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Governance (United States)

The political system of the United States owes much to the British liberal constitutional legacy, although the actual institutions of government follow a republican, rather than parliamentary model. Today there is universal suffrage, which enables all adults over 18 years of age to vote. Women have been enfranchised only since World War I. In practice, many Americans do not exercise these electoral responsibilities. Even in presidential elections scarcely more than half the eligible voters actually turn out at the polls. Elections have long been dominated by two political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. Left-wing parties of the kind found in most other industrialized western democracies have never been a significant force in American political life. 

There are three tiers of government, federal, state, and municipal, the respective responsibilities of which are set out in a written constitution. Federal and state governments are divided into three branches, the executive, legislative, and judicial. Variations of this are found in local county and municipal structures. The federal executive branch is led by the president and vice-president who are elected every 4 years. The administrative duties of the executive are divided into 14 departments (Treasury, Defense, Energy, etc.) each of which is headed by a person styled "secretary" who is also a member of the president’s main advisory body, the cabinet. In addition to the various departments there is a large number of specialized agencies and commissions. 

The federal legislative branch is the Congress, which is made up of two houses, the Senate comprising two members elected for 6 year terms from each of the 50 states and the House of Representatives with some 435 members elected for 2 year terms from constituencies defined according to a decennial reapportionment process. Before being signed into law by the President, legislation must be approved by both houses of Congress. Bills involving the spending of public money must originate in the House of Representatives. The federal judicial branch of government, the Supreme Court, is the highest legal authority in the country and bears responsibility for interpreting the written constitution. It consists of a chief justice and 8 other justices appointed by the President. Like other presidential appointments, these require approval by the Senate, one of many such "checks and balances" built into the American system to safeguard it against the abuse of authority. There is also a system of 90 federal district courts, at least one of which is found in each state. There are 12 federal appellate courts which hear appeals from decisions of the district courts. 

The state governments, led by a chief executive called a Governor, are structured along the same lines as the federal and have their own judicial systems. In practice, the division of responsibilities among the various levels of government is indistinct and there is considerable overlapping. Even in the case of national defence, although the federal government alone has responsibility in this area, most states also maintain their own quasi-military militia or "national guard".