Fact sheet: The layered environment of the United States presidential electoral system
By Yahya Qaoud, researcher in political science and public policy. The US electoral system is more than 200 years old and enjoys Americans' support, rooted in the nature of the federal republic and its separate constituent states.
- Author
- The editorial team
- Date
- 2020-11-02
Prepared by: Yahya Qaoud, researcher in political science and public policy
Introduction: The electoral system in the United States is an old one — dating from its founding and the proclamation of its constitution, more than 200 years ago — and it enjoys Americans' support because of the nature of the United States as a federal republic, composed of separate geographic sub-units possessing certain powers defined by each state's own constitution. A further consequence of the constitutional provisions regulating American elections, distinguishing the American system, is that the terms of all offices in the United States are defined and fixed.