3) When the American Constitution was written, many Americans feared that central government might become too powerful. As a result, the rights of the states are quite specified and, compared with other countries, state and local governments have far more power in the United States. Within certain limitations, states set their own taxes on top of federal taxes, and their own laws in local commerce, education, driving, drinking and every sort of crime. This is quite an important point, considering the fact that state and local governments generally have the most direct effect on citizen's lives.

To put it into a nutshell, the nation's constitution defines the powers of national state governments, the functions and framework of each branch of government and rights of individual citizens. All public officials of the national as well as of the state governments must swear to abide by the Constitution, which was created to protect the democratic interests of the people and government.

1.2 LIMITED GOVERNMENT

This point is basic to the Constitution. When the Constitution was first written, many Americans feared that governmental power could become concentrated in the hands of a few.
The result was that the following features were created:

1. The federal organization of government
2. The separation of powers among different branches of government
3. A system of checks and balances to restrict the powers of each branch

Under federalism, the principle of limited government was achieved by dividing authority between the central government and the individual states. The federal government has powers over states:

• control communications among states
• borrow money
• provide for the national defense
• declare war

• each state establishes its own criminal justice system
• public schools
• marriage and divorce laws

• power to tax
• set up courts
• charter banks

Generally speaking one could say that the US Government is divided both horizontally: between lawmakers (the legislature), law enforcers (the Executive) and law interpreters (the judiciary);
and vertically: between national (federal), state and local governments. So, besides the division of power between state and national governments, the authority of the federal government is limited by the separation of power among three branches. In the United States, each branch has several separate functions.

1.3.1 LEGISLATIVE BRANCH - The Congress

The function of the legislative branch is to make laws. Moreover the legislative Branch possesses the power to restrict or change court systems, and above all create new one's. This branch is made up of representatives, who are elected to congress. Congress is a bicameral body, and it consists of two houses: The House of Representatives (The House) and the Senate (The Senate).

The House of Representatives
Presiding officer: Speaker

Lawmakers from all over the states are elected to serve in the House of Representatives. The number of Representatives each state sends to the House depends upon the number of districts in each state. Each district chooses one representative. The number of districts in each state is determined by population. The most heavily populated states have more districts and, therefore, more representatives than the sparsely populated states. There are currently 435 representatives in the House and each of them is elected to a two-year term.
Representatives are exclusively elected by citizens, who live within a Congressional District. The House of Representatives makes laws that concern the raising of money.

The Senate
Presiding officer: Vice President

The Senate is the smaller one of the two houses. Each state, regardless of population, has two senators. The senatorial term is six years and every two years, one third of the Senate stands for election. The Senate has 100 members. In contrast to the Representatives, the Senators are elected by the entire state. The Senate has the power to confirm or deny the president's appointments to the State Department and of Supreme Court Justices and to ratify or refuse to sign any treaty with a foreign country. Another very important feature of the Senate is the fact that it can impeach and remove the president and Supreme Court Justices.
The main difference between the two Houses is: the Senate stands for stability, whereas the House of Representatives stands for reform.

How a bill becomes a law

Each House of Congress is engaged in making laws and each may initiate legislation. A law first begins as a " BILL". It is sent to the appropriate committee. Each house has committees, which specialize in a particular area of legislation, such as foreign affairs, defense, banking and agriculture. Committee members study it and then send it back to the Senate or House chamber, where it was first introduced. After a debate, the bill is voted on. If it passes, it is sent to the other House, where it has to go trough a similar process.

If one House rejects the bill or adds amendments, The Conference Committee tries to work out a compromise. The Conference Committee consists of equal numbers of members of each house. If both sides agree on the new version, the bill is sent to president, for his signature. At this point the bill becomes a law.

1.3.2 JUDICIAL BRANCH - The Courts

The judicial Brach is headed by the Supreme Court. Under the Supreme Court, there are state and federal courts, such as the Courts of Approval, District and Special Courts. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States and therefore its decisions are the basis for jurisdiction. An important function of this branch is to determine whether laws of Congress or actions of the president violate the Constitution. Moreover it may prevent executive action through injunction. So the judicial branch checks the two other branches. Thus the judicial Branch is also called the balance wheel or the arbiter among rival forces in society.

1.3.3 EXECUTIVE BRANCH - The President

It is responsible for administering the laws passed by Congress. The president of the United States presides over the executive branch. The president has got a lot of powers, whereas the vice president has only two constitutional duties: the first is to preside over the Senate. The second duty is to assume the presidency, if the president dies, becomes disabled or is removed from office. The president is elected to a four-year term and can be re-elected to a second term.

POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT

The Constitution gives the president many important powers.

• He has the power to appoint the cabinet, which contains all the heads, or secretaries of the various government departments (such as Defense or Education). Today there are 13 major departments in the Executive branch.
• He is the head of the state and represents the public face of the US government to the rest of the world.
• He entertains foreign leaders and addresses the public. As director of foreign policy, he appoints foreign ambassadors and makes treaties with other countries.
• He serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces (Army, Navy, Air Force and the Marines), which means that it is him who declares war and makes peace.
• He is also expected to see that the laws are faithfully executed.
• Another power of the president is that he can recommend legislation to Congress.
• He can veto any law passed by Congress.
• He appoints federal justices (Supreme Court included)
• Last but not least, he has a strong influence on the public because of his access to media.

CHECKS AND BALANCES

The division of governmental power among three separate but equal branches provides for a system of checks and balances. Each branch checks and limits the power of the other branches.
F.e.: Although Congress makes laws the president can veto them. But even if the president vetoes a law, Congress can override his veto with a two-third vote. The Supreme Court can overturn laws passed by Congress and signed by the president. The selection of federal and Supreme Court judges is made by the other two branches. The president appoints judges, but the Senate reviews his candidates and can reject his choices.

WITH THIS SYSYTEM OF CHECKS AND BALANCES, NO BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT HAS SUPERIOR POWER.

2. How a president is made

2.1 Becoming a candidate

Any native - born American citizen who is at least 35 years old and who has at least been living in the United States for 14 years can run for president, but he/she needs a lot of money and support.

To be eligible for pre-nomination aid, a candidate has to raise, in each of 20 different states, a minimum of 5,000 dollars in contributions of up to 250 dollars each from individual supporters, producing a total of at least 100,000 dollars nationwide. Then the candidate can receive aid from the government presidential election campaign fund.

Matching funds
Public money given to presidential candidates that matches funds they have raised privately from individuals. During the primary season eligible candidates may receive up to 250 dollars in matching funds for each individual contribution they receive. Individuals may legally make contributions up to the limit of 1,000 dollars per person.

This money is used for campaign strategy, including travel, speeches, advertisements, debates and generally making the candidate known to the general public.

2.2 Being nominated by a party

Generally speaking, a Primary, as it is commonly called, is an electoral contest, which helps to determine each political party's candidate for a particular public office. Primaries may be held at all levels of government, including local contests for mayor, district races for the U.S. House of Representatives, statewide elections for governor or U.S. senator, and president of the United States.

Beginning around the end of January, the two parties hold a primary election in each state.
Primaries for presidential candidates are held at the state level to indicate who the people of the state prefer to be the parties' candidates. Depending on state law, people vote directly for the presidential candidate they prefer or for delegates, who are pledged to support that presidential candidate at the party convention, which is normally held the summer before the election. One of the very first states, in which a primary is held, is New Hampshire. This state is quite educated and is therefore a predictor. In other words the results of New Hampshire are normally trend setters and give conclusions about the results in the other states, which are to follow New Hampshire. Psychologically speaking, one could say that results of New Hampshire somehow cause a Domino effect.

Super Tuesday on March 7th, 2000
This "national" primary featured a record 15 states - including New York and California - voting in a single day 31 percent of the delegates. Normally Super Tuesday just means that during the presidential primary season there may be several groups of state primaries in various regions falling on one or more Tuesdays. These regional or multi-region groupings, whatever they are called, are important because the weight of such a large vote tends to make or break would-be presidential nominees since so many convention delegates are selected at once.

At this Convention delegates from every state meet together to choose the candidates for President and Vice-President and to determine the party's program, the platform. These documents have become less important in recent years as television has focused more one each candidate's appearance and personality. The number of delegates from each state is determined by its population.

At the Convention the states are represented alphabetically and each spokesman may nominate a candidate when called upon. In the next step the delegations are asked how their votes are divided. Balloting then continues until a single candidate receives an overall majority. Needless to say, there is a lot of behind-the-scene bargaining going on during all stages of the convention. Once a candidate has been elected, he in turn chooses a candidate for the Vice-President.

2.3 Election day

Traditionally, campaigning for the presidential election begins on Labor Day (the first Monday in September), but actually seems to begin as soon after the convention as possible. From that time until Election Day, voters are bombarded with political material - radio, television, newspapers, and personal communications. Election day is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The upcoming Election Day will be on November 7th, 2000.

The Electoral College

electors who are, as a group, known as the Electoral College. The number of electors in each state is equal to the total number of representatives and senators who represent that state in the Congress. Therefore, states with larger populations have more electoral votes. The candidate who receives a majority of the votes in a particular state receives all of that state's electoral votes, which means that the electors vote en block. Theoretically speaking, this means that if a candidate has a majority in the following districts: California (54 votes), New York (33), Texas (32), Florida (25 votes), Pennsylvania (23 votes), Illinois (22 votes) and Ohio (21 votes), he has already won the elections. To be elected as President of the United States, a candidate must receive 270 out of 538 electoral votes.

2.4 After Election Day

The newly - elected President is inaugurated in January during a solemn, nationally-televised ceremony. After the inauguration, he moves into the White House, appoints members of Cabinet, and begins the difficult task of trying to persuade Congress to help him fulfill his campaign promises. Since the two major parties are not extremely different, no sudden shift in national policy results from a change in government. Change can normally be detected only with the passage of time.

2.5 Factors that affect the election process

These factors listed below are somehow a guide for every candidate. They reflect all basic inherently American issues. A presidential candidate should always keep in mind the following points.

2.5.1 The ideal of the free individual

2.5.2 Distrust of government power and control
This is a constant theme. Just one example: the Government shouldn't be responsible for health care. So if private business do, it's going to be all right. Government will mess it up.

2.5.3 Respect for the Constitution (=the Bible)
Lean volume that still works

2.5.4 Proud of the political system
But not of the politicians

2.5.5 Strength/influence of state and local governments
Stronger influence on every day life than federal government

• taxes are different form state to state
• even holidays
• not even federal holidays have to be respected

2.5.7 No cohesiveness of political parties' ideology
It's candidate based; you vote for a man not a party The process is candidate-centered not party centered

2.5.8 Belief in people's direct role in political process
2.5.9 Focus on the future rather than on the past
"loss of memory", "short memory"

3. The main political parties

Politics in the US is dominated by only two political parties: the Democrats and the Republicans. Each party has a familiar symbol: for the Democrats it is a donkey, and for the Republicans it is an elephant.

The Democratic Party has traditionally been the party that is in favor of high government spending, both to invigorate the economy and to extend the welfare state. Many democratic voters tend to be liberal, union members, workers and minorities, such as Hispanics, African-Americans, Jewish. As for the results of the last presidential elections, 55% of all American households, whose per year income is lower than 30,000 dollars, voted for Bill Clinton. Another interesting figure is that 54% of all American women gave their vote to Bill Clinton. Among the party elite are financiers, lawyers and academics. Generally speaking, the Democratic Party is basically in favor of gun control (anti NRA), which means in concrete terms licensing and registration of guns, and pro-abortion rights.

The Republican Party has traditionally been the party that is more conservative, opposed to the welfare state and big government. It is also known as the G.O.P (Grand Old Party). Supporters include the more affluent parts of society, especially big business and farming interests, people in well-to-do suburbs and especially white Protestants. Looking at the results of 1996, one can clearly see that the standing voters of the Republicans are holders of an undergraduate degree and voters over 60 years. The Republicans are normally against government support programs of any kind and anti gun control (pro NRA). Moreover they are strongly opposed to abortion rights.

Occasionally there is a third-party candidate. Although no third-party candidate has ever won a presidential election, third parties have often played an important role by focusing attention on particular issues and influencing the policies of the two major parties.

Over the last 30 years, voters' identification with a particular party has been decreasing and voters are casting their vote not on the basis of party loyalty, but on candidates' personality and their stand on issues.

4. This year's election

List of Campaign Issues 2000

Economy

Budget: is in line; what shall we do with the extra-money?; but health care reform didn't happen
Taxes

Foreign Affaires

US role in global conflicts
Relations with:
China, Middle West, Russia, South America, Europe
World trade

Domestic affaires

Crime, Unemployment, Education, Health care, Death penalty, Campaign Finance reform, Abortion
Gun control: NRA (=National Rifles Association) is a private organization, which is strongly opposed to gun controls. This Organization can play an important role during the election process by supporting the party, which is anti gun control.

Personal history of candidate

Personality, Family, Military Record, Offices held, scandals

4.2 Profiles of the candidates

Al Gore born on March 31st , 1948

Al Gore served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. He worked for seven years as a newspaper reporter and then was elected to Congress representing Tennessee. After eight years in the House of Representatives and eight years as a U.S. Senator from Tennessee, he won Democratic primaries in seven states in 1988 and was elected Vice President of the United States.
For almost seven years, Al Gore has been a central member of President Clinton's team -- helping to design the program that has led to a strong economy and to pass the first balanced budget in 30 years.

Since his days in the House and Senate, Vice President Gore's environmental record has been unparalleled. He leads the Administration's efforts to protect the environment in a way that also strengthens the economy -- such as working with the Big Three auto makers to support the development of a new generation of fuel- and energy-efficient vehicles, and working to combat global warming in a way that also creates new jobs.

Global warming is just one of many issues on which Al Gore was an early and visionary leader -- focused on crafting solutions before many in public office were aware of the problems. As a House member, he popularized the term "Information Superhighway," and was instrumental in fighting for federal funds for what later became the Internet. He is also responsible for the fact that every classroom and library in America is linked to the Internet.

Also in the House, he held early hearings on biotechnology, and has been a national leader on cutting-edge issues such as genetic discrimination and on-line privacy and security -- how to make sure we preserve our oldest and most cherished values, such as privacy and freedom from discrimination, amid fast-changing new discoveries and technologies. In the Senate, Al Gore was a leading expert on arms control, and a strong voice for national defense.

Although many people claim that Gore looks like an Hollywood actor, he has not really a very charismatic personality, which might be one of the rare problems Al Gore has to face.

The Clinton years can, without doubt, be described as a boom like no other. As a matter of fact the unemployment rate went down from 8% in 1992 to 4% in 1999, or in other words 20 million jobs were created during the Clinton - era. Another interesting figure of the Clinton years is that the personal income increased from 5,000 billions in 1992 to more than 8,000 million dollars in 1999. All this was achieved with the growth of the telecoms media and industry.

All these figures show that Bill Clinton did a very good job in terms of the economy. The Democrats have always been criticized by the Republicans for their "incompetence" when it came to economic questions. But due to Clinton's economic policy there will be very little to criticize for Bush. In fact the general level of contentment is very high and that's why many people feel that a change is not needed. Looking at the upcoming elections from that point of view the Clinton era should have a positive effect on the campaign of Al Gore.

George W. Bush

George W. Bush was born on July 6th, 1946 and grew up in Midland and Houston, Texas. He received a bachelor's degree from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He served as an F-102 pilot for the Texas Air National Guard. He began his career in the oil and gas business in Midland in 1975 and worked in the energy industry until 1986.

He was elected Governor of the State of Texas on November 8, 1994, with 53.5 percent of the vote. In a historic re-election victory, he became the first Texas Governor to be elected to consecutive four-year terms on November 3, 1998 winning 68.6 percent of the vote. In 1998 Governor Bush won 49 percent of the Hispanic vote, 27 percent of the African-American vote, 27 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of women.

Governor Bush's first priority is the education of the children. He has worked with the Legislature to increase the state's share of funding for schools, to restore local control, to strengthen the state's accountability system, to give parents and students greater choice of schools, and to foster competition and creativity through charter schools and an expanded menu of educational opportunity.

Apart from improving the school system Bush's other aims are:

• reducing taxes for all taxpayers, especially those on the outskirts of poverty
• strengthening the military with better pay, better planning, and better equipment
• saving and strengthening Social Security and Medicare by providing seniors with more options

On March 14th, 2000 (Southern Tuesday, including Texas and Florida) Governor Bush earned enough delegates to become the Republican nominee for President.

4.3 Basic stands on the election issues

	Al Gore	George Bush
Abortion: Banning late time abortions	strongly oppose	strongly favor
Rape/incest abortions only	strongly oppose	strongly favor
Individual rights: Gay rights	somewhat favor	strongly oppose
Crime: Death penalty	strongly favor	strongly favor
Flag-burning Constitutional Amendment	strongly oppose	strongly favor
Gun control: Require trigger locks	strongly favor	strongly oppose
Require safety courses and photo license	strongly favor	strongly oppose
Foreign policy: US should provide economic assistance to aid foreign countries	strongly favor	strongly oppose
Political reform: Contribution limits for individuals	strongly favor	strongly oppose

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