Page 77 - Exercise 1

Page 77 - Exercise 1

The USA

The states

The USA is a federal republic. There are 50 states in the USA. Each state has its own government, its own state capital city and its own governor. The states control things like education, the police, roads, marriage, drinking laws and so on.

Some things (for example, gambling) can be legal in one state and illegal in another. The USA also has a federal government in Washington DC.

The president

The president is elected for 4 years and he or she can’t be elected for more than 2 terms. The president is the head of state and the head of the government. He or she can’t make laws, but can veto them.

Congress

Congress makes and changes laws.

There are two houses of Congress: The House of Representatives has 435 members. They are elected for 2 ears. The states with more people have more representatives than the ones with smaller populations. California, for example, has got 53 representatives, while Alaska has only got 1.

The Senate has 100 members and they are elected for 6 years. Each state has 2 senators, so the big states and the small states are equal. A new law must be passed by both houses of Congress and the president.

Political parties

There are two big political parties - the Republicans and the Democrats. The symbol of the Republican party is an elephant; the symbol of the Democrats is a donkey. The same party doesn’t always control all parts of the government.

There might be a Republican president, while the majority of Congress members are Democrats, for example.