012美国总统选举制度.pdf

每周一课 第012 期 美国总统选举制度 ——以2004年、2008年总统选举为例 Arranged by Wesley Chen 本资料内容主要自网络分享 presidency An American president can only serve one or two successive terms of four years each. The powers of American president : 1. He is the head of the government and chief of state. 2. He negotiates foreign treaties with senates and appoints officials. 3. He commands the armed forces and sends and receives diplomatic officials. 4. He makes foreign policy. 5. As the head of the executive branch he sees to it that laws enacted by the legislature are carried out. 6. He is also the leader of his political party. Every four year, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, a new American president will be elected. It always is a hot issue all over the world. Actually, the system of electing a president is very complex, and it will take about one year totally. If we want to know about this system, we must study two another concepts: Electoral College and two major political parties in America. Electoral College (选举团) 1.What is Electoral College? Electoral College consists of electors appointed by every state who will elect the president and the vice president of the United States. 2.How does it work? There are lots of people thinking that American citizens can elect president by themselves directly, but it is not true. People of each state will choose electors through voting, and the number is decided by the population of the state. So people elect the president by Electoral College. It is an example of indirect election. Democratic Party and Republican Party ( 民主党和共和党) Democratic Party It is one of two major contempora