The document summarizes the structure and process of the US government and elections. It outlines the three branches of government established by the Constitution: legislative, executive, and judicial. It then describes the electoral college system and general election process, including primaries, caucuses, and conventions. Finally, it provides an overview of the major parties and candidates in the 2016 US presidential election, as well as some of the key issues debated.

1. US GOVERNMENT
Federal Offices as laid out by the US Constitution
3 Branches of Government
Article 1. The Legislative Branch – Bicameral Congress
• US House of Representatives
435 Members, 2-year terms,
unlimited terms, allocated by
population of each state
• US Senate
100 members, 6-year
terms, unlimited terms,
allocated as 2 per state
Fun Fact:
In 1913, the 17th
Amendment allowed
for the Popular Vote
of US Senators.
The U.S. Constitution was
first drafted in 1787,
ratified by nine states in
1788, and went into
effect in 1789. It is the
Supreme Law of the Land.
Article 2. The Executive Branch – Comprised of the President, Vice President and
the Cabinet (The Cabinet is 15 Executive Departments such as Department of
State, Treasury, Agriculture, Interior, Homeland Security, Education, etc…)
• The President and Vice President are 4-year
terms, limited to 2 terms for each office. These
offices are elected by popular vote then totaled in
each state to cast one collective ballot
through the Electoral College (see US
Electoral Process, page 3, for more details)
Fun Fact:
The 22nd
Amendment was ratified
in 1951 to limit the office of
President to only 2 terms,
following the 4-terms under FDR.
Fun Fact:
In 1981, Sandra Day O’Connor became
the first woman to serve as a Justice in
the United States Supreme Court. She was
appointed by President Ronald Reagan
and served until her retirement in 2006.
Article 3. The Judicial Branch – US
Supreme Court (plus 94 District Courts
and the Court of Appeals) There are 9
Supreme Court Justices on the US
Supreme Court. They are appointed by
the President and confirmed by the
Senate. They serve Lifelong Terms.
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2. US ELECTORAL PROCESS
Each State has the authority to regulate how its elections system will function. Thus, while the
electoral process varies from one state to the next, for the most part it is the same.
Most elections happen during even-numbered years with Presidential Elections happening
every four-years and then Gubernatorial (Governor) Elections off-setting that two years in
between as “Mid-Term Elections”.
Generally, an election year begins with one of two
preliminary voting systems:
Caucus & Primary. As a party-organized system, this is more
or less an endorsement of various candidates and it is notthe
final declaration of who will win (for example, even an
unendorsed candidate can still go on to win the final election
as a write-in candidate).
Fun Fact: In 2010, Incumbent Senator from Alaska, Lisa
Murkowski, had lost the Primary Election (which would put her
name on the ballot as the endorsed Republican Candidate), but
then she won the general election as a “Write-In” Candidate.
Following a series of Conventions beginning at the local level
(there are 4-5 Conventions leading up to the final National
Fun Facts About Past Elections
• George Washington is
the only president to
have been elected
unanimously. Both in
1789 and again in 1792,
he received 100% of the
electoral votes.
• Only 12 US Presidents
have been elected for
two terms and served
those two terms.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
was elected to four
terms which then
prompted the 22nd
Amendment to limit the
Convention), candidates for
various offices are then
officially endorsed for that
office and their names are put
on the General Election Ballot.
A series of formal and informal
debates are held throughout
this entire process.
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates in 1858
set the precedent for candidates
holding public discussion in an effort
to gain the favor of voters and show
transparency in their platforms.
office to only two terms.
• Barack Obama is the 44th
President, but we have
actually only had 43
Presidents because
Grover Cleveland is
counted twice, he having
served two non-
consecutive terms.
And then finally, always
taking place on the
Tuesday after the first
Monday of November, the General Election happens. This
year it will be happening on November 8th
which is the
latest date possible for a general election.
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3. In the 1984 election, Incumbent President
Ronald Reagan broke the record for the
highest number of Electoral Votes in US
History. He won 525 of the 538 Electoral
votes and won all but one State – Minnesota
– which is the homestate of his opponent,
former Vice President Walter Mondale.
Popular Vote vs. Electoral Vote
In order to ensure the sovereignty of the individual states, the US Presidential Election is won
through the system of an Electoral College.
Each of the 50 States plus the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) is allotted a certain
number of Electoral Votes based on the population of each state. This number, which may
change for some states after each census, is derived from the
number of Congressman in each state. For example, Minnesota has
8 Representatives and 2 Senators; therefore, Minnesota has 10
Electoral Votes. California has the largest population in the USA and
thus has the highest number of Electoral Votes (55). Wyoming,
among other states, has only 3 Electoral Votes.
When added altogether – 435 Representatives, 100 Senators, plus 3 Electoral Votes for
Washington D.C. – the total number of Electoral Votes is 538.
In order to win the Presidency then, a
candidate must have at least 270 Electoral
Votes.
When the citizens vote, they essentially vote
collectively as one state. Whichever candidate wins the
Popular Vote in a given state, that candidate wins the
Electoral Vote from that state. (Only 2 states – Maine
and Nebraska – divide their electoral votes between
candidates).
Once a
candidate
reaches 270
Electoral
Votes, they
have won
the election.
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The 23rd Amendment,
ratified in 1961, allowed
the District of Columbia
to have the same number
of Electoral Votes as the
least populous state.
In the 2000 Election, former Vice President
Al Gore won the Popular Vote but George
W. Bush won the Electoral Vote therefore
Bush became the President. This has
happened four times in American History.
In 2008, with a growing population and
high voter turnout, Barack Obama
received the highest popular vote ever in
US History. Obama had 52.9% of the vote
with 69.5 million votes.

4. 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
The Founding Fathers did not want to have Political Parties because they wanted
candidates to be chosen based on their merit and values rather than their
connections to a political machine.
Nevertheless, it didn’t take long for political parties to form, and thus, while the
party names and leaders have changed over the past two centuries, the system
remains. There are currently six key parties with a nationwide presence:
Political Parties in the US Presidential Election 2016
Major Parties Minor Parties
Libertarian
Independent
(Write-In Candidate)
Green
Constitutional
(Write-In Candidate)
Hilary Clinton Donald Trump Gary Johnson Jill Stein
Democrat Republican Libertarian Green
Issues that matter to Americans today:
• Economic Security & Income Equality
• Immigration Policy Enforcement & Reform
• Social Equality & Protection of Vulnerable Populations
• Climate Policy Reform & Environmental Protections
• National Security, Defeating ISIS, and Refugee Policy Reform
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© 2016, For use by the Royal Norwegian Honorary Consulate General in Minneapolis, with permission from the Author, Anja K. Kroll
Democrat Republican