According to Countryaah.com, with capital city of Washington, D. C., United States is a country located in North America with total population of 331,002,662.
State and politics
GOVERNMENT
The state of the United States is based on the Constitution of 1789 and the 27 supplements made thereafter.ee ABBREVIATIONFINDER for how US can stand for United States. It is based on a division of power between legislative, executive and judicial institutions. The executive is exercised by the president and his administration, which includes a cabinet with its ministries and government offices, various executive offices, of which the Budget Office and the National Security Council are among the most important, as well as the president’s personal staff, which has gained influence in recent decades. The president, who must be a Native American, is elected for four years and can be re-elected. Unlike the practice in Europe, the president is both the head of state, head of government and commander-in-chief and has very extensive powers.
Congress is the legislative assembly and consists of two chambers. The Senate has 100 members, two from each state. Each senator has a term of office of six years. Every two years, one third of the senators are re-elected. The House of Representatives has 435 members, all of whom are elected every two years in one-man constituencies. The number of members is distributed based on the population of the Länder. This means that populous states have many members and less populous have fewer. For example, California has 53 congressmen and Alaska has just one.
All terms of office are fixed and the president cannot dissolve Congress and announce new elections. Unlike most European countries, the United States is not a parliamentary system. Although the president’s party does not have a majority in Congress, they will not resign but remain in the next election. The president can only be dismissed by public prosecution (compare impeachment). In order to be able to bring charges of public prosecution, it is necessary that the president has committed some form of abuse of office. The issue of public prosecution is raised by individual members of Congress, whereby a legal committee is appointed to investigate whether there is reason to vote on a possible prosecution. A majority in the House of Representatives is required for the matter to be presented to the Senate, which considers the judicial process if it is considered that there are reasons to proceed. The issue is treated as a legal issue (the senators should act unpolitically) and a two-thirds majority in the Senate is required to drop and dismiss the president. The issue has so far (2020) been raised three times in US political history: 1868 against Andrew Johnson, 1998 against Bill Clinton and 2019 against Donald Trump . None of them fell. Also senators, judges in the Supreme Court and other senior officials in the president’s cabinet can be brought before the national court. See iamaccepted.com for vocational training in United States.
In order for a new bill to be adopted, both houses must vote in favor of an exact, similar bill. However, a new law can be blocked by the president with the help of his veto power. If the president submits his presidential veto, the bill goes back to Congress, which can then lift the president’s veto by a two-thirds majority. In practice, this means that more politicians within the president’s own party must be involved in trying to veto his or her veto in order to succeed. It is rare for the president’s veto to be voted down.
The president can by issuing a so-called executive order, a presidential decree, get through a law or guideline for federal authorities. This opportunity can be exploited when the president does not pass a bill through Congress. Thus, by issuing a decree, the president bypasses the congress. A presidential decree is more vulnerable than a law voted in Congress because the next president can immediately tear up such an order. Congress also has the opportunity to use various instruments to try to prevent a decree from going through. As Congress draws up and votes on the annual budget, they may, for example, impede funding for the decree proposed by the President or enact other laws that make it difficult for the decree to be enforced.
Most decrees, 3,728, wrote Franklin D. Roosevelt. Barack Obama signed 276 pieces and George W. Bush 291 pieces. It is customary for a newly-elected president to issue several decrees in the first period in order to show the focus on his politics, his power of action and fulfill some election promises.
In addition to enacting laws directly, Congress decides on the budget, that is, on taxes, duties and other government revenue, as well as on appropriations for appropriations. There are some differences between the houses; Among other things, only the Senate approves appointments to higher federal posts and judges, as well as treaties with foreign powers.
The congress’s activities are organized in various committees. Hearings held in the various committees can be closed as well as public. The latter usually draws a lot of attention in the mass media.
The judiciary is exercised by an independent judiciary. At the top is the federal Supreme Court with nine members, appointed for life by the president with the Senate’s approval. Because the courts have the right of judicial review, the Supreme Court has gained a great political significance, since it can declare laws as contrary to the constitution (constitution). The law then becomes invalid, but Congress and the president can get around this by enforcing a so-called constitutional extension. However, this is a very complicated procedure, as such an add-on must be approved by two-thirds of all US states.
The United States is a federal state consisting of 50 states with their own constitutions. Each state is built around the same principle of power sharing as the federal union. The states have an executive function led by a people-elected governor, a legislative assembly with two chambers (the exception being Nebraska with a one-room system) and an independent judiciary. One difference is that in most states, the highest officials, like judges and prosecutors, are elected people. Each state is sovereign to decide on its own organization as long as it does not conflict with the constitution.
The decision areas between the federal level and the states are now fairly fluid. According to the constitution, the federal government should be responsible for national issues such as foreign and defense policy, customs and international trade, while the states will handle all other issues, the most important of which are education, social policy and welfare. Since the 1930s, however, the federal government has gained an increasing influence over these areas as well.
Party
Politics in the United States is dominated by two major parties, the Democratic Party (them) and the Republican Party (rep). There are several other parties but these have very limited political influence, especially at national level. Locally in some states they can sometimes have some influence. On a few occasions, a third party or so-called independent presidential candidate has been able to play a certain role nationally. But then it was about that the independent candidate got a few percent of the electorate and thus ruined the opportunities for one or other candidate from the two major parties to win the election. The best known smaller parties are the Green Party and the Libertarian Party.
Party cohesion is weak at the national level. Members of Congress do not always vote for any party line, but are more of representatives of their constituencies and states, even though party cohesion has increased substantially since the 1990s.
The voting age is 18 years. Voter turnout is usually very low, 50–55 percent voting in the presidential election and 30–35 percent voting in the so-called midterm elections that are held between the presidential elections.
The elections are strongly personal-fixed, and the candidates’ personality and positions on various issues often mean more than party affiliation. Political dirt throwing is common. Also important is the campaign financing, which has been a battle issue for many years. In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that individuals may donate whatever amounts to various campaigns under the so-called Citizen United Act, a law that has faced strong criticism.
The current system mainly favors the incumbent candidates who, for this reason, do not wish to change the system. Traditional media and social media also play an important role, which has increased in recent years. National newspapers and broadcasters often take a neutral position, while the vast flora of state and local newspapers and radio and television stations generally support Republicans. In the 2016 presidential election, however, several major newspapers chose to openly support Hillary Clinton.
Policy
November 8, 2016, the last presidential election was held in the United States. The election was won by Republican Party candidate, businessman and TV profile Donald Trump. Trump’s victory came as a surprise, partly because he lacked the political experience that so far played a major role in the chances of reaching the presidential post.
Donald Trump won over Hillary Clinton, who was the Democrat candidate. Trump succeeded Barack Obama at an installation ceremony on January 20, 2017. He then became the nation’s 45th president.
Trump’s success can be partly explained by widespread opinion against established politicians in Washington DC Globalization’s effects in the form of lost jobs in the United States, economic insecurity and concern that other countries will become stronger and more competitive than the United States are some of the explanations for Trump’s election victory as often specified. The advantage Hillary Clinton might have through her experience as a senator and foreign minister was transformed into the electoral movement instead of a shortcoming. Clinton was portrayed as a representative of the political establishment while Trump claimed to be the candidate who led the people’s lawsuit. Many judges refer to the 2016 presidential election as the dirtiest to date, as it contained less factual politics and more of scandals, personal hopefuls and dirty throwing than previous election campaigns.
The 2016 congressional election meant continued control for Republicans in both chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. In the 2018 election, however, Democrats gained a majority in the House of Representatives, which means Trump will find it harder to get through his bill.
Among Trump’s greatest successes as president is often stated that he succeeded in getting two Supreme Court judges appointed: Neil Gorsuch (born 1967), who took office in 2017, and Brett Kavanaugh (born 1965), endorsed by the 2018 Senate; Kavanaugh’s nomination was debated since, against his denial, he was accused of sexual abuse committed in the 1980s. In order for Gorsuch to be approved, the voting rules in the Senate were forced to change so that only a simple majority was required instead of, as before, the approval of 60 senators. Trump is also the president in history who has appointed the most federal judges, which will affect court decisions at all levels in a conservative direction for many years to come.
Another big success for Trump was that in December 2017, Republicans voted in favor of a tax reform with extensive tax cuts primarily for wealthy and business people. Such a tax reform, the Republicans had wanted to achieve for over 30 years. Trump’s supporters also think it’s good that the president has put pressure on the outside world by imposing tariffs on China in particular and that he has renegotiated various trade agreements. For example, the US, Mexico and Canada signed a new trade and investment agreement (see NAFTA) in September 2018. Trump has also withdrawn the United States from the Iran agreement negotiated by President Obama in 2015. Trump is the president with the highest confidence figures among Republican presidents since the 1950s. the number.
At the same time, Trump’s critics are very numerous, and those who disapprove of his policies are critical to the fact that he withdrew from important agreements, not least the Paris Agreement (see the Climate Convention), and that he created uncertainty among US allies in the issue of continued military support and cooperation.. His tough policies against immigrants, harsh rhetoric and confrontational attitudes toward the media have also caused great concern among Democrats. Trump has also been criticized for not clear enough distance from racism and acts of violence committed by the extreme right and that his nationalism threatens American openness and diversity.
Trump, as first US President, has begun direct talks with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un with the ambition to bring about a nuclear deal. The two leaders met in a historic meeting in June 2018. However, no agreement has yet been negotiated.
Results in the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections
| state | Number of electricians | Winning candidate in 2012 | Winning candidate 2016 |
| Alabama | 9 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Alaska | 3 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Arizona | 11 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Arkansas | 6 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Colorado | 9 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| Connecticut | 7 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| Delaware | 3 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| Florida | 29 | Barack Obama | Donald Trump |
| Georgia | 16 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Hawaii | 4 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| Idaho | 4 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Illinois | 20 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| Indiana | 11 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Iowa | 6 | Barack Obama | Donald Trump |
| California | 55 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| Kansas | 6 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Kentucky | 8 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Louisiana | 8 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Maine | 4 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| Maryland | 10 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| Massachusetts | 11 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| Michigan | 16 | Barack Obama | Donald Trump |
| Minnesota | 10 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| Mississippi | 6 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Missouri | 10 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Montana | 3 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Nebraska | 5 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Nevada | 6 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| New Hampshire | 4 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| New Jersey | 14 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| New Mexico | 5 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| New York | 29 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| North Carolina | 15 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| North Dakota | 3 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Ohio | 18 | Barack Obama | Donald Trump |
| Oklahoma | 7 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Oregon | 7 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| Pennsylvania | 20 | Barack Obama | Donald Trump |
| Rhode Island | 4 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| South Carolina | 9 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| South Dakota | 3 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Tennessee | 11 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Texas | 38 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Utah | 6 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Vermont | 3 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| Virginia | 13 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| Washington | 12 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
| West Virginia | 5 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Wisconsin | 10 | Barack Obama | Donald Trump |
| Wyoming | 3 | Mitt Romney | Donald Trump |
| Washington DC | 3 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton |
Judiciary
The law in the United States consists of just over fifty related, but far from identical, legal systems in the different states and territories, to which is added the common federal law in the jurisdictions entrusted to the federal agencies’ competence.
The Länder have been allowed to maintain and further develop their respective legal rules in, among other things. the central parts of the penal, family, inheritance, contract, corporate, real estate and tort law, while the maritime, bankruptcy and patent rights have been handed over to federal regulation.
With the exception of Louisiana, where French law has left significant traces, all states’ legal systems are based on the English legal heritage, and they are also closely related to each other. One way to achieve a similar right is that the states voluntarily adopt uniform legislation; the most successful and most important example is the Uniform Commercial Code, which has been adopted by all states (in Louisiana, however, not in its entirety) and covers large parts of the commercial law.
Another way of achieving a similar right is that the courts of different states in their judicial and precedent-forming activities take into account each other’s decisions, even though they are not formally obliged to do so.
A very central role in American law is played by the federal constitution, first and foremost because a state or federal law or municipal ordinance that contravenes the constitution can and should be denied application.
This right of judicial review has not been reserved for any special constitutional court or the highest courts, but may also be exercised by the lower courts. In addition to the federal constitution, in each state there is a state constitution, which, however, is often inspired by and under no circumstances may conflict with the federal constitution.
In the United States, there are side by side both federal and state courts, whose jurisdiction in disputes partially overlaps. The state courts differ from state to state but are usually district or county courts and a supreme court.
In most states, it has also appellate courts of appeal, which should be added småmålsdomstolar, family courts, traffic courts, etc. The federal court system consists mainly of the US District Courts (at least one in each state), the US Court of Appeals and the US Supreme Court US Supreme Court (compare State Condition and Policy).
The death penalty is a highly debated issue in US criminal law. In most of the states, the death penalty remains for some serious crimes. However, the application may vary, depending on the legal traditions of the various states and the attitude of the incumbent governor to this punishment. So far, 18 of the states have abolished the death penalty. In the US, 43 people were executed in 2012 and 39 people in 2013. Texas is the state that carries out the most death penalty, 16 people were executed there in 2013.
Imprisonment and similar penalties for criminal offenses are more common in the United States than in other states. The United States has about 5% of the world’s population but close to 25% of the detainees in the world. Violence crimes have quadrupled between 1960 and 1992 but have subsequently declined by just over a third, and property crimes have shown similar changes. In 2010, approximately 14,750 people were murdered and at 67% of the murders firearms were used. At that time, 70% of all arrested were white (white was 72.45% of the entire population).
Despite the decline in the above-mentioned crimes, the number of Americans deprived of liberty has more than quadrupled since 1980. One reason is the war on drugs over the last thirty years(‘war on drugs’), which resulted in 20% of interns in state and federal prisons being placed there for that reason. Another reason is that now the emphasis is more on the deterrent effect of the punishment and therefore condemn to longer punishment and to a lesser extent use conditional judgment, safeguards and probation. The number of interns increased sharply for each year until the mid-00s; thereafter, the rate of increase has slowed. At the end of 2010, 2.27 million people were in state, local or federal prisons, ie. 0.7% of the adult population. Of these, 70% were non-white. This high proportion is mainly due to the fact that whites are sentenced to shorter sentences than others for similar crimes. Also included are those who have received other penalties (see above), the punished 3.1% of all adults in the United States.
Heads of State
Presidents
| 1789-97 | George Washington |
| 1797-1801 | John Adams (Federalist) |
| 1801-09 | Thomas Jefferson (Democratic Republican) |
| 1809-17 | James Madison (Democratic Republican) |
| 1817-25 | James Monroe (Democratic Republican) |
| 1825-29 | John Quincy Adams (Democratic Republican) |
| 1829-37 | Andrew Jackson (Democrat) |
| 1837-41 | Martin Van Buren (Democrat) |
| 1841 | William Henry Harrison (whig) |
| 1841-45 | John Tyler (whig) |
| 1845-49 | James K. Polk (Democrat) |
| 1849-50 | Zachary Taylor (whig) |
| 1850-53 | Millard Fillmore (whig) |
| 1853-57 | Franklin Pierce (Democrat) |
| 1857-61 | James Buchanan (Democrat) |
| 1861-65 | Abraham Lincoln (Republican) |
| 1865-69 | Andrew Johnson (Union Democrat) |
| 1869-77 | Ulysses S. Grant (Republican) |
| 1877-81 | Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) |
| 1881 | James Garfield (Republican) |
| 1881-85 | Chester A. Arthur (Republican) |
| 1885-89 | Grover Cleveland (Democrat) |
| 1889-93 | Benjamin Harrison (Republican) |
| 1893-97 | Grover Cleveland (Democrat) |
| 1897-1901 | William McKinley (Republican) |
| 1901-09 | Theodore Roosevelt (Republican) |
| 1909-13 | William Taft (Republican) |
| 1913-21 | Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) |
| 1921-23 | Warren G. Harding (Republican) |
| 1923-29 | Calvin Coolidge (Republican) |
| 1929-33 | Herbert Hoover (Republican) |
| 1933-45 | Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democrat) |
| 1945-53 | Harry S. Truman (Democrat) |
| 1953-61 | Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican) |
| 1961-63 | John F. Kennedy (Democrat) |
| 1963-69 | Lyndon B. Johnson (Democrat) |
| 1969-74 | Richard M. Nixon (Republican) |
| 1974-77 | Gerald R. Ford (Republican) |
| 1977-81 | Jimmy Carter (Democrat) |
| 1981-89 | Ronald Reagan (Republican) |
| 1989-93 | George Bush (Republican) |
| 1993-2001 | Bill Clinton (Democrat) |
| 2001-09 | George W. Bush (Republican) |
| 2009-17 | Barack Obama (Democrat) |
| 2017- | Donald Trump (Republican) |