| United States |
 This article is part of the series: |
Federal government Legislative Executive Judiciary Subdivisions |
Other countries · Atlas US Government Portal |
The federal government of the United States is the centralized United States governmental body established by the United States Constitution. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Politics of the United States takes place in the framework of a presidential, Federal republic where the President of the United States (the Head of The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. Taxation in the United States is a complex system which may involve payment to at least four different levels of government and many methods of taxation The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses The United States House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives is the presiding officer&mdashor speaker &mdashof the United States House of Representatives. Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives are elected by their respective parties in a closed-door (private Caucus. This is a complete list of congressional districts for representation in the United States House of Representatives. The United States Senate is the Upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the Lower house being the House of Representatives The President pro tempore of the Senate is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate and the highest-ranking senator The Senate Majority and Minority Leaders (also called Senate Floor Leaders) are two United States Senators who are elected by the party conferences The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by The Vice President of the United States is the first person in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death The United States Cabinet (usually simplified as "the Cabinet" is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the Executive branch of the Federal government This is an incomplete list of United States federal agencies. The United States federal courts are the system of Courts organized under the Constitution and laws of the Federal government of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. The United States courts of appeals (or circuit courts) are the intermediate appellate courts The United States district courts are the general Trial courts of the United States federal court system. The United States has a federal government, with elected officials at federal (national state and local level Elections for President and Vice President of the United States are This article presents the main political parties in United States politics. The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. See also Third party (United States presidential candidates 2008 The term third party is used in the United States for a political party other than one State governments in the United States (sometimes referred to as "The State" is generally structured in accordance with the laws of the various individual states The following is a list of incumbent United States Governors. In the United States of America, a state legislature is a generic term referring to the legislative body of any of the country's 50 states. Each State in the United States has a Legislative branch as part of its form of civil government In the United States, a state court has Jurisdiction over disputes with some connection to a U Local government in the United States is generally structured in accordance with the laws of the various individual states. Information on politics by country is available for every Country, including both De jure and De facto independent The United States of America —commonly referred to as the For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. The federal government has three branches: the legislature, executive, and judiciary. A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation In Political science and Constitutional law, the executive is the branch of government responsible for the day-to-day management of the State. In Law, the judiciary or judicial system is the system of Courts which administer Justice in the name of the sovereign or State Through a system of separation of powers or "checks and balances", each of these branches has some authority to act on its own, some authority to regulate the other two branches, and has some of its own authority, in turn, regulated by the other branches. This article refers to the separation of powers specifically in the United States The policies of the federal government have a broad impact on both the domestic and foreign affairs of the United States. The policies of the United States of America comprise all actions taken by its federal government. In addition, the powers of the federal government as a whole are limited by the Constitution, which leaves a great deal of authority to the individual states.
The seat of the federal government is in the federal district of Washington, D.C.
Contents |
Legislative branch
The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government. The seat of government is the location of the government for a political entity. Federal districts are a type of Administrative division of a country under the direct control of that country's federal government Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. In Government, bicameralism (bi + Latin la ''camera'' chamber is the practice of having two legislative or Parliamentary chambers Thus a bicameral The United States House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. The United States Senate is the Upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the Lower house being the House of Representatives The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. A congressional district is an electoral Constituency that elects a single member of a Congress. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. United States congressional apportionment is the redistribution of the 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives among the 50 states in consequence A US state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the United States of America that share Sovereignty with the federal government In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology There are a total of 100 senators (as there are currently 50 states), who serve six-year terms (one third of the Senate stands for election every two years). Each congressional chamber (House or Senate) has particular exclusive powers—the Senate must give "advice and consent" to many important Presidential appointments, and the House must introduce any bills for the purpose of raising revenue. However, the consent of both chambers is required to make any law. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. Popular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people is the belief that the legitimacy of the State is created by the will or consent of its people, who The Constitution also includes the "necessary-and-proper clause", which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers. The Necessary-and-Proper Clause (also known as the Elastic Clause, the Basket Clause, the Coefficient Clause, and the Sweeping Clause) is the " Members of the House and Senate are elected by first-past-the-post voting in every state except Louisiana and Washington, which have runoffs. The plurality voting system is a Single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America Washington ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The two-round system (also known as the second ballot or runoff voting) is a Voting system used to elect a single winner
The Constitution does not specifically call for the establishment of Congressional committees. A Congressional committee is a legislative sub-organization in the United States Congress that handles a specific duty (rather than the general duties of Congress As the nation grew, however, so did the need for investigating pending legislation more thoroughly. The 108th Congress (2003-2005) had 19 standing committees in the House and 17 in the Senate, plus four joint permanent committees with members from both houses overseeing the Library of Congress, printing, taxation, and the economy. The Library of Congress is the De facto National library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress In addition, each house can name special, or select, committees to study specific problems. Because of an increase in workload, the standing committees have also spawned some 150 subcommittees.
Powers of Congress
The Constitution grants numerous powers to Congress. Article One of the United States Constitution describes the powers of the legislative branch of the United States government, known as Congress These include the powers: to levy and collect taxes in order to pay debts, provide for common defense and general welfare of the U. S. ; to borrow money on the credit of the U. S. ; to regulate commerce with other nations and between the states; to establish a uniform rule of naturalization; to coin money and regulate its value; provide for punishment for counterfeiting; establish post offices and roads, promote progress of science, create courts inferior to the Supreme Court, define and punish piracies and felonies, declare war, raise and support armies, provide and maintain a navy, make rules for the regulation of land and naval forces, provide for, arm, and discipline the militia, exercise exclusive legislation in Washington D.C, and make laws necessary and proper to execute the powers of Congress. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. Piracy is Robbery committed at sea or sometimes on shore without a commission from a sovereign Nation (as distinct from Privateering In Common law legal systems a felony is a serious Crime, often contrasted with a Misdemeanor. War is an international relations Dispute, characterized by organized Violence between National Military units The United States Armed Forces are the overall unified military forces of the United States The role of Militia, also known as civilian military service and duty in the United States is complex and has transformed over time Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D
Congressional oversight
Congressional oversight is intended to prevent waste and fraud, protect civil liberties and individual rights, ensure executive compliance with the law, gather information for making laws and educating the public, and evaluate executive performance. Congressional Oversight refers to oversight by the United States Congress of the Executive Branch, including the numerous U thumb| |Broken Liberty Istanbul Archaeology Museum Civil liberties are freedoms that protect the Individual from the Government. It applies to cabinet departments, executive agencies, regulatory commissions, and the presidency. Congress's oversight function takes many forms:
- Committee inquiries and hearings
- Formal consultations with and reports from the President
- Senate advice and consent for presidential nominations and for treaties
- House impeachment proceedings and subsequent Senate trials
- House and Senate proceedings under the 25th Amendment in the event that the President becomes disabled or the office of the Vice President falls vacant
- Informal meetings between legislators and executive officials
- Congressional membership on governmental commissions
- Studies by congressional committees and support agencies such as the Congressional Budget Office, and the Government Accountability Office, both of which are arms of Congress
Executive branch
All executive power in the federal government is vested in the President of the United States, although power is often delegated to his/her Cabinet members and other officials. The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by Impeachment in the United States is an expressed power of the Legislature which allows for formal charges to be brought against a civil officer of government for conduct The Twenty-fifth Amendment ( Amendment XXV) to the United States Constitution partially replaced the ambiguous wording of Article II Section 1 Clause The Vice President of the United States is the first person in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death The Congressional Budget Office is a federal agency within the legislative branch of the United States government. The Government Accountability Office ( GAO) is the Audit, Evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress. The United States Cabinet (usually simplified as "the Cabinet" is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the Executive branch of the Federal government The President and Vice President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by 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. The Electoral College consists of 538 popularly elected representatives who formally select the President and Vice President of the United States. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D C. ) in both houses of Congress.
President
The Executive branch consists of the President and his delegates. The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by The President is both the head of state and government, as well as the military commander-in-chief (only when called into actual military services), chief diplomat and chief of party. Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a Monarchic or Republican Nation-state This article focuses on the cases where the Head of Government is a separate office from the Head of State A commander-in-chief is the Commander of a nation's Military forces or significant element of those forces The President, according to the Constitution, must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed. " The President presides over the executive branch of the federal government, a vast organization numbering about 4 million people, including 1 million active-duty military personnel.
The President may sign legislation passed by Congress into law, or may veto it, preventing it from becoming law unless two-thirds of both houses of Congress vote to override his veto. A veto, Latin for "I forbid" is used to Denote that a certain party has the right to stop unilaterally a certain piece of Legislation. The President may, with the consent of two-thirds of the Senate, make treaties with foreign nations. A Treaty is an agreement under International law entered into by actors in international law namely States and International organizations. The President may be impeached by a majority in the House and removed from office by a two-thirds majority in the Senate for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. Impeachment in the United States is an expressed power of the Legislature which allows for formal charges to be brought against a civil officer of government for conduct A supermajority or a qualified majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level or type of support which exceeds a simple Majority in order to have In Law, treason is the Crime that covers some of the more serious acts of disloyalty to one's sovereign or Nation. Bribery, a form of pecuniary corruption is an act usually implying money or gift given that alters the behaviour of the recipient in ways not consistent with the duties of that person This article is about the legal term For the Ann Coulter book see High Crimes and Misdemeanors The Case Against Bill Clinton,for the Woody Allen film see Crimes " The President may not dissolve Congress or call special elections, but does have the power to pardon criminals convicted of offenses against the federal government (except in cases of impeachment), enact executive orders, and (with the consent of the Senate) appoint Supreme Court justices and federal judges. In Parliamentary systems a dissolution of parliament is the dispersal of a Legislature at the call of an Election. A by-election or bye-election (called special election in the United States) is an Election held to fill a political office that has become vacant A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it executive order in the United States is a Directive issued by the President, the head of the executive branch of the federal government The United States federal courts are the system of Courts organized under the Constitution and laws of the Federal government of the United States
Vice President
The Vice President is the second-highest executive official of the government. The Vice President of the United States is the first person in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death The Vice President of the United States is the first person in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death As first in the presidential line of succession, the Vice President becomes President upon the death, resignation, or removal of the President, which has happened nine times. The presidential line of succession defines who may become or act as President of the United States upon the incapacity death resignation or removal from office (by Impeachment His/her only other constitutional duty is to serve as President of the Senate and break any tie votes in the Senate. The President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer speaker or chairman of a Senate. The office has evolved into a senior advisor to the President.
Relationship with Congress
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 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 Kingdom of Cambodia ( formerly known as Kampuchea (, transliterated: Preăh Réachéanachâkr Kâmpŭchea) is a country in South East The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia While the President can directly propose legislation (for instance, the federal budget), he must rely on supporters in Congress to promote and support his legislative agenda. The Budget of the United States Government is a federal document that the President submits to the U After identical copies of a particular bill have been approved by a majority of both houses of Congress, the President's signature is required to make these bills law; in this respect, the President has the power to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote from 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 (by two-thirds majority in favor). The threat of impeachment, or actual impeachment has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. Andrew Johnson (December 29 1808 – July 31 1875 was the seventeenth President of the United States (1865-69 succeeding to the Presidency upon the assassination William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19 1946 served as the forty-second President of the United States
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 (usually once a year). (The Constitution does not specify that the State of the Union address be delivered in person; it can be in the form of a letter, as was the practice during most of the 19th century. ) 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" and the president as "the most powerful man. " 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. The United States Department of Defense ( DOD or DoD) is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government For animal rights group see Justice Department (JD The United States Department of Justice ( DOJ) is a Cabinet 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.
Cabinet, executive departments, and agencies
The day-to-day enforcement and administration of federal laws is in the hands of the various federal executive departments, created by Congress to deal with specific areas of national and international affairs. The United States federal executive departments are among the oldest primary units of the Executive branch of the Federal government of the United States &mdashthe The heads of the 15 departments, chosen by the President and approved with the "advice and consent" of the U. S. Senate, form a council of advisors generally known as the President's "Cabinet". In addition to departments, there are a number of staff organizations grouped into the Executive Office of the President. The Executive Office of the President ( EOP) consists of the immediate staff of the President of the United States, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting These include the White House staff, the National Security Council, the Office of Management and Budget, the Council of Economic Advisers, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Office of Science and Technology Policy. See also Executive Office of the President of the United States The White House, formerly known as the Executive Mansion, is the Official residence The White House National Security Council ( NSC) in the United States is the principal forum used by the President for considering National The Office of Management and Budget (OMB is a Cabinet -level office and is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA is a group of Economists who advise the President of the United States. The Office of the United States Trade Representative, or USTR, is the United States government agency responsible for developing and recommending United States The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP, a Cabinet level component of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, was established in 1988 Congress established the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy ( OSTP) in 1976 with a broad mandate to advise the President and others within the Executive
There are also independent agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Independent agencies of the United States government are those that exist outside of the departments of the Executive branch. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program near as long as it used to be several months ago It has been actively summarized and split into sub-articles and there is a dynamic talk page discussion of all In addition, there are government-owned corporations such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation and the United States Postal Service. A government-owned corporation, state-owned enterprise or government business enterprise is a legal entity created by a Government to undertake commercial The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ( FDIC) is a United States government corporation created by the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Doing business as Amtrak, is a Government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971
By law, each agency must submit an annual Section 300 report to the President's Office of Management & Budget. [1] This is part of a larger set of more extensive annual requirements called Circular A-11. Section 300 specifically covers planning, budgeting, acquisition, and management of capital assets. Increasingly, details on how agencies collect and share information, and how they are upgrading and improving their information technology decisions is becoming increasingly important. Within Section 300 there is a special exhibit called Exhibit 53 which gives extensive details on agency information technology investments. These investments make up most of the information technology investments from the annual budgets. For the fiscal year 2008's budget, that spending exceeds $66. A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is a period used for calculating annual ("yearly" Financial statements in Businesses The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been 4 billion. [2]
Judicial branch
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the federal court system. The United States federal courts are the system of Courts organized under the Constitution and laws of the Federal government of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. The court deals with matters pertaining to the federal government, disputes between states, and interpretation of the United States Constitution, and can declare legislation or executive action made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Judicial review in the United States refers to the power of a court to review the actions of public sector bodies in terms of their lawfulness or to review the constitutionality In Common law legal systems, a precedent or authority is a Legal case establishing a principle or rule that a Court or other judicial 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. The United States courts of appeals (or circuit courts) are the intermediate appellate courts The United States district courts are the general Trial courts of the United States federal court system.
Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures.
The supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution. This article discusses the state supreme courts in the United States A case may be appealed from a state court to the U. S. Supreme Court only if there is a federal question (an issue arising under the U. Federal question jurisdiction is a term used in the United States law of Civil procedure to refer to the situation in which a United States federal court S. Constitution, or laws/treaties of the United States). The relationship between federal and state laws is quite complex; together, they form the U.S. law. The law of the United States was originally largely derived from the Common law system of English law, which was in force at the time of the Revolutionary
The federal judiciary consists of the U. S. Supreme Court, whose justices are appointed for life by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and various "lower" or "inferior courts," among which are the courts of appeals and district courts.
The first Congress divided the nation into judicial districts and created federal courts for each district. The First United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government consisting of the United States Senate and the For purposes of the federal judicial system, Congress has divided the United States into judicial districts. From that beginning has evolved the present structure: the Supreme Court, 13 courts of appeals, 94 district courts, and two courts of special jurisdiction. Congress retains the power to create and abolish federal courts, as well as to determine the number of judges in the federal judiciary system. It cannot, however, abolish the Supreme Court.
There are three levels of federal courts with general jurisdiction, meaning that these courts handle criminal cases and civil law suits between individuals. The other courts, such as the bankruptcy courts and the tax court, are specialized courts handling only certain kinds of cases. United States bankruptcy court are federal courts that have Subject-matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. The bankruptcy courts are branches of the district courts, but technically are not considered part of the "Article III" judiciary because their judges do not have lifetime tenure. Article Three of the United States Constitution establishes the Judicial branch of the federal government. Similarly, the tax court is not an Article III court.
The U. S. district courts are the "trial courts" where cases are filed and decided. The United States courts of appeals are "appellate courts" that hear appeals of cases decided by the district courts, and some direct appeals from administrative agencies. The Supreme Court hears appeals from the decisions of the courts of appeals or state supreme courts (on constitutional matters), as well as having original jurisdiction over a very small number of cases. The original jurisdiction of a court is the right to hear a case for the first time as opposed to Appellate jurisdiction when a court has the right to review the decision of
The judicial power extends to cases arising under the Constitution, an Act of Congress, or a U. S. treaty; cases affecting ambassadors, ministers, and consuls of foreign countries in the U. A Treaty is an agreement under International law entered into by actors in international law namely States and International organizations. An ambassador is the highest ranking Diplomat who represents their country The system of diplomatic rank has over time been formalised on an international basis S. ; controversies in which the U. S. government is a party; controversies between states (or their citizens) and foreign nations (or their citizens or subjects); and bankruptcy cases. The Eleventh Amendment removed from federal jurisdiction cases in which citizens of one state were the plaintiffs and the government of another state was the defendant. The Eleventh Amendment ( Amendment XI) of the United States Constitution was passed by the U It did not disturb federal jurisdiction in cases in which a state government is a plaintiff and a citizen of another state the defendant.
The power of the federal courts extends both to civil actions for damages and other redress, and to criminal cases arising under federal law. Article III has resulted in a complex set of relationships between state and federal courts. Ordinarily, federal courts do not hear cases arising under the laws of individual states. However, some cases over which federal courts have jurisdiction may also be heard and decided by state courts. Both court systems thus have exclusive jurisdiction in some areas and concurrent jurisdiction in others. In Civil procedure, exclusive jurisdiction exists where one court has the power to adjudicate a case to the exclusion of all other courts Concurrent jurisdiction exists where two or more Courts from different systems simultaneously have Jurisdiction over a specific case
The Constitution safeguards judicial independence by providing that federal judges shall hold office "during good behavior". Usually they serve until they die, retire, or resign. A judge who commits an offense while in office may be impeached in the same way as the President or other officials of the federal government. U. S. judges are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Another Constitutional provision prohibits Congress from reducing the pay of any judge. Congress could enact a new lower salary applying to future judges, but not to those already serving.
Elections and voting
Suffrage has changed significantly over time. The United States has a federal government, with elected officials at federal (national state and local level The issue of voting rights in the United States has been contentious over the country's history. In the early years of the United States, voting was considered a matter for state governments, and was commonly restricted to white men who owned land. Direct elections were held only for the U. S. House of Representatives and state legislatures, although this varied from state to state. Under this original system, both senators representing each state in the U. S. Senate were chosen by a majority vote of the state legislature. Since the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, members of both houses of Congress have been directly elected. The Seventeenth Amendment ( Amendment XVII) of the United States Constitution was passed by the Senate on June 12 1911 and by the House on May 13 1912
Today, partially due to the Twenty-sixth Amendment, U. The Twenty-sixth Amendment ( Amendment XXVI) of the United States Constitution, ratified on July 1, 1971, standardized the voting age to 18 S. citizens have almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth, and both houses of Congress are directly elected. Universal suffrage (also universal adult suffrage, general suffrage or common suffrage) consists of the extension of the right to vote to There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are as well. Felony disenfranchisement is the term used to describe the practice of prohibiting persons from Voting based on the fact that they have been convicted of a Felony
Currently, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, D.C., in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only congressional representative is a non-voting delegate. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Voting rights in the District of Columbia, that is the city of Washington D A Delegate to Congress is a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives who is elected from a U Residents of U. S. territories have varying rights; for example, residents of Puerto Rico do not pay federal taxes (on local income) but cannot vote for President and have no voting representatives in Congress. Puerto Rico (ˌpwertoˈriko officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico" {{lang-en|"Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"}}
State, tribal, and local governments
The state governments have the greatest influence over most Americans' daily lives. A US state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the United States of America that share Sovereignty with the federal government Local government in the United States is generally structured in accordance with the laws of the various individual states. Each state has its own written constitution, government, and code of laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between individual states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. A governor is a governing official usually the executive (at least nominally to different degrees also politically and administratively of a non-sovereign level of government Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the voters of the state. In Government, bicameralism (bi + Latin la ''camera'' chamber is the practice of having two legislative or Parliamentary chambers Thus a bicameral Nebraska ( is a state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States and Each state maintains its own state court system. In the United States, a state court has Jurisdiction over disputes with some connection to a U 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.
As a result of the Supreme Court case Worcester v. Georgia, Indian tribes are considered "domestic dependent nations" that operate as sovereign governments subject to federal authority but, generally, outside of the influence from state governments. Worcester v Georgia, 31 US (6 Pet 515 ( 1832) was a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that Cherokee Native Americans Federally recognized tribes are those Indian tribes recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs for certain federal government Tribal sovereignty refers to the inherent authority of indigenous tribes to govern themselves Hundreds of laws, executive orders, and court cases have modified the governmental status of tribes vis-à-vis states, but have kept the two officially distinct. Tribal capacity to operate robust governments varies, from a simple council used to manage all aspects of tribal affairs, to large and complex bureaucracies with several branches of government. Tribes are empowered to form their own governments, with power resting in elected tribal councils, elected tribal chairpersons, or religiously appointed leaders (as is the case with pueblos). Pueblos are traditional communities of Native Americans in the southwestern United States of America. Tribal citizenship (and voting rights) is generally restricted to individuals of native descent, but tribes are free to set whatever membership requirements they wish.
The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, water management districts, fire management districts, library districts, and other similar governmental units which make 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. A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning "greater" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government In New England, towns operate in a direct democratic fashion, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. History See also History of New England New England's earliest inhabitants were Algonquian -speaking Native Americans including the Direct Democracy is a movement within the British Conservative Party dedicated to localism and Constitutional reform as a means of reviving public Rhode Island ( officially named the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the United States Connecticut ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies. Policing in the United States is one of three major components of the Criminal justice system along with Courts and Corrections.
See also
President
Courts
- Federal courts
- Supreme Court
- Courts of appeals
- District courts
- Bankruptcy courts
- Federal judicial circuit
- Federal judicial district
Law
Agencies Some agencies are legislative, some are executive, some are judicial. The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by The Executive Office of the President ( EOP) consists of the immediate staff of the President of the United States, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting The United States federal executive departments are among the oldest primary units of the Executive branch of the Federal government of the United States &mdashthe The United States Cabinet (usually simplified as "the Cabinet" is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the Executive branch of the Federal government executive order in the United States is a Directive issued by the President, the head of the executive branch of the federal government The United States federal courts are the system of Courts organized under the Constitution and laws of the Federal government of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. The United States courts of appeals (or circuit courts) are the intermediate appellate courts The United States district courts are the general Trial courts of the United States federal court system. United States bankruptcy court are federal courts that have Subject-matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. Congress has divided the United States into a number of judicial circuits, each of which includes several District Courts and a Court For purposes of the federal judicial system, Congress has divided the United States into judicial districts. The law of the United States was originally largely derived from the Common law system of English law, which was in force at the time of the Revolutionary The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. The United States Code ( USC) is a compilation and Codification of the general and permanent federal Law of the United States. This is a list of US government designations for places. National Battlefield National Battlefield Park National Battlefield
States and territories
Web site and works
- USA.gov
- GobiernoUSA. This is an incomplete list of United States federal agencies. Independent agencies of the United States government are those that exist outside of the departments of the Executive branch. The political units and divisions of the United States include The 50 states (four of these being officially styled as Commonwealths) which are typically A US state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the United States of America that share Sovereignty with the federal government United States territory is any extent of Region under the Jurisdiction of the federal Government of the United States, including all USAgov is the official Web portal of the United States Government. gov
- U.S. Government Web Portal for Businesses
- U.S. Government Web Portal for Citizens
- Government work
Notes
External links
Businessgov is the official business link to the US Government USAgov is the official Web portal of the United States Government. A work of the United States government, as defined by United States copyright law, is "a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to Digitize, archive and distribute Cultural worksDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic