The American political system is defined by two basic ocuments, the Declaration of Independence of 1776 and the Constitution of 1789 which forms the US federal government. The Declaration of Independence establishes the US as an Independent political entity and the constitution creates the basic structures of the federal government. The legislature comprises of a bicameral congress that consists of a senate and the House of Representatives.
The executive branch Includes the president and vice president and all the other subordinate officials of the executive department and agencies.
A presidential system is where he executive branch is led by a president who is both head of state and head of government. The united States of America is an example of the presidential system. The presidential system has a strong and independent chief executive with extensive powers related to both domestic and internal affairs and foreign policy. The president independence from legislature is based on election by people to whom he or she is directly accountable.
The legislative branch is made up of two houses of congress. The House of Representatives and the senate. The duty of the legislative ranch Is to make laws which are written discussed and voted on in the Congress. The senate approves the nominations made by the president to the cabinet, Supreme Court and other post. The executive branch of the US Is responsible for enforcing laws: this facilitates responsibities of the federal government such as collecting taxes, safe guarding the homeland and representing the US political and economic interest worldwide. The power is vested in the president. The president is the head of the executive branch.
The president is elected by the entire country every four years and s also the one that approves and carry out the laws made by the executive branch. There is a relationship between the executive and the legislature in the US presidential system. They both work in cooperation and collaboration; one cannot work without the other and several key functions are shared. The legislative partakes in the work of the executive and vice versa. Legislature performs some direct executive functions for example, the senate of the united States shares with the president the power of making appointments and treaties.
Many presidential ppointments are subject to the approval of the congress. It Is the congress that passes the legislation but the president signs it to become a law. For example, the president of the United States would sign the bill into law. The aim of the Obama health care plan is a plan for health care reform in the United States. Its aim is to help millions of Americans to afford better quality health insurance and to reform the health insurance industry. However if both branches of government have a disagreement on certain policies and programmes that are made there can be a onflict and things are stagnant.
There was a dispute with the Obama care that caused the government to shutdown. Pavlish (2013) states that the bill was passed over the senate but it was killed upon the arrival by democratic leader Harry Reid then twenty four hours later the government shutdown. The president Barrack Obama signed the bill which ended the sixteen day partial shutdown. The congress declares the war but the president can initiate the military action for example, the conflict with US and Syria about the chemical weapons. If the US plans to strike at
Syria, the United States has to wait for the authorization of the congress whether or not a war can be declared. Secondly in 2002 where President Bush wanted to declare war on Iraq. According to Healy (2002), she states that the constitution gives the war power to congress, the constitution makes the president the commander of chief but this only makes the president the “first general” of America arm forces. President Bush could not take action without the congress permission. There was also a gun control debate that was opened by the US senate.
A month after the hootings of the Sandy Hook Elementary, President Obama initiated his proposals to address the gun violence in the United States. He encouraged the congress to pass the legislation. According to the BBC news (2013) the senators will have to vote on a series of amendments to the legislation before voting on the bill itself. This issue would require both the executive and the congress action to work together to determine if the gun control proposal can be enacted. Just as how the legislature performs some executive functions, the executive performs some legislative duties.
The bills passed by the legislature are submitted to the chief executive head for the final approval. Karlen (1968) states that bill cannot become an act unless it has been assembled by him. The chief executive head may issue order during the recess of the legislative through the nature and life of order from state to state. The power of giving order by the executive is a legislative authority in its hands. The executive controls the finance, prepares the budget and presents it to the parliament. The executive provides leadership to the legislature. The United States president is not nly chief executive but also chief legislator.
The executive initiates formulate and explains the legislative and financial policy and urges the legislature to accept it. The executive exercises powers of delegated legislation, makes the laws in broad terms and delegates the powers to the executive to fill in the necessary details. It can be concluded that a presidential system is the executive branch led by the president who is both the head of state and the head of government, the constitution creates the basic structure of the government which includes the legislative and the xecutive branch.