Presidentialist Models

Question 1

What is the main characteristic of the presidentialist models?

Answer 1

The President is head of the State and head of the government

Question 2

How is the Head of the State elected in presidentialist models?

Answer 2

Directly by the people

Question 3

How are the branches of the presidentialist system?

Answer 3

All three branches (executive, legislative, judiciary) are constitutionally independent of each other, and no branch can dismiss or dissolve any other.

Question 4

Who carries out the different tasks in the presidentialist model?

Answer 4

The President is responsible for enforcing laws, the legislature for making them, and the courts for judging. Each is given specific powers that check and balance those of the other branches.

Question 5

Why was the presidentialist model created?

Answer 5

This system was invented by America’s founders to provide an alternative to the parliamentary form of government.

Question 6

What is the role of the Head of the State in the United States?

Answer 6

Unlike in many countries with parliamentary forms of government, where the office of president or head of state is mainly ceremonial, in the United States, the president is vested with great authority and is arguably the most powerful elected official in the world.

Question 7

Who are the president and vice-president in the US?

Answer 7

In the US, the president is Joe Biden who has been in office since January 20, 2021 as 46th President of the US, vice-president is Kamala Harris. Joe Biden is at the same time head of the State and head of the government

Question 8

For how long does the president serve in the US?

Answer 8

The president serves a four-year-term and may be elected to the office no more than twice.

Question 9

How are the president and vice-president of the US elected?

Answer 9

The president and vice-president are not elected by direct vote, but by an indirect electoral college system, in which the determining votes are apportioned to the states and the District of Columbia.

Question 10

What system is the US?

Answer 10

The United States of America is a federal republic and a representative democracy

Question 11

What are the three levels of government in the US?

Answer 11

In the American Federalist System, citizens are usually subject to three levels of government: federal, state, and local. The local governments’ duties are commonly split between county and municipal governments.

Question 12

How is the government regulated in the US?

Answer 12

The government is regulated by a system of checks and balances defined by the US Constitution, which serves as the country’s supreme legal document.

Question 13

What does the US Constitution regulate?

Answer 13

• The original text of the Constitution establishes the structure and responsibilities of the federal government and its relationship with the individual states.
- Art. 1 protects the right to the great writ of habeas corpus.

Question 14

How many times has the US Constitution been amended?

Answer 14

• The Constitution has been amended 27 times; the first 10 amendments which make up the Bill of Rights, and the 14 Amendment form the central basis of Americans’ individual rights.
The majority of the 17 later amendments expand individual civil rights protections.
* Others address issues related to federal authority or modify government processes and procedures.

Question 15

How are the laws and governmental procedures regulated in the US?

Answer 15

All laws and governmental procedures are subject to judicial review and any law ruled by the courts to be in violation of the Constitution is voided.
- The principle of judicial review, not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, was established by the Supreme Court in Marbury v Madison (1803), in a decision handed down by Chief Justice John Marshall.

Question 16

What are the duties of the US President?

Answer 16

• The President’s chief duty is to make sure the laws are faithfully executed and this duty is performed through an elaborate system of executive agencies that includes cabinet-level departments.
• Appoint all cabinet heads and most other high-ranking officials of the executive branch of the federal government.
• Nominate all judges of the federal judiciary, including the members of the Supreme Court. Their appointments to executive and judicial posts must be approved by a majority of the Senate (one of the two chambers of Congress, the legislative branch of the federal government, the other being the House of Representatives). The Senate usually confirms these appointments, though it occasionally rejects a nominee to whom a majority of members have strong objections.
• It is also the commander in chief of the country’s military and has unlimited authority to direct the movements of land, sea, and air forces.
• It has the power to make treaties with foreign governments, though the Senate must approve such treaties by a two-thirds majority.
• It has the power to approve or reject bills passed by Congress, though Congress can override the president’s veto by summoning a two-thirds majority in favor of the measure.

Question 17

Explain the legislative branch of the US

Answer 17

The bicameral Congress, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, makes federal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the power of the purse, and has the power of impeachment, by which it can remove sitting members of the government.

Question 18

Explain the executive branch of the US

Answer 18

The president is the commander-in-chief of the military, can veto legislate bills before they become law (subject to Congressional override), and appoints the members of the Cabinet (subject to Senate approval) and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.

Question 19

Explain the judicial branch of the US

Answer 19

The Supreme Court and lower federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the president with the Senate approval, interprets laws and overturn those they find unconstitutional. The Supreme Court is led by the chief justice of the United States, has 9 members, who serve for life

Question 20

By what is the US Congress composed?

Answer 20

The House of Representatives and the Senate

Question 21

How many members are there in the US House of Representatives? What do they represent?

Answer 21

It has 435 members, each representing a congressional district for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population, following each decennial census. Each state then draws single-member districts to conform with the census apportionment. At the 2010 census, 7 states had the minimum of one representative, while California, the most populous state, had 53. The District of Columbia and the 5 major US territories each have one member of Congress – these members are not allowed to vote.

Question 22

How many members are there in the US Senate? How elects them?

Answer 22

It has 100 members with each state having two senators, elected at-large to six-year terms; one-third of Senate seats are up for election every other year. The District of Columbia and the 5 major US territories don’t have senators.

Question 23

How is the US composed?

Answer 23

The United States is a federal republic of 50 states, a federal district, five territories, and several uninhabited island possessions.

Question 24

How are the US state governments structured?

Answer 24

• The state governments are structured in a roughly similar fashion as the federal state; Nebraska uniquely has a unicameral legislature.

Question 25

How are the US governors elected? Explain its relation with the state judges

Answer 25

• The governor – chief executive – of each state is directly elected. Some states judges and cabinet officers are appointed by the governors of the respective state, while others are elected by popular vote.

Question 26

What is the US Constitution?

Answer 26

The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government.

Question 27

Explain articles 1,2 and 3 of the US Constitution

Answer 27

Its first three articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is divided into three branches:

• Legislative – Consisting of the bicameral Congress (Art. 1)
• Executive – Consisting of the President (Art. 2)
• Judicial – Consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts (Art. 3)

Question 28

Explain articles 4, 5 and 6 of the US Constitution

Answer 28

Articles 4, 5, and 6, embody concepts of federalism, describing the rights and the responsibilities of state governments, the states in relationship to the federal government, and the shared process of constitutional amendment.

Question 29

Explain article 7 of the US Constitution

Answer 29

Article 7 establishes the procedure subsequently used by the 13 states to ratify it. It is regarded as the oldest written and codified national constitution in force.

Question 30

Which countries have a parliamentary system in Latin America?

Answer 30

The Latin American countries with a parliamentary system are instead, French-speaking (notably French Guiana and Haiti).

Question 31

Which were the influences in the Latin American constitutionalism?

Answer 31

Latin American constitutionalism had four main influences during the initial establishment of their institutions:
- The US Constitution
- The liberal Spanish Constitution derived from the Cadiz Constitution
- The French School of thought
o Specially from ideas of Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Sieyes
o Constitutions of 1791, 1793, 1795
- The English Constitution
o Through the works of Locke, Blackstone, and others.
o Some period documents affirm that the framers of the constitutions used the British Constitution as a guide.

Question 32

What happened with the political systems in Latin America?

Answer 32

The original presidential systems in Latin America were clearly inspired by that of the US. Some created a very strong or simply strong president, but controlled by Congress. Others strengthen the Legislative Branch as the center of power, although the first tendency later prevailed.

Question 33

What happened once independence was accomplished in Latin America?

Answer 33

Once independence was accomplished in Latin America, nation-states did not exist. What we find are the interests of oligarchic groups, like that of the agricultural or mining bourgeois, the high clergy and the army. The very heterogeneous society was not well-defined.

Question 34

How was the political situation after the independence in Latin America?

Answer 34

There was a serious political instability that worsened due to external wars between countries, as in the case of inexact borders; internal conflicts that often resulted from bloody power struggles that degenerated into violence and chaos, separatist attempts, or foreign invasions and interventions.

Question 35

Explain the figure of the president in Latin America

Answer 35

The president often seemed strong because of the accumulation of attributions conferred by the Constitution. However, his field of action was restricted by that of the oligarchic groups in that of they felt that he no longer represented them or feared for the continuation of their interests, conspired to overthrow the president, leading to multiple riots, palace revolutions and coups d’état. This, in turn, fortified military power, the apparent guardian of social order that not even this branch respected on several occasions.
Several factors prompted presidents to be granted extensive legislative faculties, which US executives do not have, and extensive attributions for instituting states of emergency, of siege or of necessity and for taking action in these processes.

Question 36

How was the economic situation in Latin America?

Answer 36

Economic instability went together with political instability. The economies of the countries in the region were centered on a few important products, generally agricultural ones, which made these economies very vulnerable to export price fluctuations, especially in those countries in which three or fewer products constituted their export base.

Question 37

Explain the situation of the legislative and judiciary branches and the political parties in Latin America

Answer 37

In general terms, legislative and judiciary branches, as well as political parties, they were not able to attain social prestige or confidence. In many cases, they were associated with corruption and suffered immense depreciation.
Many Latin American countries had very ideologized, moderate or extreme multiparty systems. This is contrary to the US two-party system in which the political orientations fluctuate and are not deep.