Cheat Sheet on American Politics! (15 facts)

1. Who are the left and right wing parties?

In the US, there are two main political parties known as the Democratic party and the Republican party! The democratic party is known as the left party and the republicans are the right party.

2. The Democratic party are known to be liberal (For the People) and they mainly support voting rights, minority rights and are centred on social equality and justice. Whereas, the Republicans are conservative (traditional) in their beliefs and values.

3. Who is President of the United States?

I'm hoping you knew this, but if not, the incumbent (45th) President is Donald. J. Trump. He is currently 74 years old and identifies as a Republican. Now, in order to become the U.S President, you have to be at least 35 years old and have resided in the US for at least 14 years (as a legal resident).

4. What is the American government made up of?

Similar to the UK, the US have three branches, the judiciary branch, executive branch, and the legislative branch. These branches are divided, so that one branch does not have all the power. We don’t want that do we? (I hope not!)

5. The judiciary branch is made up of the judges, including the highest court in the land known as the Supreme Court amongst lower courts, e.g. county courts.

6. Also, there are there is an executive branch which is the US government where the President operates from.

7. Then there is the legislative branch which includes the two chambers of Congress known as the House of Representatives which is headed by Nancy Pelosi (Speaker of the House) and the Senate which has all the senators - both Houses are located in the US Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

8. What are America’s political ideals?

Their ideals and values are liberty, equality, and self – government.

9. Recently, we had the Democratic National Convention known as the DNC and in a few days we will have the Republican National Convention (RNC) . These conventions are about elections and allow each political party to campaign for votes and donations from the American people.

10. The 44th president, Barack Obama was the most recent Democratic president whereas 45th president, Donald Trump is a republican president.

11. What does Congress do?

They make the laws that govern the country and they have the power to impeach (get rid of) the President if need be. This was recently done to President Trump, but it didn’t succeed, this is probably because the Senate is part of the Congress which has a large majority of Republicans and has happened previously.

12. How do the elections work?

US elections happen every four years and on the Election Day, Americans will elect a President and a Vice President in November (2020). The President is only limited to two terms of 4 years in office, no more but it could be less. (President Obama served these two terms!)

13. How many people are in the Senate?

There are 100 senators who approve legislation which is suggested by the House of Representatives (435 voting members). Laws have to go through the Senate, or they won’t become law. The President has to approve legislation, as in the UK, where the Queen gives her royal assent to every bill to become a law.

14. What powers does the US President actually have?

As Trump is currently President, he is the head of state (as the Queen is) but he is also the commander – in – chief of the US army and the leader of the Government.

15. What powers do the courts have?

The courts are made up of the Supreme Court which has 9 court justices, including the famous Ruth Bader – Ginsburg and federal courts. The President appoints the Supreme Court Justices. These Justices are able to overturn laws which they deem to be unconstitutional (unlawful). This differs from the UK, where the judges cannot overturn law but can declare that law is incompatible with human rights.

Hope this helps. So the next time you go to America, you know a bit more :)

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Down below is a visual representation on how 'bills' become 'legislation' in the US!