Andre
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Number of posts : 78
Registration date : 2007-08-11
 | | Subject: U.S. Politics Sun Aug 12, 2007 5:21 pm | |
| A Guide to United States Politics - Quote :
- The Issues
Social Issues : This generally refers to two main issues- Gay Rights and Abortion Rights. Gay rights include adoption rights, marriage/civil unions, and anti discrimination or hate crime prevention laws. Abortion rights are exactly as they sound. Someone who supports abortion rights are "Pro-Choice" someone who does not are "Pro-Life"
Social issues may also refer to the Death Penalty, gun control and gun rights, and various other things.
Domestic/Fiscal Issues : These generally are how you view government programs. A fiscal conservative would support less government programs and less spending. A fiscal liberal would support government health care, social security, poverty relief, environmental controls, etc.
Foreign/Military issues : Are you trigger happy with your military? Do you often support military action? You could be described as a "hawk" Is peace the answer? Should we wait til absolutely necessary to use the military? You're probably a "dove"
All these issues are fairly complex, and it is perfectly acceptable to differ on specific subjects within a category (i.e. pro gay rights but anti abortion, etc)
The Parties
Within the Parties, there a number of positions:
Chairman/Leader : This is the leader of the party. He is generally in charge of running elections from an organizational standpoint, and running the party internally.
House Leader : House leader is the leader of the party within the House of Representatives. He represents the House Caucus and organizes them. He is also in charge of working with the other leader on compromises (if he sees fit.) If the leader has majority status, he will be in charge of determining what bills are brought to the floor.
House Whip: The House Whip is in charge of making sure House Members are voting and voting the correct way.
The United States is a Two party system for the most part. Those two parties are the Democrats and the Republicans.
Democrats tend to be fiscally liberal and socially liberal, but that's not always the case.
Republicans tend to be fiscally conservative and socially conservative, but once again, that's not always the case.
The Electoral System
The House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. Each state is divided into districts by its population, and is entitled to at least one representative. Each district elects one representative.
Each state elects two Senators to serve in the Senate.
The President and Vice President are elected by the Electoral College. Each state has a number electors which is equal to the number of delegates it has to Congress (So however many representatives it has plus two Senators). Electors vote based on who wins the state they represent. So if John Smith wins Minnesota, all 10 of Minnesota's electoral votes will go to John Smith. A ticket must win 270 electoral votes or more to win the election.
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