United States

:For other uses, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation).

Government and politics

The United States may be regarded as an example of a constitutional republic or as a liberal democracy, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in that design or Constitution of the United States of America. Specifically, the nation operates as a representative democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Each of these levels host elected officials freely selected by qualified voters eligible and therefore legally qualified to vote after their 17th year regardless of gender or any other civil criterion by secret ballot. Americans (except for some felons) enjoy universal suffrage from the age of 18; however, the representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited.

Related Topics:
Republic - Liberal democracy - Constitution of the United States of America - Representative democracy - Secret ballot - Felons - Universal suffrage - Washington, DC - Congress - Limited

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Constitution

The Constitution of the United States sets out the powers of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government and recognizes a number of rights of its citizens, including freedom of speech, the right to keep and bear arms, freedom of religion, trial by jury, and protection from cruel and unusual punishment.

Related Topics:
Freedom of speech - Right to keep and bear arms - Freedom of religion - Trial by jury - Cruel and unusual punishment

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Federal government

The federal government is the national government, comprising the Congress (the legislative branch), the President (the executive branch), and the Supreme Court (the judicial branch). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government?with the assistance of the Supreme Court?has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper clause" of the Constitution. This is in contrast to the Canadian experience, in which a centralist constitution has gradually become less so over the past century.

Related Topics:
Federal government - Congress - Legislative - President - Supreme Court - Checks and balances - Human rights - Welfare - Necessary and proper clause

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The Congress is a bicameral law- making institution composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which both meet in the United States Capitol in Washington, DC. The House has 435 members, called representatives or congressmen/congresswomen, are elected by the people of a congressional district to represent that district for a term of two years. The number of districts for each state depends on its population, except that each state has at least one representative. According to the 2000 census, the districts had an average population of about 640,000 people. The Senate has 100 members, called senators, who represent whole, individual states for terms of six years. Each state is represented by two senators, regardless of population. On the same day as House elections, roughly one third of the Senate seats are contested, one each from roughly two thirds of the states on a rotational basis. The Constitution initially gave the state legislatures the power to elect senators; however, the Seventeenth Amendment transferred this role to the people.

Related Topics:
Bicameral - House of Representatives - Senate - United States Capitol - Washington, DC - Congressional district - 2000 census - Seventeenth Amendment

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At the top of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the people, via the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely?a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power?only occasionally used?to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton.

Related Topics:
Electoral College - Richard Nixon - Cambodia - Vietnam War - Impeachment - Andrew Johnson - Bill Clinton

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The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress from time to time. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations.

Related Topics:
Executive order - Pardon - State of the Union - Vice President - Line of succession - President of the Senate - Cabinet - Department of Defense - Justice Department - State Department

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The highest court in the land is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law.

Related Topics:
Supreme Court - Unconstitutional - Precedent - Supreme court of each state - Courts of appeals - District courts

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State and local governments

The state governments have the greatest influence over people's daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution and has different laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between the different states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the different parts of the state. Of note is the New Hampshire legislature, which is the third-largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, and has one representative for every 3,000 people. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and culminating in each state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system.

Related Topics:
Bicameral - Nebraska - New Hampshire - State supreme court

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The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate directly democratically, and in some states, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.

Related Topics:
County board - Mayor - New England - Directly democratically - Counties - Law enforcement

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Political divisions

With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies proclaimed themselves to be nation states modeled after the European states of the time. Although considered as sovereigns initially, under the Articles of Confederation of 1781 they entered into a "Perpetual Union" and created a fully sovereign federal state, delegating certain powers to the national Congress, including the right to engage in diplomatic relations and to levy war, while each retaining their individual sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the national government proved too ineffective, so the administrative structure of the government was vastly reorganized with the United States Constitution of 1789. Under this new union, the continued status of the individual states as sovereign nation states fell into dispute in 1861, as several states attempted to secede from the union; in response, then-President Abraham Lincoln claimed that such secession was illegal, and the result was the American Civil War. Following the Union victory in 1865, the independent status of the individual states has not been broached again by any state, and the status of each state within the union, has been deemed by mainstream officials and academics to be settled as being subordinate to the union as a whole.

Related Topics:
Declaration of Independence - Thirteen colonies - Nation states - Articles of Confederation - American Civil War

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In subsequent years, the number of states grew steadily due to western expansion, the purchase of lands by the national government from other nation states, and the subdivision of existing states, resulting in the current total of 50. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including counties, cities and townships.

Related Topics:
Counties - Cities - Township

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The United States–Canadian border is the longest undefended political boundary in the world. The US is divided into three distinct sections: the continental United States, also known as "The Lower 48"; Alaska, which is physically connected only to Canada; and the archipelago of Hawaii in the central Pacific Ocean. The United States also holds several other territories, districts and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which is the nation's capital, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the United States' only incorporated territory; it is unorganized and uninhabited. The United States Navy has held a base at a portion of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since 1898. The United States government possesses a lease to this land, which only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the area can terminate. The present Cuban government of Fidel Castro disputes this arrangement, claiming Cuba was not truly sovereign at the time of the signing. The United States argues this point moot because Cuba apparently ratified the lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in accordance with the disputed treaty.

Related Topics:
Continental United States - Alaska - Archipelago - Pacific Ocean - Federal district - District of Columbia - Insular area - Puerto Rico - American Samoa - Guam - Northern Mariana Islands - United States Virgin Islands - Palmyra Atoll - Incorporated - Unorganized - Guantanamo Bay - Cuba - Fidel Castro - Sovereign

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Foreign relations and military

The immense military, economic, and cultural dominance of the United States has made foreign relations an especially important topic in its politics, with considerable concern about the image of the United States throughout the world. Reactions towards the United States by other nationalities are often strong, ranging from uninhibited admiration and mimicking of all things American to anti-Americanism. US foreign policy has swung about several times over the course of its history between the poles of strict isolationism and imperialism and everywhere in between.

Related Topics:
Anti-Americanism - Isolationism - Imperialism

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Three of the nation's four military branches are administered by the Department of Defense: the Army, the Navy (including the Marine Corps), and the Air Force. The Coast Guard falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, but is placed under the Department of Defense in time of war.

Related Topics:
Department of Defense - Army - Navy - Marine Corps - Air Force - Coast Guard - Department of Homeland Security - Peacetime - War

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The combined United States armed forces consist of 1.4 million active duty personnel, along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserves and the National Guard. Military conscription ended in 1973. The United States Armed forces are considered to be the most powerful (conventional) military on Earth and their force projection capabilities are unrivaled by any other single nation.

Related Topics:
Active duty - Personnel - Reserves - National Guard - Conscription - Armed forces - Conventional - Military - Earth - Force projection - Nation

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