Introduction

The United States of America is a federal state, meaning that power is shared between the state governments and the national government. Interestingly, the US Constitution does not explicitly declare the country to be a federal nation. The history of federalism in the United States is both unique and significant. After gaining independence from England, the thirteen colonies reorganized themselves as thirteen separate states. These states were initially bound together by the Articles of Confederation, forming a loose league to operate collectively as one nation. Under this arrangement, each state retained complete autonomy, and the state governments held almost all power, which ultimately resulted in a weak national government incapable of enforcing national policies effectively.

Recognizing the shortcomings of this system, the Founding Fathers concluded that a new form of government was necessary. They drafted the US Constitution, which sought to strengthen the national government while maintaining the powers of the states. This division of authority between the state governments and the national government is the foundation of American federalism.

At the helm of the national government is the President, who serves as the head of the executive branch and the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. This role grants the President the authority to mobilize troops, a power that has occasionally been subject to controversy, such as in the tenure of George W. Bush Jr., the 43rd President of the United States. The President also plays a key role in the legislative process: while Congress creates laws, it is the President who approves and sanctions them. The veto power allows the President to refuse assent to a bill, preventing it from becoming law if deemed unsuitable.

Beyond domestic governance, the President represents the United States internationally, ratifies treaties, and manages diplomatic relations. The President, therefore, is the principal head of the government, entrusted with both domestic authority and foreign policy responsibilities. The President is elected directly by the American citizens, reflecting the democratic principle of popular sovereignty.

To assist in decision-making, the President relies on the Cabinet, a body comprising experts and senior officials in various fields. The Cabinet serves as an advisory council, offering specialized guidance on issues ranging from finance, defense, and foreign affairs to domestic policy. Just as individuals turn to trusted friends for advice, the President consults the Cabinet to make informed decisions and effectively administer the affairs of the nation. This system ensures that the executive branch operates with expert knowledge, collective deliberation, and coordinated leadership at the highest level of government.

Salient Features of the Constitution

The dilemma of recognizing the major determinants of political behaviour in the United States is particularly complex due to the vast diversity of American life. The constitutional organization, along with the prototypes of political action, frequently act and react upon each other. Before understanding the features of American politics, it is essential to consider the hypotheses that have been formulated to explain the motivational forces behind political systems, as well as the implications of these contrasting elements for understanding the American system. These representations of political life help to comprehend the complexity of American politics at every stage: in the electorate, in the formation of parties and pressure groups, and in the functioning of Congress and presidential politics.

Model of Politics

One of the most dominant sources of political loyalty and action in the US has historically been the sense of affection to a region or community. The US grew out of various colonial communities, progressively expanding across the continent in a manner that emphasized local loyalties. The constitutional framework of federalism, established in 1787, provided opportunities for the sustained expression of regional loyalties through the state governments. Consequently, the history of the American political system has been powerfully marked by sectional patterns of political activity.

The Civil War is a vivid example, where the North and South effectively became warring nations. Despite the emergence of a strong national identity in the 20th century, sectional and regional factors continue to play a significant role in American politics. These factors remain evident in the decentralized party system, reflecting the interplay between a unique form of nationalism and the dispersion of political power, which is a defining feature of the American political system.

The second model focuses on the class structure of society as a key determinant of political behaviour. Political thinkers like Locke and Montesquieu recognized the influence of social class, but it was Karl Marx who considered class to be the ultimate explanation for political action. While sectionalism emphasizes regional loyalty, class-based politics prioritizes social and economic status. In practice, American political history demonstrates the complex interaction of these two motivations: as sectionalism declined, class consciousness increased. Both influences shape the nature of political parties, requiring them to appeal to different regions and social classes to maintain a functioning democratic system.

A third approach, the pluralistic model, views the political system as a network of diverse interest groups, where politics is the interaction of these groups. While economic, class, and regional factors are important, other social groupings—including religious and ethnic groups—also play a major role. Economic groups, for example, are divided and competitive, with unions opposing unions, agriculture against industry, and small businesses against large corporations. As a result, the political system becomes a collection of numerous groups, each seeking to protect its interests. The overlapping memberships of these groups, such as Catholic and Protestant businessmen or Irish-American and Italian-American labour leaders, create cross-pressures that encourage compromise. In this context, the role of the government is primarily to act as a referee, maintaining equilibrium among contending interests. Consequently, political parties often function more as organizational tools than as policy-driven entities, with limited coherence or discipline.

The individualist model emphasizes the role of the individual in shaping political outcomes. Unlike models based on class, sectional, or group interests, this approach places the citizen at the center of political analysis. Personality and individual choice are considered crucial determinants of political behaviour. As noted by theorists such as John Stuart Mill, the influence of the individual in American politics is significant, reflecting the country’s strong tradition of individualism. Ironically, despite America being a land renowned for individual freedom, students of political behaviour have demonstrated that family, class, local community, and other social groupings often have more impact on voting behaviour than abstract political knowledge. This interplay of individual choice and social influences underscores the complexity and uniqueness of the American democratic system, where diverse factors collectively shape political behaviour.

Conservative Political Tradition of the US

Concurrent with the formation of the American state system, the conservative tradition emerged on the US political scene. The Constitution of 1787, which became the most complete expression of the philosophy and politics of bourgeois liberalism in terms of constitutional rights, itself contained conservative features. While it sanctioned the existence of slavery for many decades, it upheld the indivisible supremacy of the bourgeoisie in the North and the plantation owners in the South, uniting them into a single bloc by common economic and political interests. Until that period, the favourable conditions for the development of capitalism in the United States ensured the harmonious coexistence of two ruling classes: western farmers and southern plantation owners.

The opposing nature of their policies became the central theme of internal political debates, which focused on:

(i) Broad and narrow interpretations of the Constitution
(ii) The relationship between the powers of the federal government versus the rights of the states
(iii) The priority of industry over agriculture and vice versa

During the first quarter of the 19th century, these deliberations highlighted the value of compromise between different classes, particularly on the issue of slavery. However, the entry of American capitalism into the Industrial Revolution in the 1830s and 1840s escalated class conflicts, arising from the coexistence of two social systems: free labour and slavery. It was during this period that the conservative tradition crystallized as an integral feature of the political party system.

In the two decades leading to the Civil War, compromise became the hallmark of conservatism in struggles against politically organized movements: from liberals and abolitionists on one side, to extremist plantation owners from the South on the other. Yet, conservative politics proved inadequate in addressing the practical demands of the time. The inevitable need for an immediate solution to the problem of slavery, which obstructed the development of US capitalism, disturbed the balance of conservative influence. The revolutionary tendencies in American society were too deep to be countered, even through refined policies of compromise.

By the mid-1850s, the two-party system had disintegrated, with the Whig Party disappearing from the political arena. This disintegration unleashed the forces of supporters and opponents of slavery, previously restrained, and made the struggle over slavery the dominant factor in American politics until the Civil War. Despite these challenges, adherents of the conservative tradition remained resilient, maintaining hope for a return to political stability through compromise. The secession of southern states and the Civil War created entirely new conditions for conservative politics.

The presidential election of 1860 further segregated the country’s political forces over slavery and the supremacy of southern states in the federal union, while crystallizing ideological positions within the parties. The spectrum of conservatism on the eve of the Civil War extended across most existing parties to varying degrees.

A key bastion of conservatism was within the Republican Party, which entered the national political arena in 1856. The conservative Republicans were influential and included leaders such as Orville Browning (Illinois), Edward Bates (Missouri), Supreme Court Justice John McLean (Ohio), Senator William Dayton (New Jersey), Congressmen Thomas Corwin (Ohio), Edgar Cowan (Pennsylvania), and Albert White (Indiana). The conservative faction comprised former members of disintegrated parties, including the ‘Know Nothings’ and Jacksonian Democrats, who opposed slavery, with the largest contingent having prior experience under the Whig Party.

The influence of conservative Republicans was evident in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, and their ideological legacy impacted party organization in New York, Massachusetts, and Illinois. On slavery, they inherited the Whig position, advocating a revival of the Missouri Compromise (1819–1821) to define free and slave territories. Conservatives opposed expansion of slavery, but did not seek federal intervention to stop it, reducing the conflict to a political struggle for control of the Union. They viewed slavery primarily as a tool of southern power, while remaining open to new compromises for political stability.

The conservative Republicans represented the interests of the American bourgeoisie in heavy industry, reliant on markets in the free states and minimally dependent on the southern plantation economy. They championed rapid industrialization, government support for economic growth, protectionist tariffs, and the creation of a central banking system.

On slavery, conservatives differed from radical and moderate Republicans, who sought to limit slavery strictly to its existing boundaries. Additionally, Whigs and mid-Atlantic nativists, unwilling to join the Republican Party, pursued the creation of a Constitutional Union Party. However, the Republican leadership dismissed this initiative as non-constructive.

In the Democratic Party, conservative supporters of Stephen Douglas drew backing from northeastern states with prosperous trade and finance bourgeoisie benefiting from the southern plantation economy. These conservative Democrats, steeped in northern political traditions, aimed to mitigate the destabilizing effects of slavery, countering both southern extremists and abolitionists.

Despite differences on slavery, all conservative factions shared a common goal: preventing the North-South conflict from escalating. Abraham Lincoln’s victory in 1860 ended the political dominance of slave-owners, signaling to southern extremists to secede and form the Confederacy.

Main Features of the US Constitution

On the basis of the preceding discussion, the following four main features of the US Constitution can be highlighted:

1. There exists a balance of power among the principal components of government: the legislative branch (Congress), the executive branch (President and government agencies), and the judicial branch (Supreme Court). The Congress enacts laws, which the President can veto. Conversely, the executive branch implements laws and can act unless specifically restricted by Congress. The Congress also holds the power to impeach the President. Over time, the judicial branch has emerged as a critical element in this balance of powers, particularly through its authority to declare laws unconstitutional, a power not explicitly detailed in the original Constitution.

2. The Constitution grants the federal government only those powers that are explicitly enumerated within it, known as ‘enumerated powers’. All powers not listed are retained by the states or the people, ensuring a clear demarcation between federal and state authority.

3. The state governments function as a check on the power of the federal government. The Constitution explicitly stipulates that any powers not delegated to the federal government are retained by the states or the people, preserving federalism and preventing the overreach of central authority.

4. The Bill of Rights enumerates specific prohibitions on the federal government, clearly outlining what the government cannot do. Additionally, the people retain un-enumerated powers, which are not explicitly granted to either the federal government or the states, thereby safeguarding individual freedoms and maintaining a system of limited government.