United States

For other uses see United States (disambiguation)

The United States of America (U.S.A.), also referred to as the United States (U.S.), America¹, or the States, is a federal republic in North America and the Pacific Ocean (the islands of Hawaii, and the Aleutians). It extends from the Atlantic coast in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in the north and Mexico in the south, shares a marine border with Russia in the west, and has a collection of districts, territories, and possessions around the world including Puerto Rico, Midway Atoll, and Guam. The country has fifty states, which have a level of local autonomy according to the system of federalism. A United States citizen is usually identified as an American¹.

The United States traces its national origin to the declaration by 13 British colonies in 1776 that they were free and independent states. Before the British, and in terms of territory, the Dutch, Spanish and French had a stronger foothold on the New Continent where Native Americans (formerly called American Indians or Indians) had lived for thousands of years. Since the mid-20th century it has surpassed all other nations in terms of economic, political, military and cultural influence.

The country was founded under a tradition of having the rule come from the people under the representative democracy model. This model of government (presidential-congressional) has since been adopted by many other countries, mostly in Central America and South America.

History

Main articles: History of the United States, Military history of the United States, Timeline of United States history

Following the European colonization of the Americas, the United States became one of the world's first modern representative democracies after its break with Great Britain, with a Declaration of Independence in 1776. The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution of a more centralized federal government in 1789. During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original thirteen as the nation expanded across the North American continent and acquired a number of overseas possessions. Two major traumatic experiences for the nation were the Civil War (1861-1865) and the Great Depression (1929-1939). Following the end of World War II and then the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States has become the world's most powerful country.

Politics

Main article: Politics of the United States

The United States of America consists of 50 states with limited autonomy in which federal law takes precedence over state law. In general, matters that lie entirely within state borders are the exclusive concern of state governments. These include internal communications; regulations relating to property, industry, business, and public utilities; the state criminal code; and working conditions within the state.

The various state constitutions differ in some details but generally follow a pattern similar to that of the federal Constitution, including a statement of the rights of the people and a plan for organizing the government. On such matters as the operation of businesses, banks, public utilities and charitable institutions, state constitutions are often more detailed and explicit than the federal Constitution. In recent years, the federal government has assumed broader responsibility in such matters as health, education, welfare, transportation, housing and urban development.

The federal government itself consists of three branches: the executive branch (headed by the President), the legislative branch (the Congress), and the judicial branch (headed by the Supreme Court). The President is elected to a four-year term by the Electoral College. The various legislators are in turn chosen primarily by the popular votes in the 50 states. Members of Congress are elected for terms of two years in the House of Representatives and six years in the Senate. This tripartite system is duplicated, with variations, (such as elected governors instead of a president) at the state level. (See classic definition of republic.)

The federal and state government is dominated by two political parties, the Republicans and the Democrats. The dominant political culture in the United States is, as a whole, somewhat to the right of the dominant political culture in European democracies. Given their complex support bases it is difficult to specifically categorize the two major parties' appeal. Within the United States political culture, the Republican Party is described as center-right and the Democratic Party is described as center-left. Minor party and independent candidates are very occasionally elected, usually to local or state office, but the United States political system has historically supported "catch all parties" rather than coalition governments. The ideology and policies of the sitting President of the United States commonly play a large role in determining the direction of his political party, as well as the platform of the opposition.

Political parties in the United States do not have formal "leaders" unlike many other countries, although there are complex hierarchies within the political parties that form various executive committees. Party ideology remains very individually-driven, with a diverse spectrum of moderates, centrists, and radicals within each party.

The two parties exist on both the state and federal level, although the parties' organization, platform, and ideologies are not necessarily uniform across all levels of government.

Both major parties draw some support from all the diverse socio-economic classes which compose the mature multi-ethnic capitalist society which makes up the United States. Business interests provide support to both parties. Funding and support to the Republican Party comes from morality and Christian groups, while labor unions and minority ethnic groups provide support to the Democrats. However the major source of funding to both parties comes from the business community. Because elections in the United States are among the most expensive in the world access to funds is vital in the political system due to the financial costs of mounting political campaigns. Thus, through lobbying, corporations, unions, and other organized groups that provide funds and political support to parties and politicians play the largest role in determining political agendas and government decision-making.

The immense cultural, economic, and military influence 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.

Political divisions

Main articles: Political divisions of the United States, States of the United States

At the time of the Declaration of Independence, the United States consisted of 13 states. In the following years, this number has grown steadily due to expansion to the west, conquest and purchase of lands by the U.S. government, and division of existing states to the current number of 50.

The states are divided into smaller administrative regions: counties, cities and townships.

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 and the United States Virgin Islands. The United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay is leased from Cuba and only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the area can terminate the lease.

The United States has made no territorial claim in Antarctica but has reserved the right to do so.

The United States is currently occupying Iraq; the responsibility of this occupation is shared with the United Kingdom and a nominal delegation of other nations. Under the laws of war, a nation is not an occupying power until the war is declared to be over—thus, the United States is not technically an occupying power in Iraq, although it currently has control over that nation's people, politics and economy.