Seminar 7

1. The President’s Cabinet

The Cabinet of the United States (usually simplified as "the Cabinet") is composed of the most senior appointed
officers of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States, and its existence dates back to
the first American President (George Washington), who appointed a Cabinet of four people (Secretary of State,
Thomas Jefferson; Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton; Secretary of War, Henry Knox; and Attorney
General, Edmund Randolph) to advise and assist him in his duties.

Cabinet officers are nominated by the President and then presented to the United States Senate for confirmation
or rejection by a simple majority. If approved, they are sworn in and begin their duties. Aside from Attorney
General, and previously, the Postmaster General, they all receive the title Secretary.

The Cabinet’s role is to advise the President on any subject he or she may require relating to the duties of each
member’s respective office.
President Joe Biden’s Cabinet includes Vice President Kamala Harris and the heads of the 15 executive
departments — the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human
Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury,
and Veterans Affairs, and the Attorney General. Additionally, the Cabinet includes the White House Chief of
Staff, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, the Director of National Intelligence, and the US Trade
Representative, as well as the heads of the Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Management and
Budget, Council of Economic Advisers, Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Small Business
Administration.

President Biden’s Cabinet reflects his pledge to appoint leaders of government agencies that reflect the country
they aim to serve.

2. Presidential elections in the United States

An election for president of the United States happens every four years on the first Tuesday after the first
Monday in November. The most recent presidential election was November 3, 2020.
In other U.S. elections, candidates are elected directly by popular vote. But the president and vice president are
not elected directly by citizens. Instead, they’re chosen by “electors” through a process called the Electoral
College.
The process of using electors comes from the Constitution. It was a compromise between a popular vote by
citizens and a vote in Congress.

The Electors
Each state gets as many electors as it has members of Congress (House and Senate). Including Washington,
D.C.’s three electors, there are currently 538 electors in all.
Each state’s political parties choose their own slate of potential electors.

How Does the Electoral College Process Work?

After you cast your ballot балэт (бюлетень для голосування) for president, your vote goes to a statewide tally
(загальнодержавний підрахунок). In 48 states and Washington, D.C., the winner gets all the electoral votes for
that state. Maine and Nebraska assign their electors using a proportional system.
A candidate needs the vote of at least 270 electors—more than half of all electors—to win the presidential
election.
In most cases, a projected winner is announced on election night in November after you vote. But the actual
Electoral College vote takes place in mid-December when the electors meet in their states.
While the Constitution doesn’t require electors to vote for the candidate chosen by their state's popular vote,
some states do. The rare elector who votes for someone else may be fined, disqualified and replaced by a
substitute elector, or potentially even prosecuted.

Special Situations
Winning the Popular Vote but Losing the Election
It is possible to win the Electoral College but lose the popular vote. This happened in 2016, in 2000, and three
times in the 1800s.

What Happens if No Candidate Wins the Majority of Electoral Votes?

If no candidate receives the majority of electoral votes, the vote goes to the House of Representatives. House
members choose the new president from among the top three candidates. The Senate elects the vice president
from the remaining top two candidates.
This has only happened once. In 1824, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams as president.

Presidential Primaries and Caucuses кокисэс (Праймеріз і вибори Президента)

Before the general election, most candidates for president go through a series of state primaries and caucuses.
Though primaries and caucuses are run differently, they both serve the same purpose. They let the states choose
the major political parties’ nominees for the general election.
State Primaries and Caucuses for the Presidential Elections
• State primaries are run by state and local governments. Voting happens through secret ballot. балэт
(бюлетень для голосування)
• Caucuses are private meetings run by political parties. They’re held at the county, district, or precinct
level. In most, participants divide themselves into groups according to the candidate they support. Undecided
voters form their own group. Each group gives speeches supporting its candidate and tries to get others to join its
group. At the end, the number of voters in each group determines how many delegates each candidate has won.
• Both primaries and caucuses can be “open,” “closed,” or some hybrid of the two.
o During an open primary or caucus, people can vote for a candidate of any political party.
o During a closed primary or caucus, only voters registered with that party can take part and vote.
o “Semi-open” and “semi-closed” primaries and caucuses are variations of the two main types.

U.S. Constitutional Requirements for Presidential Candidates

The president must:
• Be a natural-born citizen of the United States
• Be at least 35 years old
• Have been a resident of the United States for 14 years
Anyone who meets these requirements can declare their candidacy for president. Once a candidate raises or
spends more than $5,000 for their campaign, they must register with the Federal Election Commission. That
includes naming a principal campaign committee to raise and spend campaign funds. фандс (кошти)
3. Political parties in the USA
In the United States, there has usually only been two main political parties. Since the 1860s, these two main
parties have been the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party has the most seats in the
House of Representatives while the Republicans and Democrats split the Senate at 50 Senators each. The Vice
President, a Democrat, holds a tie breaking vote, in the United States Senate.
The United States has only two major political parties: the Democrats and the Republicans. There are also
smaller parties that aren’t as well known. These major parties have a duopoly, meaning that they share almost all
the political power in the country. Most constitutional republic countries have more than two parties.
The three largest parties aside from the two main political parties are the Libertarian Party, Green Party of the
United States, and the Constitution Party in respective order.
The Democratic Party was started in 1828 as a anti-slavery party and the first President was Andrew Jackson in
1829.[1] However, through the economic resurgence after the Great Depression in the 1930s and 1940s, as well
as the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, the Democratic party became a proponent of racial equality. Many
20th century United States Presidents such as Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, John
F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and 21st century presidents such as Barack Obama and
Joe Biden are Democrats. They have 48 out of 100 seats in the U.S. Senate (independents caucusing with the
democratic party hold two seats in the U.S. senate) and 222 out of 435 seats in the House of Representatives. 24
out of 50 state governors are also Democrats. The party generally promotes liberalism and is often classed as a
center-left to left-wing party.[2] Currently, the party has 60 million registered voters across America.
The party's philosophy of modern liberalism advocates social and economic equality. It seeks to provide
government intervention and regulation in the economy. These interventions, such as the introduction of social
programs, anti-gun laws, support for labor unions, affordable college tuitions, moves toward universal health
care and equal opportunity, consumer protection and environmental protection form the core of the party's
economic policy.
The Republican Party was started in 1854 as an pro-slavery party and its first President was Abraham Lincoln in
1861.[3] Others include Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower,
Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Donald Trump. In the Nixon years,
there was a shift to appeal to the implicit racial biases of white voters that did not like the civil rights movement
of the 1960's in what is called The Southern Strategy. This strategy created the appearance of equity while
ignoring minorities in the process. 26 out of 50 states have a Republican governor. It has around 55 million
registered voters across America. Currently, the Republican Party is identified as conservative.
The party philosophy centers around social and economic independence, and a capitalist economic system. It is
also known for its anti-abortion efforts, pro-gun laws, anti-regulatory policy, and reduction of government
intervention in the economy as well as being in support of privatized health care. The party believes in lower
taxes, less social programs, and personal liberty.
There are several minor parties in the United States. Duverger's law predicts that this two-party government is
normal for single-district, first-past-the-post voting systems. In contrast, proportional representation and voting
methods such as ranked choice voting tend to produce multiparty government.
 American Patriot Party (United States)|Libertarian Party - American Patriot Party (.CC & .COM) It is a
third party and promotes Constitutional Originalism.
 Libertarian Party - A libertarian party which has around 411,250 registered voters as of March 2016. It is
a third party and promotes a non-interventionist foreign policy and civil liberties.
 Green Party - A left-wing environmentalist party that promotes eco-socialism and respect for diversity,
peace and non-violence. It has around 250,000 registered voters.
 Constitution Party - A far-right party that promotes American nationalism, paleoconservatism,
Christianity, the anti-abortion movement, and greater attention on the U.S. Constitution. It has around
100,000 registered voters.
  Communist Party USA - The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States
of America, is a far-left communist party in the United States established in 1919 after a split in the
Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revolution. This party has 5,000–10,000 register voters.
There are other parties that have been forgotten about like the Whig Party (United States) and the Federalist
Party, with Presidents like William Henry Harrison and John Adams respectively.
4. The System of State and Federal courts in the USA
The United States is a constitutional federal republic, in which the president (the head of state and head of
government), Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal
government shares sovereignty with the state governments.
The federal entity created by the U.S. Constitution is the dominant feature of the American governmental system.
However, most residents are also subject to a state government, and also subject to various units of local
government. The latter includes counties, municipalities, and special districts.
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are currently 50. Bound together in a
political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where
it shares its sovereignty with the federal government. Due to this shared sovereignty, Americans are citizens both
of the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no
government approval is required to move between states, except for persons restricted by certain types of court
orders (such as paroled convicts and children of divorced spouses who are sharing custody).
All states are unitary governments, not federations or aggregates of local governments. Local governments
within them are created by and exist by virtue of state law, and local governments within each state are subject to
the central authority of that particular state. In a few states, local units of government are permitted a degree of
home rule over various matters. The prevailing legal theory of state preeminence over local governments,
referred to as Dillon's Rule.
Each state defines for itself what powers it will allow local governments. Generally, four categories of power
may be given to local jurisdictions:
Structural – power to choose the form of government, charter and enact charter revisions,
Functional – power to exercise local self-government in a broad or limited manner,
Fiscal – authority to determine revenue sources, set tax rates, borrow funds and other related financial activities,
Personnel – authority to set employment rules, remuneration rates, employment conditions and collective
bargaining.
The federal court system has three main levels: district courts (the trial court), circuit courts, which are the first
level of appeal, and the Supreme Court of the United States, the final level of appeal in the federal system.
Federal courts in the US exist in parallel to state court systems. There are 94 district courts, 13 circuit courts, and
one Supreme Court throughout the country.
Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction, meaning they can only hear cases authorized by the United
States Constitution or federal statutes. The federal district court is the starting point for any case arising under
federal statutes, the Constitution, or treaties. This type of jurisdiction is called “original jurisdiction.” Sometimes,
the jurisdiction of state courts will overlap with that of federal courts, meaning that some cases can be brought in
both courts.
Cases that are entirely based on state law may be brought in federal court under the court’s “diversity
jurisdiction.” Diversity jurisdiction allows a plaintiff of one state to file a lawsuit in federal court when the
defendant is located in a different state. The defendant can also seek to “remove” from state court for the same
reason. To bring a state law claim in federal court, all of the plaintiffs must be located in different states than all
of the defendants, and the “amount in controversy” must be more than $75,000.
The district courts are the general trial courts of the federal court system. Each district court has at least one
United States District Judge, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for a life term. District
courts handle trials within the federal court system – both civil and criminal. The districts are the same as those
for the U.S. Attorneys, and the U.S. Attorney is the primary prosecutor for the federal government in his or her
respective area. District court judges are responsible for managing the court and supervising the court’s
employees. They are able to continue to serve so long as they maintain “good behavior,” and they can be
impeached and removed by Congress. There are over 670 district court judges nationwide.
Circuit courts. Once the federal district court has decided a case, the case can be appealed to a United States court
of appeal. There are twelve federal circuits that divide the country into different regions. The Fifth Circuit, for
example, includes the states of Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Cases from the district courts of those states
are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which is headquartered in New Orleans,
Louisiana. Additionally, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has a nationwide jurisdiction over very specific
issues such as patents. Each circuit court has multiple judges, ranging from six on the First Circuit to twenty-nine
on the Ninth Circuit. Circuit court judges are appointed for life by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
Beyond the Federal Circuit, a few courts have been established to deal with appeals on specific subjects such as
veterans claims (United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims) and military matters (United States Court
of Appeals for the Armed Forces).
5. The Supreme Court of the USA
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United
States of America.
The Justices
Today, there is one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices of the United States Supreme Court. Like all
federal judges, justices are appointed by the President and are confirmed by the Senate. They, typically, hold
office for life. The salaries of the justices cannot be decreased during their term of office.
The Court's Jurisdiction
suits between two or more states or cases involving ambassadors and other public ministers. The Court has
appellate jurisdiction (the Court can hear the case on appeal) on almost any other case.
Cases
When exercising its appellate jurisdiction, the Court, with a few exceptions, does not have to hear a case.
The Supreme Court agrees to hear about 100-150 of the more than 7,000 cases that it is asked to review each
year.
Role
The Supreme Court plays a very important role in our constitutional system of government.
First, as the highest court in the land, it is the court of last resort for those looking for justice.
Second, due to its power of judicial review, it plays an essential role in ensuring that each branch of government
recognizes the limits of its own power.
Third, it protects civil rights and liberties by striking down laws that violate the Constitution.
Finally, it sets appropriate limits on democratic government by ensuring that popular majorities cannot pass laws
that harm and/or take undue advantage of unpopular minorities. In essence, it serves to ensure that the changing
views of a majority do not undermine the fundamental values common to all Americans, i.e., freedom of speech,
freedom of religion, and due process of law.
Influence
The decisions of the Supreme Court have an important impact on society at large, not just on lawyers and judges.
The decisions of the Court have a profound impact on high school students. In fact, several landmark cases
decided by the Court have involved students, e.g., Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District (1969) held
that students could not be punished for wearing black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War. In the
Tinker case, the Court held that "students do not shed their rights at the schoolhouse gate."
Exercise 1. Speak about these stages in the electoral campaign:
Stage Time (date) Details

Primaries Beginning in Primaries are a process by which voters can indicate their preference for
February their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general
election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the country and
administrative divisions within the country, voters might consist of the
general public in what is called an open primary, or solely the members
of a political party in what is called a closed primary. In addition to these,
there are other variants on primaries (which are discussed below) that are
used by many countries holding elections throughout the world.

Presidential every four years Presidential nomination convention is a political convention held every
nomination four years in the United States by most of the political parties who will be
convention fielding nominees in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. The formal
purpose of such a convention is to select the party's nominee for popular
election as President, as well as to adopt a statement of party principles
and goals known as the party platform and adopt the rules for the party's
activities, including the presidential nominating process for the next
election cycle.

Electoral The dates of an Electoral campaign are the means by which candidates and political
campaign official election parties prepare and present their ideas and positions on issues to the
campaign period, voters in the period preceding election day. Contestants use a variety of
usually a period of a techniques to reach voters and deliver their messages, including through
month or several traditional and new media, public events, written materials, or other
months leading up to means.
election day, are often
legally defined.

Election It is statutorily set by Election Day is the annual day set by law for the general elections of
day the Federal federal public officials. For federal offices (president, vice president, and
Government as "the United States Congress) and most gubernatorial offices (all except for
Tuesday next after the Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia), Election
first Monday in the Day occurs only in even-numbered years. Presidential elections are held
month of November" every four years, in years divisible by four, in which electors for president
equaling the Tuesday and vice president are chosen according to the method determined by
occurring within each state. Elections to the US House of Representatives and the US
November 2 to Senate are held every two years; all representatives are elected to serve
November 8. two-year terms and are up for election every two years, while senators
serve six-year terms. General elections in which presidential candidates
are not on the ballot are referred to as midterm elections.

Electoral every four years Electoral vote is a process in which electors or representatives from each
vote state in number proportional to the state’s population cast their vote and
determine who will be president. Each state gets a certain number of
electors based on its representation in Congress. There are a total of 538
electors selected according to each state’s policy. Each elector casts one
vote following the general election, and the candidate who gets more than
half (270) wins. If no candidate achieves an absolute majority there, a
contingent election is held by the United States House of Representatives
to elect the president.

Inauguratio on Inauguration Day, is a ceremony to mark the commencement of a new four-year term of the
n usually January 20. president of the United States. During this ceremony, some 72 to 78 days
after the presidential election, the president takes the presidential oath of
office. The inauguration takes place for each new presidential term, even
 if the president is continuing in office for a second term.

Exercise 2. Fill in the information about the major political parties in the USA:
Democratic Republican
symbol The symbol of the Democratic Party is the The symbol of the Republican party is the
Donkey.[7] Since the election of 2000, the elephant. This symbol was first used in 1874 in
color blue has become a symbol for a political cartoon by Thomas Nast.
Democrats.
Historically, Thomas Jefferson, whom the
party claims as its founder, has been often
seen as symbols of the Democratic Party,
particularly emphasized in the annual
celebrations of Jefferson Day Dinners held
since the days of Andrew Jackson. As such,
the Democratic Party is also often referred to
as the “Party of Jefferson.”
major Democratic platforms seek to promote social The platform of the Republican Party of the
policies programs, labor unions, consumer protection, United States is generally based on American
workplace safety regulation, equal conservatism. Currently, the party's fiscal
opportunity, disability rights, racial equality, conservatism includes support for lower taxes,
[8] regulations against environmental free market capitalism, deregulation of
pollution,[9][10][11] and criminal justice corporations, and restrictions on labor unions.
reform.[12] Democrats tend to support The party's social conservatism includes
abortion rights and the LGBT community, as support for gun rights and other traditional
well as a pathway to citizenship for values, often with a Christian foundation,
undocumented immigrants. Democrats including restrictions on abortion.[4] In foreign
typically agree with the scientific consensus policy, Republicans usually favor increased
on climate change and favor a multilateral military spending and unilateral action. Other
approach in foreign policy. Republican positions include restrictions on
immigration, opposition to drug legalization,
and support for school choice.