The democratic system of the United States

The United States of America is a republic and a federal state. This means that the US doesn’t have a king. The US has 50 states, and each state has its own laws. For example, Texas in the south has different laws than Minnesota in the north. But, the US has a central power in the capital Washington DC.

The United States Congress is the law-making power. It consists of two chambers: the senate and the House of Representatives. All the states in the US have representatives in Congress. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the US and it makes sure that all states follow the Constitution. The President is the head of state and is elected for four years at a time. They can be re-elected one time only.

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Elections in November 2020

In the US, there are two parties that dominate politics. The Republicans are conservative, and the Democrats are liberal. Donald Trump was a Republican candidate. Joe Biden was a Democrat candidate.

There was an election in 2020. Many people around the world followed this election because the US is the world’s largest economy.

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Donald Trump

Donald Trump won the presidential election against the Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016. Clinton seemed more popular, but Trump surprised the whole world by winning.

Before, Donald Trump was known as a rich investor. He was a real estate developer and had been the main character on a reality TV show.

Trump is from New York City and comes from a rich family. Many of his family members got jobs in his administration.

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«Make America Great Again»

Trump wanted to make the economy better and create more jobs. He didn’t like that many factories had moved from the USA to China over the last 30 years. He wanted a policy that protected American jobs and products.

At the same time, Trump wanted to lower taxes and reduce welfare. Trump and his fellow Republicans think that each person should take care of themselves, and should not be taken care of by the government. That is why they don’t want free healthcare for American citizens.

Trump also wanted stricter immigration rules and less international cooperation. He threatened to cut ties with the UN several times.

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Joe Biden

Joe Biden was the candidate for the Democrats. Biden was the Vice President for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017. Joe Biden is known to have good skills in creating dialogue and agreements in politics. Biden is from Pennsylvania.

«Build Back Better»

Joe Biden wants big changes in American social policy. He wants more social help for those who are unemployed, a fairer salary, and he also wants education to be cheaper.

Biden supports minorities such as Black and LGBTQ+ people against discrimination. He wants to strengthen the position of the US in foreign politics and create good relationships with the EU and South American countries.

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How to become President of the USA

The political landscape

Some say that the US has never been so divided as during the election between Trump and Biden. They disagreed completely on how to run the US.

This was clear during the debate on 30 September 2020. They attacked each other with words like  ‘clown’, ‘racist’ and ‘shut up’, instead of focusing on their message. Trump did not want to distance himself from the alt-right movement or the white supremacists.

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America’s 46th President after a historic election

Joe Biden and his Vice President candidate Kamala Harris won the election with the highest number of votes in US history. They won with 306 electoral votes over Donald Trump and his Vice President Mike Pence with their 232 votes.

The competition was so close that it took four days before the media announced the winner. President Trump got a lot of attention when he didn’t accept the loss. He complained about fraud and wanted the votes to be counted again without any evidence.

Joe Biden was officially named America’s 46th President in the White House on 20 January 2021.

Sources:

Media Rights:

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    5. Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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    7. USAgov – YouTube
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