Politics of the United States
Politics of the United States refers to the political entities and processes which comprise government at all levels and all branches, in the United States of America.
The United States is a constitutional federal republic, in which the president (the head of state and head of government), Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.
The federal government is divided into three branches, as per the specific terms articulated in the U.S. Constitution:
The federal government's layout is explained in the Constitution. Two political parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, have dominated American politics since the American Civil War, although other parties have existed.
There are major differences between the political system of the United States and that of many other developed countries. These include the increased power of the upper house of the legislature, a wider scope of power held by the Supreme Court, the separation of powers between the legislature and the executive, and the dominance of only two main parties. The United States is one of the world's developed countries where third parties have minimal influence and almost no representation at the national and state level.
The federal entity created by the U.S. Constitution is the dominant feature of the American governmental system, as citizens are also subject to a state government and various units of local government (such as counties, municipalities, and special districts).
