Levels of election

The United States has perhaps the most complicated electoral system in the world. Voters are asked to make more decisions and asked to do so more frequently than citizens of other democracies. This Byzantine electoral structure in the US does provide the greatest opportunity for input, but at a cost--by demanding so much of the public it means that many are overwhelmed by the complexity of the system and ultimately fail to vote.[9]

A 20 Federalism: State and local Governments

The 50 states are quite diverse in size, population, climate, economy, history and interests. The 50 states often approach political, social, economic questions differently. They do share certain basic structures. The individual states all have republican form of government with a senate and a house (except Nebraska). All have executive branches headed by state governors and independent court systems. Each state also has its own constitution. But all must respect the federal laws and not make laws that interfere with those of the other states. The Constitution limits the federal government to specific powers, but modern judicial interpretations of the Constitution have expanded federal responsibilities. The tradition American distrust of a too powerful central government has kept the battle even over the years. Most states have their own incomes taxes, state police. As a rule, politicians pay considerable attention to public opinion. Orinary citizens participate actively and directly in decision

A21. The regions: New England, The Mid-Atlantic, The South, The Midwest, The Southwest, The West. Americans often speak of their country as one of several large regions. These regions are cultural units rather than governmental units -- formed by history and geography and shaped by the economics, literature and folkways that all the parts of a region share. A region's multicultural heritage as well as distinct demographic characteristics like age and occupation makes regions different and special. Within several regions, language is used differently and there are strong dialects. There are also differences in outlook and attitude based on geography. New England is highly industrial, but it also has many fields, woods and small towns. NE is the part of the US that is most like `old` England. It includes 6 states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont. The Mid-Atlantic region plays an important role in the US. Its cities include Washington D.C and NY. The M-A region is densely populated. It includes 6 states: NY, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Verginia. The South. Economically, historically, culturally it is a distinct region. With its warm climate and rich soil, it developed an economy based on cotton export. Conflicts between the North and the South led to the Civil War in 1861. It includes 11 states: Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida. The Midwest is a large, economically important region. It contains industrial cities and much farmland. Geographically, it can be subdivided into 3 smaller regions: the Great Lakes areawith many lakes, hills, forests; the Graet Plains area to the west is dry. The Midwest includes 12 states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, South & North Dakota. TheSouthwest is characterized by geographical variety: from humid lands in eastern Texas to drier prairies in Oklahoma & western Texas to mountains&deserts in Arizona& New Mexico. The southwest is rich in minerals. 5 states- Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada. The West includes 5 states- Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado.

A22. Washington DC is the capital of the USA. It is situated on the Potomac River in the District of Columbia (DC) which lies between 2states Maryland & Virginia. The DC doesn`t belong to any state. It is an independent territory of the national capital. It is named n honor of Columbus, the discoverer of America. The capital is named after the 1st President George Washington. It has been the federal capital since 1800. It is the place where the federal government works & where each President of the USA lives. W is smaller in size than NY, Chicago, Los Angeles. The capital is criss-crossed by broad avenues, which meet in spacious squares & circles. There are no sky-scrapers in W. The buildings are not higher than the Capitol- it is a special law. The Capitol is a magnificent building which contains 540 rooms including Hall of Representatives & the Senate Chamber & the Supreme Court which have public galleries. Most of the people who live in W. work for the federal government. The White House is the President`s residence where all American presidents lived (except G.Washington). White House is closed to the public. The central place of the city is the Mall, a large open space, a kind of park, stretching from the building of the Capitol to Lincoln Memorial, with Washington Memorial in the middle. The Mall is often used by people for public meetings, picnics, games. W is devided into 4 sections: NW (north-west), NE (north-east), SW (south-west), SE (south-east). There are the Jefferson Memorial (in memory of the 3 president), the Lincoln Memorial (in the memory of the 16 president which gave freedom to Negro slaves in USA). The Pentagon is the US military centre, was built during WW II.