AMERICAN CULTURE

AMERICAN CULTURE

The Constitution

The most important doctrine on which the American Constitution is based, is the Separation of powers: the executive (hold by the Presidency), the legislative (kept by the Congress) and the Judiciary (detained by the Courts). So each government institution has got limited and specific powers and the duty to check one other, to avoid the abuse of power.

Government power is also limited by the dual system of government which shares tasks and responsibilities between the government as federal and the individual State.

The Constitution was ratified by all 13 States in 1791 and contained the Bill of Rights (10 amendments which protect citizens against the possible tyranny by the federal government)._so far 16 amendments have been added so now they're 26_

The presidency

The president is elected for a term of 4 years and can be re-elected only one more time. Previously, the President function was little more then ceremonial but now the importance of the Presidency over Congress has increased.

The president proposes a full legislative programme to Congress, but the congress can also have no intention to cooperate with him. In addiction, even when a law passes, it's difficult to ensure that it's effectively implemented by the federal bureaucracy. So the President has basically the power to persuade.

The Vice-President's duty is presiding over the debates in the Senate. He takes over from the President in case of death, resignation or sickness. Now the Vice-President tasks has grew especially in foreign affairs.

The Congress

Is the legislative and bicameral branch of national government, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The House of Representatives: is the populist institution. Each of the members of the House represents a district (or constituency) and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the States by population.

The chairman of the House is the Speaker elected by its members, he takes over the Vice-President in case of death.

The senate: is the conservative counterweight. Each State has two Senators (so, in all 100 senators). They're elected every six years: more precisely every two years, approximately one third of the Senate is elected at a time.

Functions of Congress: it legislates (proposes Bills); it makes a detailed examination of policies and actions of the executive, it supports the interest of States and districts (considering that each Senator is elected by a State, every senator tends to satisfy the wishes and interests of the State at issue), it controls the nations finances.

How a Bill becomes a Law: Bills may be introduced in either House of Congress. Legislation cannot be enacted without the consent of both chambers. When a senator or a representative introduces a bill, it is sent to the proper committee. If this committee is favourable with the bill, it will be sent back to the House where members may then debate and finally vote. The bill then goes to the other house of Congress for consideration. After that the bill is sent to the President. If he approves, he signs it, and the bill becomes a law.

However, if he disapproves, he vetoes refusing to sign the bill, which is sent back to the house of origin: if the two-third in each house agrees, the Bill becomes law. The President can also decide neither to sign nor to veto the bill: only if the congress stay in session the Bill becomes Law.

Elections and Political Parties

Each US State can determine its own electoral laws, subject to certain limitations which prevents discriminations against minorities and blacks as occurred in the past with poll taxes and literacy tests.

The President is elected indirectly by the people, through electors of an electoral college.

The electors typically promise in advance to vote for the candidates of their party.

The candidate who wins within a State gain all its Electoral College votes (equal to the number of senators and representatives from that State). It is possible for a candidate to win the electoral vote also receiving fewer votes nationwide than the second ranked candidate. Presidential candidates are selected by their respective party's national conventions.

Political parties: the two major political parties are Republicans (founded in 1854) and Democrats (since 1800). The ideological difference between these two parties is not that big, considering that both parties defend the free-enterprise capitalist system as the basis of society. Both parties have liberal and conservative wings.

The Parties, to win the elections, put themselves in the middle ground by changing their platform in order to catch the mood of the nation. On the same day elections for the President, for Senators and Representatives, state governors . take place. Before, the straight ticket practice was common (vote for candidates of the same party for multiple positions), but now it isn't like that any more. There have been a succession of Republican Presidents and Democrat majorities in Congress.

The federal judiciary

In the federal system there are 90 District Courts dealing with criminal cases concerning braches of federal law and civil cases on federal matters (disputes between States . ).

The United States Court of Appeal deals with appeals.

The Supreme Court has the implicit power of judicial review (deciding if the actions of the President, the Congress or state governments violate the Constitution)

State Government

All the states constitutions (even if they differ widely) are based on the separation of powers and a system of checks and balances. Each State has a Governor (elected directly in a state wide election), a legislature and a State Judiciary. The judicial system: at the lowest level there are Justice of the peace Courts dealing with minor offences. Then the County Courts dealing with the majority of criminal and civil cases, then comes the District Court of Appeals. A controversial aspect of most state judiciaries is that nearly two-thirds of the

state judges are elected.

The Media

The congress isn't allowed to make laws in order to interfere with the freedom of the press, the press instead plays an important role in discovering and making government's secrets and business public, and they are really influential in public opinion. As a result the relations between the two are tense.

The press_ there are no real national daily newspapers in the US because of the huge size of the nation, the variety of time zones, and the general interest in local issues. The most important journals, close to the nationwide attempt are: US today, the Wall street Journal, the New York Times then followed by the Washington Post. Big American cities has their own newspaper, also read in other states.

Television and Radio_ Almost every American home has television sets. Two-thirds of the stations are affiliated with the three major private national television networks (ABC, NBC, CBS) which show their programmes on prime time ( in the evening when people usually watch TV). There isn't a national radio station in the US, but every large city has a lot of independent station.

Education

Each State is responsible for his own Education system; however it is free and compulsory in every State, from the age of 6 till 16 (or18). At 6 children start the elementary school (the first year of school is called first grade and so on . ) where they learn the basic skills. Then comes the high school in the ninth grade which is divided into: a school which prepares for the admission to college, and  another offering primarily vocational education(training in skill or trade to be pursued as career). Even if the local school board decides which subjects are compulsory, there is freedom of choice. The guidance counsellor is the one who advises students.

To obtain the high school diploma (necessary to get into college), students must accumulate a minimum number of credits. The greater the prestige of the university, the higher the credits and grades required. In the American school system is also important to take part to extra-curricular activities such has playing in the sport team.

Higher Education

There are loads of private and public universities, they're varied and all independent. The difference between college and university is that: universities have graduate schools where students can get post-graduate education whereas colleges refer to all undergraduate education and they lead to a bachelor's degree.

Students do not specialised in their degree subjects during the first two years at college; they follows general courses and choose a major (main subject). The credits (given for the successful completion of each course) are transferable, so students who didn't gain enough credits in high school can attend a community college, which offers two years of studies leading to degree_granting institutions or two-years courses of a vocational nature.

Churches

America is characterized by religious freedom (recognized in the Bill of Rights), there's not national religion. The variety of religions grew with the massive influx of immigrants. The majority of the population is Protestant, the Catholicism and the Judaism are also spread.

A widespread phenomenon in USA is also the rise of new Churches or Sects (like Mormons .

Most Churches in America are marked by a strong evangelical spirit.

Trade Unions

The Knights of Labor was the first national organisation of workers, its goal was to obtain shorter hours, higher wages, and better working conditions; this organisation failed because of the mixture of too many different kinds of workers.

Then the American Federation of Labor was created (AFL), composed of separates craft unions. But a quarrel on how to organize these unions led to the creation of an independent federation: the Congress of Industrial Organisations (CIO) organised on an industrial basis. But then with the growth in mass production, the AFL join the CIO, founding the AFL-CIO.

Trade Unions in the US are weaker than unions in most Western Countries because of the political power of giant corporations and the restrictive laws against the unions.

The federal reserve system_ Is the central banking system of the US. It is decentralized: the country is split into 12 federal Reserve Districts, each with its own federal Reserve Bank. The system is led by a board of Governors, also called Federal reserve Board, settled in Washington: this board is responsible for general credit policy.

National Banks must be members of the Federal Reserve System, but only the half of the banks belong to the system.

Wall Street

Wall street is actually a street in Manhattan, but symbolically it is the financial centre of the US as in that area there's a high concentration of business institutions: stock-brokerages, banks . . The NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) is a voluntary association (in Wall Street), and the largest stock exchange in the world_A place where stocks, bonds, or other securities are bought and sold. Now the NYSE is an auction market in which stocks (titoli) are sold to the highest bidder, but only listed stocks (that are on the official trading list of the Exchange).

The Dow Jones Average shows the average price of stocks an bonds traded on the Exchange, so they're statistics of the auction market. This is made every trading hour of every business day. The Average expressed in points, also shows the health  of the US economy.

The seven natural wonders of America

Death Valley_ is a desert located in California, it is the lowest, driest and hottest (can reach 54° in summer) place in the USA.

Giant Redwood, called General Sherman_ is the largest t in the world (84 metres tall), but not the oldest, which is the Bristelcone Pine, which grows in the White Mountains

The Grand Canyon_in Arizona, carved by the Colorado River, is 2.000 metres deep.

Old Faithful_in the Yellowstone national Park (Idaho), is a famous geyser which erupts almost every hour for nearly 5 minutes, shooting hot water up to 50 metres in the air.

The 5 great lakes (Lake Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario) form the biggest system of fresh water in the world. Lake Superior is the largest and the deepest.

Glacier Bay(Alaska)_ is a wild landscape formed by mountains, glaciers, lakes, beaches coverd by ice 200 years ago. They're still retreating, always revealing new landscapes

Niagara Falls­_ are voluminous waterfalls (55 metre high) formed where the Niagara river flows between lake Erie and Ontario. They're composed of two sections: Horseshoe Falls in Canada and the American Falls in the USA.

The Global Supermarket

The Wal-Mart is an American public corporation that runs a chain of large, discount department stores. It is the largest private employer in the U.S. and also the largest grocery retailer in the United States. Its advertising slogan since (when the first store opened in Arkansas), is "low prices".

The Wal-Mart culture consists in always putting the customer first by addressing him in a friendly manner, looking him in the eye and always asking if he needs some help and so fulfilling every request.

Most fruit and vegetables in Britain are bought from supermarkets which import these products (which can be easily grown at home) from poor countries where people are exploited to satisfy the demand of foreigners. African workers have low wages, poor and dirty accommodations and as they're obliged to provide fancy food for export they cannot provide for their own subsistence. So they're trapped in a cycle of poverty.

Internet innovations

The technology is developing so fast that as we finally get used to one new innovation an another one is immediately introduced to replace it.

Some new technological advances are: the Broadband which permits a faster transmission of big amounts of data so that you can do more than just one internet operations at the same time. The Wireless, that is to say the connection without phone lines. The 3G, the third generation mobile technology, which permits a quick data transmission to one's phone: through the phone you can surf on the real Net and download videos and music.

The war-Chalking_ consists in a set of symbols drawn on walls thought up to find areas where a node is left open so that one can surf on the net for free. A British designer got the idea from the hobos who, during the Depression use chalk marks to find homes where they can find charitable people offering meals. This war-chalking has a great success, but wireless companies do not agree and reacts sending warning letters to users who openly shares their internet connections.

Immigration

Immigrants who want to live permanently in the US need a green card. Then they can become US citizens through a process named naturalisation, followed by the ceremony where the new citizen take the Oath of Allegiance (solemn promise of loyalty to the US). But first they need to pass an exam consisting of an interview, a dictation and questions about the constitution and history of USA; they have to show a good moral character, they must stay in the US for a certain period, they must share the principles of the US constitution.

As a citizen, you get rights and privileges (right to vote, passport, US' government protection when abroad). Also Great Britain has decided to introduce a compulsory citizenship test, but focused on more practical issues such as housing the NHS(national health service), so they will learn how to face life in Britain.

The land of the free

The american declaration of independence written on July 4^th 1776 announced that the 13 american colonies were now independent States, and declares the equality of men, the inalienability of Rights (Life, liberty)

The American Constitution written in 1787. over the years 27 amendments have been added by different governments. They're about issues as the right to vote, the free exercise of religion, the freedom of speech, press; the right to keep Arms, the way how the Vice President take over the President .