The US Government is known by federal government of the United States. It is the national government of fifty two states called United States of America. It was formed in 1789 and can be considered as one of the world’s first government. The US government comprises of three main branches of government. The branches are executive, legislative, and judiciary branches. The seat of government is located in Washington, D.C, which is the capital of United States. The government is based on a principle called principle of federalism. Here, power is shared among the federal and state governments.
The legislative branch of the federal government is the United States Congress. It comprises of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The section-8 of Article 1 from the constitution grants many powers to Congress. Some of them are to coin money and regulating its value, providing punishment for counterfeiting, setting up post offices and roads, power to levy and collecting taxes, creating federal courts lower to Supreme Court, declaring war, making rules and regulations for land and naval forces etc. The House of Representatives contains 435 voting members. All those representatives will have a limited term of two years. An individual must have at least 24 years of age in order to be elected as a representative. The individual must have been living in the United States for more than seven years.
Apart from voting members, there should be six non-voting members.They include five delegates and a resident commissioner. The Senate will have two senators from each state, without considering population. Thus, there are a total of 100 senators from 50 states. The President holds the executive power of the United States. The president has many powers like head of the state and government, commander in chief of military and chief diplomat. The president is the key man who preserves, protects and defends the Constitution. The first President of the United States was George Washington, and Barack Obama is the present president. After the President, the second highest executive official is the Vice-President. The Vice-President may become the next president if the president dies, resigns, or removed. There is a person called Secretary of State who is the Chief Executive Officer. He is the most senior of all federal executive departments.
After the President and Vice President, he is the next supreme official for the executive branch. The judiciary branch is according to the laws. It follows, as well as, implements laws. It deals with various legal cases, and makes decisions. The section-1 of the Article-III of the constitution has established The Supreme Court of the United States. It is the supreme authority, which makes judgments. There are minor courts that come after the Supreme Court, which is also the part of judiciary.
The leaders are selected by elections and voting. Till 4 decades ago, women were not very active in politics but these days, we see women, including the likes of Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton, as active members of American politics.