The chaos that is the US Mid-term elections have begun today with millions of voters going to the polls to decide whether the Republicans – lead by President George Bush – retain control of the House of Representatives and the Senate for the next two years.

For those that don’t know much about the US government, I thought I’d put together a “Crash Course” in how it works and what these elections are for.  This crash course has been inspired by “A Crash Course In…” a series of articles that appear in the Waterfront every fortnight written by Dan Shaw – Deputy World News Editor.  There may be inaccuracies in this, so apologies in advance!

A Crash Course in… The US Federal Government

The US Federal Government is made up of three branches – the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches.  The aim of the three branches is to ensure the decisions made are in the interest of every citizen.

The Executive branch of the US Government consists of the President of the United States and his officials.  In total, nearly four million people work in this part of the government, including over one million military personnel.  The President has a wide range of powers, including the ability to propose new laws.  Many of the decisions made by the President are overseen and scrutinised by the two Houses of Congress.  Presidents and Vice Presidents serve for a term of four years but are allowed to hold their office for a maximum of 8 years.

The Legislative branch consists of the two Houses of Congress, the first of which is the United States Senate.  The Senate is made up of 100 Senators – two from each State and each serving for six years.  Every two years, a third of the Senate are up for re-election – this third is known as a “class”.  The Senate’s responsibilities include the passing of new laws (much like the House of Lords in the UK) and appointing new ambassadors, judges and cabinet officers.  The second house – the House of Representatives – is made up of 435 congressmen from around the country.  The number of seats from each state is based upon their population and each seat is re-elected every two years – congressmen can be re-elected an unlimited number of times – unlike the President of the United States.  The majority of new laws are introduced in the House of Representatives.

The Judicial branch consists of the Supreme Court of the United States (a panel of nine judges), the Courts of Appeals and the District Courts.  The purpose of these courts is to ensure that laws passed by the other two branches are constitutional.  The members of the Supreme Court are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate.  Once appointed, members serve until they retire.

Elections are held every two years to elect the members of the House of Congress and a “class” of the Senate.  Every second election, the President and Vice-President of the United States also elected.