5. Three Branches of Government

In 1787 leaders of the states gathered to write the Constitution-a set of principles that told how the new nation would be governed.

The leaders of the states wanted a strong and fair national government. But they also wanted to protect individual freedoms and prevent the government from abusing its power. They believed they could do this by having three separate branches of government: the executive, the legislative and the judicial. This separation is described in the first three articles, or sections, of the Constitution.

The Constitution calls for a system of separation of powers in which three branches of government can check and balance each other. Those three branches are the executive branch which includes the president, the legislative branch which includes Congress, and the judicial branch which includes the Supreme Court. The men who wrote the Constitution spread the powers of government among these three branches to keep any one branch of government from becoming too powerful. Each branch performs separate functions and checks the other branch's functions in different ways.

The legislative branch is made up of the Congress which is the House of Representatives and the Senate. Its job is to make the laws. Congress also decides on who and what to tax and how to use tax money. Each house of Congress meets separately. However, they can come together for joint sessions.

The executive branch includes the president of the United States, the vice president, and the major departments of the government such as the Labor Department, Department of Defense, State Department, Treasury Department, etc. Each department has a leader, appointed by the president. Together, all the leaders, along with the president, vice president, and a few other people, make up the cabinet. The job of the executive branch is to enforce the laws.

The judicial branch is made up of the Supreme Court and other courts, and its job is to interpret the laws.

By triple-checking everything, government is more likely to represent the needs of more people. The public also is part of the system of checks and balances. If citizens aren't satisfied with an official, they can choose to not reelect him or her.

6. Political party system in the United States

The modern political party system in the United States is a two-party system dominated by the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. These two parties have won every United States presidential election since 1852 and have controlled the United States Congress since at least 1856. Third parties have achieved relatively minor representation from time to time at national and state levels.

Among the two major parties, the Democratic Party generally positions itself as left-of-center in American politics and supports an American liberalism platform, while the Republican Party generally positions itself as right-of-center and supports an American conservatism platform.

Organization of American political parties

American political parties are more loosely organized than those in other countries. The two major parties, in particular, have no formal organization at the national level that controls membership, activities, or policy positions, though some state affiliates do. Thus, for an American to say that he or she is a member of the Democratic or Republican party, is quite different from a Briton's stating that he or she is a member of the Conservative or Labour party. In the United States, one can often become a "member" of a party, merely by stating that fact. In some U.S. states, a voter can register as a member of one or another party and/or vote in the primary election for one or another party. Such participation does not restrict one's choices in any way. It also does not give a person any particular rights or obligations within the party, other than possibly allowing that person to vote in that party's primary elections. A person may choose to attend meetings of one local party committee one day and another party committee the next day. The sole factor that brings one "closer to the action" is the quantity and quality of participation in party activities and the ability to persuade others in attendance to give one responsibility.

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States along with the Republican Party.  The party has the lengthiest record of continuous operation in the United States and is one of the oldest political parties in the world.^[5] Barack Obama is the 15th Democrat to hold the office of President of the United States.

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP (Grand Old Party), although the rival Democratic Party is older. Eighteen US presidents have been Republicans.