ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES


United States Government


Politics of the USA

The United States is a federal constitutional republic. Powers in the national government are shared by:

  • The President of the United States, also called the head of state and head of government,
  • Congress,
  • and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government,

The federal government, however, shares sovereignty with the state governments.

Branches

  • The executive branch is headed by the President and is independent of the legislature.
  • Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives.
  • The judicial branch (or judiciary), composed of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts, exercises judicial power (or judiciary). The judiciary”s function is to interpret the United States Constitution and federal laws and regulations. This includes resolving disputes between the executive and legislative branches.

Parties

The federal government”s layout is explained in the Constitution. Two political parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, have dominated American politics since the American Civil War, although other parties have also existed.

Comparison with other democracies

There are major differences between the political system of the United States and that of most other developed democracies. These include greater power in the upper house of the legislature, a wider scope of power held by the Supreme Court, the separation of powers between the legislature and the executive, and the dominance of only two main parties. Third parties have less political influence in the United States than in other developed country democracies.

Governments

The federal entity created by the U.S. Constitution is the dominant feature of the American governmental system. However, most people are also subject to a state government, and all are subject to various units of local government. The latter include counties, municipalities, and special districts.

More on the US politics: Wikipedia

Here is a list of pages about the USA: