United States of America (USA)
Country in North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the
east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, bounded north by Canada and south
by Mexico, and including the outlying states of Alaska and Hawaii.
Government
The USA is a federal republic comprising 50 states and the District
of Columbia. Under the 1787 constitution, which took effect 1789 and
has had 27 amendments, the constituent states are reserved considerable
powers of self- government. The federal government concentrated originally
on military and foreign affairs and the coordination of interstate concerns,
leaving legislation in other spheres to the states, each with its own
constitution, elected legislature, governor, supreme court, and local
taxation powers.
Since the 1930s, however, the federal government has become increasingly
active and has therefore impinged upon what were previously state affairs.
It has become the principal revenue-raising and spending agency. This
activism was criticized during the 1980s, and Republican administrations
professed a desire to reverse the process.
The executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the federal government
are deliberately separate from each other, working in a system of checks
and balances. At the head of the executive branch is a president elected
every four years in a national contest by universal adult suffrage but
votes are counted at the state level on a winner-takes-all basis, with
each state (and the District of Columbia) being assigned seats (equivalent
to the number of its congressional representatives) in a national electoral
college that formally elects the president. The president serves as
head of state, of the armed forces, and of the federal civil service.
He or she is restricted to a maximum of two terms and, once elected,
cannot be removed except through impeachment and subsequent conviction
by Congress. The president works with a personally selected (appointed)
cabinet team, subject to the Senate's approval, whose members are prohibited
from serving in the legislature.
The second branch of government, Congress, the federal legislature,
comprises two houses, the 100 member Senate and the 435 member House
of Representatives. Senators serve six-year terms, and there are two
from each state regardless of its size and population. Every two years
a third of the seats come up for election. Representatives are elected
from state congressional districts of roughly equal demographic sizes
and serve two-year terms. Congress has sole powers of legislation and
operates through a system of specialized standing, select, and investigative
committees, which are composed of members drawn from parties in accordance
with their relative strength in each chamber.
The Senate is the more powerful chamber of Congress, since its approval
is required for key federal appointments and for the ratification of
foreign treaties. The president's policy programme needs the approval
of Congress, and the president addresses Congress in January for an
annual `State of the Union´ speech and sends periodic ` messages´ and
`recommendations´. The success of a president to carry out his or her
platform depends on voting support in Congress, bargaining skills, and
public support. Proposed legislation, to become law (an Act of Congress),
requires the approval of both houses of Congress as well as the signature
of the president.
If differences arise, `joint congressional committees´ are convened
to effect compromise agreements. The president can impose a veto, which
can be overridden only by two-thirds majorities in both houses. Constitutional
amendments require two-thirds majorities from both houses and the support
of three- quarters of the nation's 50 state legislatures. The third
branch of government, the judiciary, headed by the Supreme Court, interprets
the written US constitution; its function is to ensure that a correct
balance is maintained between federal and state institutions and the
executive and legislature and to uphold the constitution, especially
the civil rights described in the first ten (the Bill of Rights) and
later amendments.
The Supreme Court comprises nine judges appointed by the president
with the Senate's approval, who serve life terms and can only be removed
by impeachment, trial, and conviction by Congress. The USA administers
a number of territories, including American Samoa and the US Virgin
Islands, which have local legislatures and a governor. These territories,
as well as the `self-governing territories´ of Puerto Rico and Guam,
each send a non-voting delegate to the US House of Representatives.
The District of Columbia, centred around the city of Washington DC,
is the site of the federal legislature, judiciary, and executive. Since
1971 it has sent one non-voting delegate to the House and since 1961
its citizens have been able to vote in presidential elections (the District
having three votes in the national electoral college).
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