How does government work in the USA?

The United States of America, one of the world's largest countries, both in terms of surface area and population. Almost 330 million people live here. How is such a large country governed? Well, the country consists of 50 individual states that together form the USA. Each state has great independence in governing themselves, for example, with what school systems should look like, traffic regulations, and how the police and rescue services should work within the state.

All states are governed by a state government, state legislature and governor. But some things states do not decide for themselves. National issues such as foreign and defense policy, customs and international trade that affect the whole country are handled by the U.S. government, whose head of state is called the president. A political system in which power is divided into different levels such as state and national levels is called federalism, and a country run by a president is called a republic.

The USA is a federal republic. The governmental power in the United States is divided into three different branches: one which establishes the laws, the legislative branch, one that carries out the administration: the executive branch, and one which judges those accused of disobeying the laws: the judicial branch. These three different branches of government should be separated to prevent each other from taking advantage of their powerful positions while maintaining a balance to keep each other in check. The legislative branch in the United States is called the Congress, it's similar to other countries' parliament. The Congress is divided into two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The members are elected by the people and by the states. The Senate consists of 100 members – Senators. Each state in the United States is represented by two senators – each state has two seats. The Senate has the right to approve – or not approve – agreements that the government has made with other countries and approve the appointment of federal judges and justices. The House of Representatives has 435 members, members who come from all 50 states.

How many members each state has depends on how many people live in the state. But every state has at least one member. California, where many people live, has 53 members, while Alaska, with few inhabitants, has only one. The House of Representatives has the right to decide on taxes and also decide who the president will be if no candidate wins the majority of an election. The main purpose of Congress is to create laws, approve the national budget, and if the United States wants to go to war, Congress has the sole power to declare war.

The executive branch of the United States is headed by the president and the vice president. Their job together with the federal government, is to manage foreign policy, the US economy and defense. The president of the United States has a lot of power as the country's head of state and decides who will sit in high government positions. The president is also the commander of the U.S. military.

The third branch of power is the judiciary. It's performed by the Supreme Court. It ensures that the president and Congress do not violate the Constitution. They also resolve disputes between different states. The Supreme Court consists of nine judges appointed for life by the president, but the Senate must approve the president's selection of judges.

The first phrase in the United States Constitution, the supreme law of the land, is "we, the people". Remembering that’s who the government of the USA works for.