III Government

Functions of a Government

Every country has its own government. The basic function of a government is to provide stability. It does so by maintaining order within a country and by protecting the country's borders from outside attack. The government makes laws, collects and spends tax money, and provides services. Services provided by the government include education, law courts, transportation, police forces and armed forces.

Types of Government

There are several different types of government. One is monarchy（君主政体）. In this type of government, one person is the monarch. When a monarch dies, the power of ruling the country passes to one of the monarch's children or, if there are no children, to another family member. In the past, monarchs were completely in charge of their countries. They chose all other officials. Today, most monarchs have much less power. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, for example, has very limited powers. Actually she is only a symbol of the country, which is now run by the Parliament.

A second type of government is the republic. In a republic, the rulers and top officials are all elected by the people. Unlike the monarchs, these rulers and officials do not hold power for life. They are only elected for a specific period of time and they are only entitled to execute the power on behalf of the people within this term. After that term is up, the group chooses another ruler. In a democratic republic, the people have rights that no ruler may cut off（剥夺）. The people can also replace their rulers.

Republics can turn into dictatorships. In a dictatorship, one person — the dictator — has total power. Dictators can usually do whatever they want. Everyone must obey a dictator. In a military dictatorship, the ruling officials are military officers.

A Federal Government

Many countries have a federal system（联邦制）. In a federal system, power is shared between a central government and smaller government units. The United States, for example, is a federalist system as defined in the Tenth Amendment of its constitution. There is a federal, or central, government for the entire country. In addition, each of the 50 states has its own government. In some matters, the state governments have final say. In other matters, the federal government rules. However, only the federal government, can mint money or declare war.

Government of the United States

Four Elements(原理)to Build the Government on

Every government has a source of its sovereignty or authority, and most of the political structures of the US Government apply the doctrine of popular sovereignty（人民权利至上论）, meaning that the ultimate political authority rests with the people. In other words, government is based upon the consent of the governed. If the government fails in its obligations（职责）, the people have the power to create, change, or even abolish government. In this idea, the citizens collectively represent the nation's authority. They then express that authority individually by voting to elect leaders to represent them in government.

The second principle of US democracy is representative government. In a representative government, the people delegate their powers to elected officials. In the United States, candidates compete for the presidency, the Senate, and the House of Representatives, as well as for many state and local positions. In turn these elected officials represent the will of the people and ensure that the government is accountable（有责任的）to its citizens. In a democracy, the people exercise power through elections, which allow adult citizens of the United States the chance to have their voices heard and to influence government. With their vote, they can remove officials who ignore their intentions or who betray their trust. Political leaders are accountable as agents of the people;this accountability is an important feature of the American system of representative government.

In order to truly work, however, representative government must represent all people. Originally, the only people allowed to vote, and thus to be represented, were white men who owned property — a small percentage of the population. Gradually, voting rights were broadened to include white men without property, blacks, Native Americans, naturalized immigrants, and women.

The third principle of American democracy is the system of checks and balances（立法权、行政权和司法权相互独立，互相制衡）. The three branches of government — the legislative, the executive, and the judicial — restrain and stabilize one another through their separated functions. The legislative branch, represented by Congress, must pass bills before they can become law. The executive branch — namely, the president — can veto bills passed by Congress, thus preventing them from becoming law. In turn, by a two-thirds vote, Congress can override the president's veto. The Supreme Court may invalidate（使无效）acts of Congress by declaring them contrary to the Constitution of the United States, but Congress can change the Constitution through the amendment process.

The fourth principle of democracy in the United States is federalism. In the American federal system, the states and the national government divide authority. This division of power helps curb（抑制）abuses by either the national or the state governments.

Division of Powers

The federalist system set up by the Constitution, granted certain powers to the national government, reserved others to the states, and allowed some to exist on both level. This arrangement is an embodiment（体现）of the American political principle of division of power.

American Democracy

The United States is a democracy. This means that American citizens choose their government, rather than having one forced on them. Americans choose their government by voting. American elections seem rather democratic, but the American people have only a small area of choice in elections. There are only two major parties in the country and they are almost the same in nature. American voters have no alternative but to give their votes to one party or the other.

Democracy in America is based on six essential ideals: 1）People must accept the principle of majority rule（多数决定原则）. 2）The political rights of minorities must be protected. 3）Citizens must agree to a system of rule by law. 4）The free exchange of opinions and ideas must not be restricted. 5）All citizens must be equal before the law. 6）Government exists to serve the people, because it derives its power from the people. These ideals form the basis of the democratic system in the United States, which seeks to create a union of diverse peoples, places, and interests.

Election Day

Every four years, on Election Day,（Tuesday after the first Monday in November）, registered voters in the United States cast their votes for presidential electors. Collectively, these electors form the Electoral College. The number of electors per state is equal to the number in its Congressional delegation. Thus, each state has at least three electors. Kansas has six electors and Missouri has eleven. These electors meet on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December to elect the President and Vice-President.