Federal government of the United States

The U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1789 by a constitutional convention, sets down the basic framework of American government in its seven articles. The constitution replaced the confederate system of the Articles of Confederation (in force from 1781 to 1788). The Constitution is currently on display at the National Archives.

The government of the United States, established by the U.S. Constitution, is a federal republic of 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and many insular areas, the populated ones being Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam. The laws of the United States are contained in federal legislation, collected in the U.S. Code; regulations adopted by administrative agencies empowered to do so by legislation; and judicial and agency decisions interpreting the statutes and regulations. The federal government has three branches, namely the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. In a system called "checks and balances", each of these branches has some authority to act on its own, some authority to regulate the other two branches, and has some of its authority, in turn, regulated by one or two other branches.

Because of the size and broad powers and capabilities of the United States federal government, it typically is referred to as the most powerful such government in the world and the sole remaining superpower. Given their great powers in the world and nation, the President of the United States and his White House-based aides and Cabinet officials often are referred to as the most powerful people in the world.

Distribution of Power

Jan Wiesemann wrote this about the situation which now exists in the United States in 1998:

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"Like many other democracies, the US Government is made up of two basic parts the elected constituency, i.e., the various governors, judges, congressmen and the President; and the unelected bureaucracies, as represented by the numerous federal agencies.

"In a well-balanced and correctly functioning democracy, the elected part of the government is in charge of its unelected bureaucratic part, giving the people a real voice in the agenda set by their government.

"While a significant part of the US Government no doubt follows this democratic principle, a considerable portion of the US Government operates in complete secrecy and follows its own unaccountable agenda which, unacknowledged, very often is quite different from the public agenda." (+)

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The Federal government of the United States in the media

• 2005-07-01 Education Dept. paid commentator to promote law +
  • "Seeking to build support among black families for its education reform law, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same."

"Through clever and constant application of propaganda people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way around, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise." (Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, 1923)

• 2005-12-04: US defends propaganda payments +
  • "US military officials have, for the first time, detailed and broadly defended a Pentagon programme that pays to carry positive news about US efforts in Iraq."
• 2006-01-04: (Financial Times) US sees coalitions of the willing as best ally +
  • "The US official singled out non-Nato allies in Asia for their support in Iraq, naming Japan, Australia, South Korea and Singapore. He said that at a meeting at Penfolds vineyard in November, Australian officials had told Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, of their keen interest in expanding intelligence relations with the US."
  • "Without the explicit support of the United Nations or Nato, the US went to war with Iraq in March 2003 listing 44 countries in its "coalition of willing", plus unidentified others."
• 2006-01-19: India to get more US diplomats +
  • "United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday said the US will send more diplomats to countries like India."
  • "Noting that emerging powers like India, China, Brazil and Egypt and South Africa are increasingly shaping the course of history, she said that the new frontlines 'of our diplomacy' are appearing more clearly in transitional countries."
• 2006-02-12: Yahoo News publishes fake photo of Cheney and shotgun victim
  • "A spokesman for the vice president identified the shooting victim as Harry Whittington, but sources close to the incident suggest "Harry Whittington" is a Secret Service code name for Cheney's indicted former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby."
• 2006-02-13: Bush Administration Spent Over $1.6 Billion on Advertising and Public Relations Contracts Since 2003 +
  • "The extent of the Bush Administration's propaganda effort is unprecedented and disturbing," said Congressman Miller. "The fact is that after all the spin, the American people are stuck with high prescription drug prices, high gas prices, and high college costs. This report raises serious questions about this Administration's priorities for the country and I would hope that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle would agree that changes need to be made to reign in the President's propaganda machine."
• 2006-02-17: US 'losing media war to al-Qaeda' +
  • "The US is losing the propaganda war against al-Qaeda and other enemies, defence chief Donald Rumsfeld has said."
• 2006-02-21: Neocon architect says: 'Pull it down' +
  • "Francis Fukuyama, who wrote the best-selling book The End of History and was a member of the neoconservative project, now says that, both as a political symbol and a body of thought, it has "evolved into something I can no longer support". He says it should be discarded on to history's pile of discredited ideologies."
• GALLUP: MORE AMERICANS CALL SELVES DEMOCRATS THAN REPUBLICANS NOW. +

See also

President

• Executive Order
• President of the United States
• United States Cabinet
• United States Federal Executive Departments
• Executive Office of the President of the United States

Congress

• United States Congress
• United States Senate
• United States House of Representatives

Courts

• Supreme Court of the United States
• United States federal courts
• United States federal judicial circuit
• United States courts of appeals
• United States federal judicial district
• United States district courts
• United States bankruptcy courts

Law

• Constitution of the United States of America
• Law of the United States
• Legal research
• List of U.S. government designations for places
• United States Code

Agencies

Some agencies are legislative, some are executive, some are judicial.

• Independent Agencies of the United States Government
• List of United States federal agencies