The US Politics is a confluence of two huge poles: the constitutional philosophy of our nation, and the institutionalized practices that support that philosophy. Our nation was created by and for the people; it has been through many unique changes over the years, including profound changes in its political system, governed by its elected leaders, until now. The US Politics is at times characterized by extreme individualism, often referred to as the “clerosis of American politics.” This is the result of the growth of the party Political Parties, rather than the people.
The US Politics is a multi-faceted confluence of the different cultural and political expressions of America. The US Politics has developed on a broad spectrum since the beginning of its political life. In the beginning it was dominated by slave-holding aristocrats. Slavery was one of the fundamental causes of the tremendous economic distress in America, during and before the revolution. Slavery, combined with the overall sociopolitical conditions, led to a group of wealthy Americans determined to change the socio-political structure of the country, in order to protect their wealth.
When we discuss the US Politics we are talking about three main components: Federal Government, State Governments, and Elected Offices. In the beginning Federal Government rule was established by the Articles of Union, following the dissolution of the European empires after the Revolutionary War. The US first experienced political turmoil, with a lot of fights among the States, until the creation of the Constitution. The Articles of Union, established the constitutional framework for how the US would organize itself into a government based on the concept of representative government. From this time forward, every US President has been elected by the people through one of the two major parties: The Democrats or the Republicans.
Today, the role of the US President is more ceremonial, but still they are the head of State. Presidents serve as the top leader of the government and they exercise power and authority delegated to them by the US Congress. But what is important to note is that although the US Presidents are Elected by the people through the voting process at the polls, the ultimate power lies with them. Although there have been some debates about the US Presidents being elected directly by the people through the election process, there are many critics who believe that this system creates an artificial consensus about who the leaders of the country are, making it artificial and unfit to lead.
Every four years, the job of a US President goes to the next level, when the Vice President is elected and then once again goes to vote for the president. Unlike the way it was with the Articles of Union, the voting for Vice President is not by the people but by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and then the Senate Majority Leader. There is yet another level of politics in the US. There is the US Senate, which requires a cloture to break a tie, but this is not the only form of voting in the US Senate.
There are many other smaller and lesser known political parties, which have their own agenda that they want to follow, but most of the time they do not get as far as winning a national election as they would like. The US politics has become too complex for the average person to understand, leaving them feeling apathetic about the whole process. But one thing that is true about US Politics, no matter how complex it may be, is that the winner takes office as the next President of the United States of America.