Politics For Dummies (For Dummies Series)

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The last time the result wasn’t clear within a few hours was in 2000, when the winner wasn’t confirmed until a Supreme Court ruling was made a month later. Skip a Supreme Court A group called the electoral college elects the president and the vice president every four years. Voters in a national election tell the electoral college members from their state how to vote. Britain’s political and social scene has changed dramatically over the course of a century, with the result that it’s barely recognisable today. Here are just a few of the important events that have shaped our lives today. Year It can take several days for every vote to be counted, but it’s usually pretty clear who the winner is by the early hours of the following morning.

Kenneth Waltz, 1924–2013: Waltz created the idea of the three image (level) explanation for international conflict. His Man, the State, and War: A Theoretical Analysis was published in 1959. What’s funny–yet deeply disturbing–is that despite all the hubbub that this election is stirring up, not many people actually know too much about American politics. Even though it’s taught in American schools, research by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania found that out of 1,416 adults, 36% couldn’t name all three branches of government and 35% couldn’t name any of them. And if almost 60% of Americans turn out to vote in general elections like they did in 2012, that’s a lot of people who don’t know a whole lot about the government and how it works who have a say in who is elected and what laws are passed. So, if you’re not an American but want to learn more about the American political system, good for you! You may walk out of this knowing more about the American political process than Americans themselves. If you don’t know where to begin to learn about all of the intricacies and issues in American politics, this is a good place to start. We’ve compiled a guide of the basics about American politics that anyone from anywhere can understand. Even though it’s a lot, just know that this information merely scratches the surface of the complex, seemingly unending layers of the American political system. Congress is the part of the US government that writes and passes laws. It's made up of two chambers - the House of Representatives and the Senate. Members of the House serve two-year terms while senators serve six-year terms and are split into three groups, meaning a third of them are up for election every two years. End of Congress The legislative branch of a government holds the power to make laws. In the United States, Congress is the legislative branch. Congress also has the power to declare war. A few legislative agencies, like the Library of Congress, help Congress in its work. Members of CongressIf we think about how the UK government is formed, it becomes apparent why each party competes so vigorously to gain seats in the House of Commons. All but two states have a winner-takes-all rule, so whichever candidate wins the highest number of votes is awarded all of the state’s electoral college votes.

Economic liberalism: A political and economic theory based on support for a market economy and private property. Economic liberals are afraid of government intervention in the economy and thus support only a small limited government.The great debates: Debates are a great way to see how politicians perform under pressure. By transmitting and analyzing these debates, the media can play a big role in deciding which politicians trump their political opponents. A coalition government is formed when more than one political party come together to govern. This is usually because of a hung parliament, when no party has won enough seats to in an election to govern on their own. Some people on the political right believe that religious doctrine, such as the 10 Commandments, should play a role in government. Some on the right have sought to have such Christian documents enshrined near government buildings, as according to them, the government should abide by the Bible when it comes to social issues like abortion and gay marriage.

Judicial review: The power of courts to declare laws of the legislature or acts of the executive unconstitutional, thereby nullifying them. The left wing generally supports abortion rights, but does not outwardly and necessarily believe that abortion is a good thing. Those on the right, largely due to religious beliefs, would like to see Roe v. Wade overturned to make abortions illegal. Some majority-right states have enacted legislation recently that would make it harder for women to attain abortions while not outlawing it entirely. Federal power is split into three different branches of government – the executive (the president and their cabinet), the judiciary (the Supreme Court) and the chambers of the United States Congress. House of Representatives Two-party system: A political system in which only two parties have a realistic chance of winning political office.These states, which are often referred to as swing states as well, are where voters are split relatively evenly between Democrats and Republicans. Traditional battleground states include Florida and Ohio. Other states that have been strongly Republican in the past, like Arizona and Texas, are considered battlegrounds in 2020 due to increasing support for the Democratic Party. End of battleground states Who can vote and how do they do it? Devolution means shifting power from the centre to the edges. Tony Blair's Labour government wanted to distribute some of the powers of the UK Parliament to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In 1997, a referendum was held in Wales and a separate one in Scotland where the people of both countries voted in favour of devolution. Which powers? Communism: Communists believe that the capitalist system is damaging to the interests of the masses, and that workers must unite and overturn it by revolutionary means. Communists also believe in the state ownership of all land, natural resources and industry. In 2016, Donald Trump took to the stage in New York at about 3am to give his victory speech in front of a crowd of jubilant supporters. Proportional representation: An electoral system in which seats are allocated based on the proportion of the vote a party receives.