American Legal System
美国大法学家哈罗德·伯尔曼曾提出：法律必须被信仰，否则它将形同虚设（The law must be faith, otherwise it will be useless）.
American Legal System
美国的法律体制
The United States Constitution allocates powers between the state and nationalgovernments. A fundamental tenetof these state and federal constitutions is the separation of powers between the legislative, judicial, andexecutive branches of government. All three branches exercise some form of lawmaking power.
在美国，由其宪法规定州政府与联邦政府的权力。其中，州宪法与联邦宪法的一个基本原则即为将立法机构、司法机构与行政机构的权力分离开来，但这三种权力机构均可行使特定形式的立法权。
Legislative Branch:
Legislatures enact statutes within the authority granted to them by state andfederal constitution. However, they cannot amend a constitution in the same waythat they enact statutes. For example, Article V of the United StatesConstitution authorizes Congress to propose constitutional amendaments, butsuch proposals do not become effective until ratified by the legislatures orconstitutional conventions of three-fourths of the states.
立法机构
立法机构在州宪法与联邦宪法规定的条件下制定成文法。然而，立法机构不能以议会立法的方式修改宪法。根据美国宪法第五条规定，国会有权提起宪法修订案，且该提案必须经四分之三的州政府的立法机构或宪法性条例的通过方可有效。
Executive Branch:
Although the primary function of the executive branch is enforcementof laws, the executive branch may lead in policy development by proposing legislation to alegislature. Moreover, a legislature may delegate some of its lawmaking powerto the executive branch by statutorily authorizing an executive agency to issuerules and regulations designed to help implement a statutory scheme.
行政机构
尽管行政机构的主要作用在于实施法律，但是行政机构也可通过向立法机构提起立法议案而影响政策发展。此外，立法机构也会授予某个政府机构某些制定行政法规的权力，通过它们发布法规与规章从而进一步实施立法计划。
Judicial Branch:
Courts creat case law in the context of individual disputes by (1)interpreting and applying the provisions of constitutions and statutes and (2)developing and applying a separate body of judge-made common law.
司法机构
法院在个案中通过以下途径创设判例法：第一，通过解释与适用宪法与法规；第二，发展并适用一个独立的法官造法的机制。
Other Systems of Goverment
Local government
Local government come in a variety of models. Although many of them exercise legislative, executive, andjudicial powers, they do not always practice the same degree of separation ofthese powers as do state and federal governments. Typically, a municipalityfurther defines its structure with a city or county charter that operateswithin limits set by state law.
其它政府制度
地方政府
地方政府组织各异。虽然其中大部分部门也拥有立法权、行政权与司法权，但是他们并不像州政府与联邦政府那样对这些权力的划分径渭分明。通常情况下, 一个城市通过在州法律规定的范围内乡或镇章程进一步划分其结构。
American Indian tribalgovernments
Although their powers may be limited by federal law, they areotherwise sovereign governments with inherent powers to exercise tribalauthority. Not all of the tribes have chosen to adopt every fundamental tenetof the state and federal governments. For example, the Navajo Nation of thesouthwestern United States has no constitution, and it has not alwaysrecognized complete separation of legislative, judicial, and executive powers.Nonetheless, its legal system is similar to the Anglo-American system in several importantrespects. Constitutents elect the members of the Navajo Tribal Council, whichenacts statutory law in the form of codes. The executive power rests primarilyin the President, and elected official. Finally, the Navajo trial courts andthe Navajo Supreme Court apply federal law and tribal codes, and they developand apply a common law based on Navajo custom and cultural values or compatiblestate laws.
美国印第安部落政府
尽管印第安部落政府的权力受联邦法律规制，但这些部落政府仍是能够行使固有的部落权力的主权政府，并非所有的部落政府都接受州政府与联邦政府所贯彻的基本原则。例如，美国西南部的纳瓦霍部落政府就没有宪法，其立法权、司法权与行政权也没有完全分开。然而，它的法律制度在一些重要的方面却与英美法系相似。如由选民选举纳瓦霍部落委员会成员，由委员会制定成文法法典。行政权也主要由总统和民选官员行使。纳瓦霍审判法院和纳瓦霍最高法院适用联邦法律和部落法典, 并根据纳瓦霍习俗和文化价值观或兼容的州法律制定和适用普通法。
PS:英美比较法专栏致力于英美法与中国法的比较研究，以传播普适规则，提升法律能力。另，如有错误或不妥之处，欢迎指正。