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Political Philosopher
"All mankind [is in] a perpetual and restless desire for power... that [stops] only in death."
–Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes thought that the best type of government was under the rule of one leader, like in an absolute monarchy. He also believed that a democracy could never work because men by nature are greedy and interested in themselves only, so the people should not vote for the leader. "Thomas Hobbes : A Short Biography." Rich Geib's Humble Outpost in Cyberspace. Web. 08
Feb. 2012. -
Bicameral Congress
During the Constitutional Convention in 1787, delegates from the states agreed that America should have a bicameral congress, which divided congress into two sections. The first division is called the House of Representatives, elected by popular vote, whose number per state was determined by the population of the state. The second division is called the Senate in which each state gets two representatives. The bicameral congress was designed to balance the power between smaller and larger states. -
Electoral College and the NPC
In America, the president is elected by an electoral college, originally formed by the founding fathers and consisting of members of Congress from every state that are elected by the people. In China, the National People's Congress elects the president. This is a body of about 3,000 delegates that are elected by a provincial congress from China's 23 provinces. The NPC also elects the vice president, chair of the central military commission, & president of the supreme people's court. -
Supreme Court Case
Supreme Court Cases About Elections and Voting Systems
In the 1915 case of Guinn v. United States, the Supreme Court decided that having a Jim Crow literacy test to determine if blacks can vote is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court decided this unanimously. The Jim Crow law was then changed slightly but had the same effect and was again ruled unconstitutional in the case of Lane v. Wilson in 1931. -
Bill on Voting
National Popular Vote
The National Popular Vote Bill would change the way that the president is elected by ensuring that the candidate who receives the most popular votes in the U.S. wins. This bill guarentees that "every vote in every state will matter in every presidential election" while also preserving the Electoral College. The bill, currently with 1/2 the needed votes to activate it, has been working its way through the system for 6 years. -
Executive Branch
China Executive Branch
In China's government, the president and vice president are elected by the National People's Congress and serve a five year term. The NPC also appoints the members of the cabinet. Currently, the president is Hu Jintao (since 2003) and the vice president is Xi Jinping (since 2008). The next election is in 2013.
