The United States of America (USA) consist of fifty (50) separate states united under a Federal System of Government. Each state operates independent of each other with its own government legislative, executive and the judicial. The legislative branch which makes the laws is called the congress and consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate consists of one hundred (100) members, two being from each state, while the house of representative has four hundred and thirty five members. The members of the senate are called senators and serve for six year terms. Roughly a third of the senate, thirty three (33) members, is elected every two years on a revolving basis so at no time are all the members new. The party with the greater number of senators will elect the Senate Majority Leader from among the group, while the other party will elect the Senate Minority Leader from their group. A member of the senate is called a senator while a member of the house of representative is called a
congressman or congresswoman. They represents ‘Districts’, serve for a term of two years and they are all elected at the same time. The number of congressman from each state is dependent on it’s percentage of the total USA population and will vary as the population shift. All members of the congress are elected directly by the members of their constituents. The executive branch consists of the president, the cabinet and the departments under the cabinet members. The president is elected by the Electoral College. Each state, depending on  it’s population, has a certain number of electoral votes and these votes usually goes to the person who receive the most votes from the electorates in that state. The person with the most Electoral College votes becomes the president and serves for a four year term and can serve for a maximum of two terms. The cabinet members are nominated from member of the public by the president and must be approved by a majority in the senate. The cabinet members are called Secretary, an example being the Secretary of Agriculture, and serve for the same term as the president.  The judicial branch consists of the Trial Courts, Appellate Courts and the Supreme Court which  is the highest and final court in the United States of America. There are nine judges sitting on the bench of the Supreme Court. Each is nominated by the president whenever a vacancy occurs and must be approved by the senate after a hearing during which the prospective judge is questioned as to their views on various topics and any allegation made against them. Once appointed, these judges serve for life unless they retire or are removed due to mis-conduct. There are federal courts in each of the state in which federal offences such as mail fraud and kidnapping are tried. Persons tried for federal offences are tried under federal laws and if convicted they face federal penalties and will serve the time in federal prisons. Persons who commit an
offence against the laws of a state are tried under the state’s laws,  faces state penalties and serve their time in state prison. The state governments is structured similarly to the Federal Government. Like the federal government, the state governments consists of the legislative, the executive and the judicial arm. It is lead by a governor with his deputy being the lieutenant governor. Each state organized its own affair and therefore the political arrangements and laws will vary from one state to another state. As an example, some states have the death penalty and others do not, while some states do not allow persons with a felony conviction to vote.  The legislative branch of the government in each state consists of the state senators and the assembly members. All the laws of the state must conform to those made by the federal government otherwise they are not valid. For example California State has legalized the use of ganja for medical purposes but someone can still be charge by the federal government as this is against federal laws. The executive branch of the state government is lead by the governor who is elected by voters in the state. The members of the executive are directly elected or appointed into their post depending on the post and laws of the state. The judicial branch in each state is headed by the State Supreme Court. The state courts will deal with all matters which are not of a federal nature. In some states certain judges, prosecutors and the police commissioner are directly elected by the voters.
The state is divided into counties which are subdivided into cities. Each city raises its own revenue from taxes, looks after its own municipal affairs and makes its own local laws. For example, in New York, the Mount Vernon police and Fire Department operates only in Mount Vernon city. This contrasts with the State Police which operates throughout the entire state of New York. The head of the local or city government is called the mayor who along with the council members is directly elected by the constituents.
The issue of term limits in both federal and state government is not universal and applies only to certain positions. For example, the president is limited to serve no more than two terms while a senator or a congressman have no limits on the number of terms that can be served. Each state set its own term limits with regards to the various positions and as such they will vary from state to state for similar positions.
When a voter is enumerated, the voter can register as a member of the Democratic Party,
Republican Party or as an independent voter though they are free to vote for the party of their choice during an election. The candidates of the parties are selected during what are called the primaries. All positions within the parties at the state and federal level are open to all the members of the party. During the primary election, the persons hoping to represent the various parties will compete to win the nomination of their party.  The persons registered as member of that party will vote in closed primary, or anyone in open primary, and the candidate getting the most votes will represent the party in the election. Persons can run as  independent candidates if they meet the requirements to run. The election cycle is two years consisting of The Presidential Election which is held every four years and midway between the Presidential Election, the Mid-Term Elections are held at the end of the second year. During the Presidential Election, the President, a third of the senators and the entire house of representative are elected. 
At the state level, elections are also held to fill various positions depending on the state. Two year after the Presidential Election the Mid-Term elections are held during which a third of the senate and the entire House of Representatives are elected. Elections are also held at the state level to fill various positions. The positions, example governor or mayor, filled in each state also held during the presidential and mid term elections and also at the end of the first and third year. ‘Special Elections’ to fill a vacant post can be held at any time. All election are held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in  November.

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCE WITH THE JAMAICAN SYSTEM

The system of government in the United States can be considered to be roughly similar to that which existed in the West Indies during the late nineteen fifties and early nineteen sixties when a number of Caribbean countries were grouped to form the West Indies Federation. The federal government of the US would be similar to that of the federal government that was established  to oversee the affairs of the West Indies Federation. The individual states such as New York or Texas can be equated to individual countries such as Jamaica or Barbados. The only difference is that most of the United States (forty eight states) is on the same land mass adjoining each other while the West Indies consists of separate islands. The government in, for example, New York would be equivalent to that in Jamaica. The Governor of a state is directly elected and can be equated to our Prime Minister, the state senate to our senate and the assembly members to our members of parliament. The local representatives consist of the mayor and the council members as it is in Jamaica. The main difference is that the mayors in the US are directly elected and does not run for a council seat.  In the United States, councils are divided by cities while in Jamaica it is done by parishes. The council in the US is more autonomous and can, for example, raise or lower sales and property tax within the guidelines set by the state. In the United States a lot of the seats are ‘safe seats’ and in many cases the outcome of the election is determined by what is known as swing seats as they have been won by both parties. The political climate is not as divisive as it is in Jamaica and you will find that a republican mayor might endorse a democratic governor or the other way around and also members from the opposing party are at times made a part of the government.  Unlike in Jamaica, the elected representatives are very much available to their constituents and do not always toe the party line, at times voting against bills or legislation which they consider not to be in the best interest of their constituents regardless of which party proposes it. The constituents in the United States are also more active and will lobby their representatives on how they would like them to vote on various issues. There is a veto system by which the president or the governor can block the passage of any bill or legislation which is not passed by more than two thirds of the senate. When a bill is approved by more than two thirds of the members, the veto power is said to be overridden.