Political parties in the USA
Political structure in the USA. The system of checks and balances.
The US is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President - executive (the head of state and head of government), Congress – legislative, and judiciary – Supreme Court – share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments. To prevent one branch from becoming supreme gov. system need a way to balance each of the branches. Reached through a system of checks and balances that allows one branch to limit another. Congress: passes bills, declares war , makes the rules for the government and its officers, has sole power of impeachment. President:commander of the army, protects and defends the Constitution, veto bills passed by Congress, makes appointments to the federal judiciary.
American congress.
The First Continental Congress had representatives from 12 of 13 Brit Colonies in North America. On July 4, 1776, the Second ContinentalCongress adopted the Declaration of Independence. The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the US, consist. of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the US Capitol in Washington, D.C. Senators and represent.s are chosen through direct election. Each of the 435 membersof the H.of Repr. represents a district and serves a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population. Each state has two senators; since there are fifty states, there are one hundred senators who serve six-year terms.
President and the Executive branch of power
The President(head of ex.br) is responsible for implementing and enforcing the laws written by Congress and appoints the heads of the federal agencies, including the Cabinet. The Vice Pr. (Joe Biden) is also part of the Executive Branch, ready to assume the Presidency. The Executive Office of the Pr. consists of the close staff to the Pr., the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of the USTrade Representative. The President has the power to sign legislation into law or to veto bills by Congress. The Executive Branch conducts diplomacy with other nations. The President can issue executive orders and also has unlimited power to extend pardons and or federal crimes.
The judicial system in the USA.
The Supreme Court, established by the US Constitution, is the nation's highest judicial body, consisting of the chief justice of the US and 8 associate justices. All justices are appointed for life by the president. The S. Court may call up a case from a district court for review. It also exercises the power of judicial review, determining the constitutionality of state laws. The Constitution empowers Congress to establish all federal courts inferior to the S.Court. On the lowest level are the district courts where all offenses against the laws of the US are tried. Civil actions also go to district courts.D. courts have no appellate jurisdiction. Most states adhere to a court system that begins on the lowest level with a justice of the peace and includes courts of general trial jurisdiction, appellate courts, and, at the apex of the system, a state supreme court.The US accepts the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice with reservations.
Political parties in the USA.
There is two-party system: the Democratic party – founded in 1828 by Andrew Jackson, symbol – a bluedonkey.Policy:economic:increase the minimum wage, renewable energy and oil, development of social services, health care reform, environment, available college education, trade agreement; social: against discrimination, reproductive rights, for same sex marriage; foreign:for invasion of Afghanistan legal: against torture,right to privacy,gun control,death penalty. Pr.:Clinton,Obama.The Republican party founded in northern states in 1854 by anti-slavery activists, symbol - elephant. Policy: economic: free markets, supply-side economic, low tax; against same sex marriages, abortion. Pr.: Lincoln, Th.Roosevelt. Minor parties: Constitution party, Green party, Libertarian party.
Education in the USA.
There are state public schools(supported by taxes, free from religion), elementary schools and private secondary schools. Each state has its own system of public schools. Elementary education(6-7):Engl,Arithmetic, Geogr, USA History,sciences PE, Sing., Draw.etc. Then they go to high(sec.)school. After secondary schools they go on to higher education. They do not take the same courses. 2 years they follow a basic programme. Students must select at least one course from each of the basic fields of study: English, Natural sciences... After the first two years they can select subjects ac. to professional interest. The National Government gives no direct financial aid to higher education. Students must pay a tuition fee. Ivy League Universities – best
American Music
Middle of 19th cent - choir singing. South. States: native music appeared, dynamic, lively religious hymns, choir singing popular. Musical education introduced. War for independence>patriotic hymns “Stars&Stripes”, ”Yankee Doodle”. European composers in demand. End of 18th cent - American composers organised music society, orchestra. 19th cent - filarmonic society>Boston Symphony Orchestra. 1820-40-s tendencies: cultivate Europ. genres, purely American music appeared. Middle 19th - “minstrel show”, negro bands. End 19-beg 20 - blues & reggae. 20th – “roaring 20-s”: jazz, musicals, country. Early jazz appeared in New Orleans (30-s-40-s – jazz age). Swing - dominating genre. Late 40-s new genre be-bop => gave rise to rock-n-roll. 50-60s – avant-guard music.
Theater in USA
Appeared at the end of 17th cent. in colonies. The northern states were against theatres. During the Am.revolution theater was forbidden, after it expanded in NY, Boston. William Dunlap-father of American theatre, staged the 1st comedy “Contrast”. The acting still low. 1st half 19th cent – developing low comedies.Middle of 19th cent - floating theatres. The 2nd half of the 19th cent new genres: drama, opera, ballet. 1890-1910 - Golden Age of Am. Theater(acting became realistic). 40-s-50-s – musicals. 50-60s-Broadway is leader (musicals, comedies, melodramas). The Actor’s Studio appeared. Important dramatist-Eugene O’Neill, wrote deep analysis of human relationships. Modern Am.playwrights: Th.Wilder, L.Hellman. Developments in recent years “th. of absurd”&the black theatre
American cinema
4 main periods: - the silent film era to 1920 (used Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope, Samuel Goldwyn, Warner Brothers, William Fox, famous actors Mary Pickford). Since the 1920s, the American film industry has grossed more money every year than that of any other country.2.classical Hollywood cinema (20 – 60; “The Jazz Singer” – first movie with sound, 1927; also called “The Golden Age Period”, 1937 appeared the first cartoon – “Snow White and 7 Dwarfs”3.New Hollywood (60 – 80; called post-classical cinema; new approaches: chronology scrambled, storylines, line between antagonist and protagonist)
- the contemporary period (blockbusters – high budget, famous actors; independent films – small budget) Film directors: Steven Spielberg, Actors: Sylvester Stallone..
American Painting
First painters, “primitivists”, decorated walls, furniture.Full-time painters (Joshua Johnson-folk painting - family portraits, still life. In 18th century professional painters appeared: Copley- portraits, historical canvases (puritanism & his own style). The Hudson River School (landscapes, romantic in nature, symbolic, spirituality): Thomas Cole (”The voyage of life”)Impressionism: (based on French):Mary Cassatt. Ashcan School - busy streets, ugliness, dirty kids, fat women. This trend gave rise to Realism. George Bellowes portrayed life as it is (portraits, landscapes)(”Hello,piece”).Modernism:1st wave – cubism, abstractionism(John Marin), 2nd wave– surrealism (P.Blume), 60-s – pop-art AndyWarhol