’ it would probably refer to something that was either predictable, miserable, oppressive, dull, bureaucratic, queuey, damp, spoil-sporty or incompetent–or a mixture of all of those. ‘Only in America!’ on the other hand, always refers to something shocking, amazing, eccentric, wild, weird or unpredictable. Americans are constantly being surprised by their own country. Britons are constantly having their worst fears confirmed about theirs. This seems to be one of the major differences between us.”