United States Electoral Process

An election is the process by which citizens select the thousands of men and women they want to
run their government--at all levels. In a democracy, government officials are chosen by the people
and serve for a specific time called a term of office. Depending on state laws, an official may run for
reelection once the term is over. Our system of government is called a representative democracy.
American citizens do not directly make governmental decisions. They elect officials to govern for
them. Most elections in our country are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
But elections for public offices may be held at any time, depending on state law.
When the Constitution was written in 1787, it basically left the decision to each state as to who could
vote in elections. Most states did not at first give the right to vote to women or African Americans.
In 1870, five years after the end of the Civil War, the 15th Amendment was passed. This amendment
guaranteed the right to vote to male African Americans. However, it took another 100 years for
African Americans to be able to fully exercise this right.
American women were not allowed to vote at the national level until 1920. The 19th Amendment to
the Constitution was passed that year, and the following November millions of American women
voted in the presidential election for the first time.
The 26th Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1971, says that anyone over 18 is allowed to
vote.
In 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act. This law guaranteed that the federal government
would intervene if any state attempted to deny a citizen's voting rights because of race. As a result of
this act, millions of African Americans in the South were allowed to register to vote for the first time.
On the average, about 60% of voting-age Americans vote in presidential elections. For local
elections, voter turn out is usually much lower.
No political parties officially existed when the U.S. Constitution was written in the late 1780s. The
founders of the country actually felt that political parties were not a good thing and that they would
divide people against each other and harm the democracy. However within 10 years after the
Constitution was written, the U.S. had two major political parties--the Federalist party that was a
proponent of a strong central government--and the Democratic-Republican party (also called the
Anti-Federalist Party) that supported strong state governments. The Democratic-Republican party
eventually became known as the Democratic party. The Whig party developed in the 1830s in
opposition to President Andrew Jackson and his policies. The Whig party eventually split apart,
mainly over the issue of slavery. Proslavery Whigs rejoined the Democratic party and many
antislavery Whigs formed a new party in 1854 called the Republican party. Abraham Lincoln was the
first Republican president.
Today, the Democrats and Republicans remain the two leading parties in our country. However, there
are other political parties such as the Independent Party, the Reform Party, the Libertarian Party, the
Green Party, the Socialist Party, the Populist Party, and others.
When you vote for a mayor, senator, a member of the House of Representatives, a judge, etc. you
are voting directly for that person. However, when you vote for president, you are really voting for an

elector who has pledged to represent that candidate. The electors chosen by each state are called
the electoral college. They are a group of people who officially elect the president and vice president.
Each state has as many votes in the electoral college as it has senators and members of the House
of Representatives. For example, Utah has 2 senators and 3 members of the House of
Representatives--so it has 5 electoral votes. Large states like California have more than 50 electoral
votes. States small in population like Alaska only have 3 electoral votes. To be elected, a presidential
candidate must put together enough states in the election to get a majority (more than half of the
total) of the electoral college. Even though the American public knows the winner of the presidential
election on the actual day of the election in November, that winner is not really yet official. The
electoral college meets officially in December. Its votes are sealed and sent to the U.S. Senate.
When the Congress meets in January, the current vice president of the United States unseals the
envelope and announces the results to the Senate. This is the official moment at which the president
and vice president are really elected.
Sample some of the following activities to learn more about the electoral process.

Taliban este termenul utilizat pentru o persoan care aparine unei

micri musulmane sunnite i fundamentaliste, rspndite n Pakistan i mai ales n Afghanistan.
Termenul este folosit i pentru denumirea acestei micri politico-religioase.

Etimologie[modificare | modificare surs]

n limba pushtu, libn (preluat din arabul lib) nseamn ''student religios''.

Originea micrii[modificare | modificare surs]

1993: La sfritul perioadei de ocupaie sovietic a Afghanistanului, mai multe grupri

de mujahedini participante la acele confruntri militare, se reunesc. Apar primele grupuri
talibane, care vor fi susinute material de Pakistan.

1995: n decursul luptelor, talibanii ncep s controleze o tot mai mare parte
a Afghanistanului.

1996: Talibanii ocup capitala Kabul i cea mai mare parte a rii.

2001: De trei ani controleaza trei sferturi din Afghanistan, regiune denumit Emiratul Islamic
al Afghanistanului[1]. Rmne liber doar partea de nord.

Ideologie, religie i practici[modificare | modificare surs]

Interdicii impuse:

interzicerea utilizrii camerelor foto, video i a altor mijloace de nregistrare

interzicerea folosirii televiziunii, Internetului, cinematografelor

interzicerea ceremoniilor i festivitatilor, cu excepia celor prilejuite de instituirea calendarului

solar.

muzica este interzis, cu exceptia cntarii versurilor din Coran.

femeile trebuie s se acopere cu burka

Practici n Afghanistan

aplicarea unor pedepse prin amputarea unor membre pentru fapte mai puin grave

execuii publice

arestarea persoanelor cu conduita i inuta necorespunztoare (exemplu: brba ii cu barba

prea scurt)

Guvernare
Talibanii nu admit alegeri electorale, sau cum preciza un purttor de cuvnt:
Legea Sharia nu accept politica sau partidele politice. De aceea nu dm salarii oficialilor
sau soldailor, doar mncare, mbrcminte, nclminte i arme. Vrem s trim cum a trit
Profetul acum 1 400 ani i jihadul este legea noastr. Vrem s refacem acele vremuri n care
a trit profetul i, de 14 ani, nu avem alt preocupare dect ceea ce i dorete poporul
afghan.[2]
Legitimitatea unui lider nu este obinut prin vot, ci prin Bay'ah, jurmnt de loialitate, atribuit
Profetului i specific islamului timpuriu.

Viaa sub regimul taliban[modificare | modificare surs]

Relaii internaionale[modificare | modificare surs]
Conflictele militare[modificare | modificare surs]
2006

6 iunie: n urma unui atac cu bombe, ce a avut loc n provincia Naghar, au murit 2
soldai americani. Un atacator sinuciga in Khost a rnit 3 soldai americani

15 iunie: Un autobuz, care transporta muncitori spre o baza american, a explodat

omornd 10 si rnind 15. Explozibilul era plasat n autobuz.

1 iulie: 2 soldati britanici sunt ucii n urma unui atac cu arme de foc ce includeau i
grenade propulste de rachete.

8 august: 4 soldai canaieni ai trupelor NATO sunt ucii n dou atacuri separate. Un
atentator sinuciga cu bomb ucide 21 de persoane dintr-un convoi NATO.

20 august: 3 soldai americani au fost ucii i ali 3 rnii ntr-o confruntare cu militanii
talibani

8 septembrie: O main-capcan explodeaz lng ambasada SUA din Kabul ucignd

18 persoane, din care 2 soldai americani.

10 septembrie: Guvernatorul provinciei afghane Paktia este ucis de o bomb amplasat

chiar lng maina sa

14 octombrie: Un atentat sinuciga n Kandahar ucide 8 persoane, printre care i un

militar NATO.

15 octombrie: 2 soldai canadieni au fost ucii cnd militanii talibani au atacat trupele
NATO, folosind arme de calibru mic i arunctoare de grenade

6 decembrie: Un atentator sinuciga a declanat o bomb lng o cldire a militarilor

americani din Kandahar, ucignd 7 persoane, din care 2 americani

19 decembrie: Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Osmani, persoan important n ierarhia

taliban, este ucis n urma unui raid aerian american efectuat n sudul Afghanistanului.

2007

23 ianuarie: Un atentat sinuciga cu bomb ucide 10 persoane din cadrul unei baze
americane

2 februarie: Trupe talibane ntreprind un raid ntr-un ora afghan sudic, lund cteva
persoane ostatici.

19 februarie: Fore talibane pun stpnire, pentru scurt timp, pe un ora vestic i
apoi se retrag capturnd 3 vehicule.

20 februarie: Un terorist sinuciga detoneaz o bomb la festivitatea deschiderii

unui spital, rnind 3 persoane

27 februarie: 23 persoane sunt ucise printr-un atentat sinuciga. Atentatul a avut loc
la baza militar Bagram Airfield din Bagram, provincia Parwan, tocmai cnd
vicepreedintele american Dick Cheney se afla n zon.

Note
1. ^ teritoriu recunoscut diplomatic doar de ctre Arabia Saudit, Emiratele Arabe
Unite i Pakistan
2. ^ Interviu, n martie 1996, acordat de Mullah Wakil i publicat de Ahmed Rashid
n cartea sa Taliban (2000), p.43

Bibliografie[modificare | modificare surs]

Rashid, Ahmed (2000). Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil, and Fundamentalism in Central
Asia. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT. ISBN 0-300-08340-8, republicat sub
titlul:Taliban: The story of the Afghan warlords: including a new foreword following
the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, ISBN 0-330-49221-7.

Hosseini, Khaled (2001). The Kite Runner. Riverhead Books. ISBN 1-57322-245-3

Goodson, Larry (2001). Afghanistan's Endless War. University of Washington Press

Rashid, Ahmed (2001). L'Ombre des Taliban, Autrement. ISBN 2-7467-0173-1

Causse, Franoise (2004). Quand la france prfrait les talibans- Massoud in

memoriam. Paris-Max Chaleil. ISBN 978-2-84621-056-0