Politics of the USAPolitics of the USA The United States is the world's third largest country by total area after Russia and Canada. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the USA became the world's sole remaining superpower and continues to exert dominant economic, political, cultural, and military influence around the globe. The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation. Its government relies on representative democracy through a congressional system under a set of powers specified by its Constitution. Since the Second Continental Congress declared America's independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776, the United States government has sought to realize the fundamental principle on which our nation was founded: that all people have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This principle was formalized in 1788 with the ratification of the Constitution. That document — still the supreme law of the United States — became the foundation of a federal government that allowed the several states to act together as one, while protecting the sovereignty of each individual state. The federal government comprises three branches, which are designed to check and balance one another's powers: • Executive: The President, who administers and enforces federal law, can veto bills, and is Commander in Chief of the military. • Legislative: The Congress, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, which makes federal law, declares war, approves treaties and has powers of impeachment. • Judiciary: The Supreme Court and lower federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the President with Senate approval, which interpret laws and their validity under the Constitution and can overturn laws they deem unconstitutional. Each branch of government is balanced by powers in the other two coequal branches: The President can veto the laws of the Congress; the Congress confirms or rejects the President's appointments and can remove the President from office in exceptional circumstances; and the justices of the Supreme Court, who can overturn unconstitutional laws, are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
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