The American Political System dott. Marco Morini

Costituzione Americana (struttura)
- Preamble: Statement of purpose
- Article One: Legislative Power
- Article Two: Executive power
- Article Three: Judicial power
- Article Four: States' powers and limits
- Article Five: Amendments
- Article Six: Federal power
- Article Seven: Ratification
- Amendments:
– The Bill of Rights (Amendments 1 to 10)
– Subsequent amendments (11 to 27)
Riepilogo (date)
• 1776: Dichiarazione d’indipendenza
• 1781: Articles of Confederation (primo
testo costituzionale)
• 1787: Convenzione di Philadelphia
(assemblea costituente) e Costituzione
Punti di contrasto durante la Convenzione di
Philadelphia (primavera 1787)
• Problema della schiavitù negli stati
meridionali (conteggio schiavi nel
censimento, importazione, schiavi fuggiti)
• Piccoli stati vs. Grandi stati
(rappresentanza al Senato e alla Camera)
• Federalisti vs. Anti-federalisti
• Potere esecutivo: Presidente sì o no?
Paura della tirannide (anti-federalisti)
“Ragioni” della schiavitù
• Climatiche: lavoratori africani più resistenti alle
alte temperature
• Coltivative: tabacco, orzo, cotone, canna da
zucchero richiedono cura costante
• Dubbi sui vantaggi economici..
• Il compromesso costituzionale porterà
inevitabilmente alla “resa dei conti” della guerra
civile americana (nord vs. sud 1861-1865)
• Paradossi successivi: nord più “segregato”?
La Costituzione Americana (1787)
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Più antica costituzione tutt’ora in uso
Mai sostituita (solo emendata negli anni)
Alta popolarità
Ragione della stabilità del sistema politico americano?
Straordinaria qualità dei 55 delegati (in rappresentanza
dei 13 stati) presenti alla Convenzione
• Giuramento di segretezza – nessuna pressione esterna,
nessuna divisione comunicata all’esterno
• Appoggio dei media
• Forte volontà da parte dei federalisti (prevalentemente
colonie settentrionali)
Il preambolo
• “We the People of the United States, in
Order to form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice, insure domestic
Tranquility, provide for the common
defence, promote the general Welfare,
and secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for the United
States of America”.
Article 1, Section 1, “Vesting
Clause”
• All legislative Powers herein granted shall
be vested in a Congress of the United
States, which shall consist of a Senate
and House of Representatives.
Section 2: House of Rep.
(clause 1-2)
• The House of Representatives shall be
composed of Members chosen every second
Year by the People of the several States, and
the Electors in each State shall have the
Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most
numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
• No Person shall be a Representative who shall
not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years,
and been seven Years a Citizen of the United
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an
Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be
chosen.
Indicazioni costituzionali (art.1)
• Camera: rappresentanti eletti direttamente, ogni 2 anni
(mandato rinnovabile senza limiti), 435 membri,
rappresentanza proporzionale al numero di abitanti di
ogni singolo stato.
• Requisiti: 25 anni minimo, cittadino americano da
almeno 7 anni, residente nello stato di elezione
• Es. California: 37,2m abitanti - 53 deputati
• Wyoming: 560’000 abitanti – 1 deputato
Potere legislativo – “potere di proposta”, “nascita delle
leggi”
Impeachment del presidente: proposta della Camera a
maggioranza semplice, per cacciare il Presidente
occorre il voto favorevole dei 2/3 del Senato
Censimento ogni 10 anni: per aggiornare i dati sulla
popolazione e ridisegnare i collegi e l’attribuzione del n’
di deputati a ogni stato.
Article 1 Section 2, Clause 3
• Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the
several States which may be included within this Union, according to
their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to
the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service
for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of
all other persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within
three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United
States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such
Manner as they shall by Law direct. The number of Representatives
shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall
have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall
be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse
three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence
Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four,
Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North
Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
Article 1, Section 2 (clause 4-5)
• When vacancies happen in the
Representation from any State, the
Executive Authority thereof shall issue
Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
• The House of Representatives shall chuse
[sic] their Speaker and other Officers; and
shall have the sole Power of
Impeachment.
Section 3: Senate (Clause 1-2)
• The Senate of the United States shall be composed of
two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature
thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one
Vote.
• Immediately after they shall be assembled in
Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided
as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of
the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the
Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the
Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the
Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be
chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by
Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the
Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may
make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of
the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.
Section 3 (Clause 3-4-5)
• No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have
attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine
Years a Citizen of the United States, and who
shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that
State for which he shall be chosen.
• The Vice President of the United States shall be
President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote,
unless they be equally divided.
• The Senate shall chuse [sic] their other Officers,
and also a President pro tempore, in the
Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall
exercise the Office of the President of the United
States.
Senato
• 100 membri, 2 per ogni stato,
indipendentemente dalla popolazione residente
(compromesso piccoli vs. grandi stati
Philadelphia..)
• Mandato di 6 anni (rinnovabile senza limiti)
• Da Costituzione (1787-1913): Senatori Federali
eletti dai Senati dei singoli stati – 17’
emendamento (1913): dal 1913 Senatori
Federali eletti direttamente dagli elettori
• Potere di ratifica legislativa (non di proposta)
Section 4: Congressional elections
(clause 1-2)
• The Times, Places and Manner of holding
Elections for Senators and Representatives,
shall be prescribed in each State by the
Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any
time by Law make or alter such Regulations,
except as to the Places of chusing Senators.
• The Congress shall assemble at least once in
every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the
first Monday in December, unless they shall by
Law appoint a different Day.
Metodo di voto
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“First-past-the post” (Westminster system)
Detto anche “Winner-take-all”
Collegi uninominali maggioritari
Registrazione elettorale
Voto in anticipo
Voto per posta/a distanza
Il disegno dei collegi elettorali spetta ai parlamenti statali:
rischio “gerrymandering” – tracciatura distorta dei collegi
per favorire il partito di maggioranza (conoscendo la
composizione ideologica stimata di ogni parte del
territorio)
Gerrymandering
Gerrymandering
Articolo 1
• Delinea l’organizzazione del potere
legislativo in un parlamento bicamerale
(Congresso) e stabilisce la composizione, i
modi di elezione, i poteri e il
funzionamento della Camera dei
rappresentanti e del Senato
Federal Government
Function
Organ
Electoral
System
Time in Office
Members
Legislative
Power
House of
Representativ
es
Universal
Suffrage
2 years
435
Legislative
Power
Senate
Universal
Suffrage
6 years
100
Executive
Power
President
Electoral
College
4 years
1
Judiciary
Power
Supreme
Court
Presidential
Appointment
(to be
confirmed by
the Senate)
For life
9
Elezioni per il Congresso
Ogni 2 anni si rinnova:
• La totalità della Camera (435 seggi)
• 1/3 del Senato (33 seggi)
• I due seggi senatoriali di ogni stato non vengono
mai rinnovati nella stessa elezione
• Senato: collegio unico statale che elegge i deu
senatori (junior senator e senior senator – a
seconda dell’anzianità in carica)
Article 2, Section 1: President and
Vice President (clause 1-2)
• The executive Power shall be vested in a President of
the United States of America. He shall hold his Office
during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice
President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as
follows
• Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the
Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors,
equal to the whole Number of Senators and
Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the
Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person
holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United
States, shall be appointed an Elector.
Collegio elettorale (metodo di
elezione presidenziale)
• Metodo indiretto: in ogni stato i cittadini
eleggono un numero di “grandi elettori” pari alla
somma dei senatori e dei deputati che quello
stato manda al Congresso
• Es.: California: 53+2=55 grandi elettori
Wyoming: 1+2= 3 grandi elettori
Per conquistare la presidenza occorre ottenere la
maggioranza dei 538 grandi elettori
435+100+3 di Washington DC (23’ emendamento)
Collegio Elettorale
A2-S1-C4/C5/C6
• The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the
Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their
Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the
United States.
• No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of
the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this
Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President;
neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who
shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and
been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
• In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or
of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the
Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall
devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by
Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death,
Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice
President, declaring what Officer shall then act as
President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until
the Disability be removed, or a President shall be
elected.
The U.S. President
Potere esecutivo (Art. 2)
• Guerra e politica estera
• Potere “amministrativo” (nomine Casa
bianca e uffici governativi)
• Potere “giudiziario” (nomina giudici, potere
di concedere la grazia)
• Potere “legislativo”: veto presidenziale
Requisiti di eleggibilità (Art. 2
section 1, clause 5)
• Essere cittadino americano e nato su
suolo americano (natural born citizen)
• Avere almeno 35 anni
• Essere residente permanente negli Stati
Uniti da almeno 14 anni.
Linea di successione presidenziale
The Presidential Succession Act establishes
the order as:
• the Speaker of the House of
Representatives
• the President pro tempore of the Senate
• then the fifteen Cabinet Secretaries in
order of that Department's establishment.
Altre caratteristiche
• Primarie
• Limite dei due mandati (22’
Emendamento)
• Presidential Oath – Giuramento
presidenziale
• Vacancy or Disability (Article 2, 25
Amendment)
Stipendio presidenziale
Date established
Salary
Salary in 2009
dollars
September 24, 1789
$25,000
$566,000
March 3, 1873
$50,000
$865,000
March 4, 1909
$75,000
$1,714,000
January 19, 1949
$100,000
$906,000
January 20, 1969
$200,000
$1,175,000
January 20, 2001
$400,000
$487,000
The White House
Other Amenities
Dopo la Presidenza..
Critiche
• “Il Presidente è troppo potente”
• Dichiarare guerra senza il voto del
Congresso
• Uso controverso del potere di grazia
• Eccessivo potere di “indirizzo della politica
estera”
• Vantaggio elettorale per i presidenti
uscenti (incumbents)
Elezioni presidenziali dal 1936 al 2004
Year
Candidate
Votes
Candidate
Votes
Winner
1936
Roosevelt
523
Landon
8
Incumbent
1940
Roosevelt
449
Willkie
82
Incumbent
1944
Roosevelt
432
Dewey
99
Incumbent
1948
Truman
303
Dewey
189
Incumbent
1956
Eisenhower
457
Stevenson
73
Incumbent
1964
Johnson
486
Goldwater
52
Incumbent
1972
Nixon
520
McGovern
17
Incumbent
1976
Carter
297
Ford
240
Challenger
1980
Reagan
489
Carter
49
Challenger
1984
Reagan
525
Mondale
13
Incumbent
1992
Clinton
370
GHW Bush
168
Challenger
1996
Clinton
379
Dole
159
Incumbent
2004
GW Bush
286
Kerry
252
Incumbent
Supreme Court
Article 3, “Vesting Clause”
• The judicial Power of the United States, shall be
vested in one supreme Court, and in such
inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to
time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of
the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their
Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at
stated Times, receive for their Services a
Compensation which shall not be diminished
during their Continuance in Office.
Corte Suprema
• Corte di massimo grado negli USA
• Appellate jurisdiction + original jurisdiction
• 9 giudici (1 chief + 8 associate justices) – Article
III (size and jurisdiction), XI Amendment
• Carica a vita
• Proposti dal Presidente, confermati dal Senato
(a maggioranza semplice)
• Judicial leanings – Politicization of the Court
Giurisdizione
• Controversie tra stati e tra cittadini di stati
diversi
• Se il caso trattato è di livello federale
• Se il governo federale è parte in causa
• Se il caso riguarda/confligge con la
Costituzione: “potere interpretativo” (che fa
giurisprudenza..)
Critiche
• Attivismo giudiziario
• Federal versus State Power
• Interferenze della giustizia nelle dispute
politiche
• Troppo potere
• Lentezza, pochi casi trattati
• Procedure “segrete”
• Carica a vita