A state is a type of polity that is an organized political community living under a single system of government. States may or may not be sovereign. For instance, federated states are members of a federal union, and may have only partial sovereignty, but are, nonetheless, states. Some states are subject to external sovereignty or hegemony, in which ultimate sovereignty lies in another state. States that are sovereign are known as sovereign states.The term "state" can also refer to the secular branches of government within a state, often as a manner of contrasting them with churches and civilian institutions.Speakers of American English often use the terms state and government as synonyms, with both words referring to an organized political group that exercises authority over a particular territory.A presidential system is a system of government where a head of government is also head of state and leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch. The United States, for instance, has a presidential system. The executive is elected and often titled "president" and is not responsible to the legislature, which cannot in normal circumstances dismiss it. The legislature may have the right in extreme cases to dismiss the executive, often through impeachment; however such dismissals are seen as so rare as not to contradict a central tenet of presidentialism, that in normal circumstances using normal means the legislature cannot dismiss the executive.
The Constitution
The United States Constitution is one of the oldest constitutions in the world still in force. The Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and ratified by conventions in eleven States before it went into effect on March 4, 1789. The original copy of the Constitution is kept at The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), in Washington D.C. The State of Delaware was the first state to agree to the Constitution. Therefore, Delaware is seen as the first state and is also nicknamed the First State. The others of the original 12 states are counted in the chronological order they ratified the Constitution even if in all reality they joined the Union at the same time. However, in many of the states there was a hard and protracted debate about the ratification. On March 4, 1789, the United States began its rule according to the regulations of the Constitution.The Constitution originally consisted of seven Articles. The first three Articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers whereby the federal government is divided into three branches: the legislature, consisting of the bicameral Congress; the executive, consisting of the President; and the judiciary, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. The fourth and sixth Articles frame the doctrine of federalism, describing the relationship between State and State, and between the several States and the federal government. The fifth Article provides the procedure for amending the Constitution. The seventh Article provides the procedure for ratifying the Constitution.It is considered that the Constitution should be kept as it is and not be altered. When there are needs of alterations they are executed by amendments according to Article V.Since the Constitution was adopted, it has been amended twenty-seven times. The first ten amendments were proposed by Congress on September 25, 1789. These first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights.
The President
The United States is a Republic and its President is the Head of State. The seat of the president is the White House in Washington D.C. (District of Columbia).Under the Constitution, the president is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The president is indirectly elected to a four-year term by an Electoral College. Since 1951, no person may be elected President more than twice. George Washington, the first president, was inaugurated in 1789 after a unanimous vote of the Electoral College.The power is divided between the President, the Congress and the Supreme Court.The president is the head of the executive branch of the federal government and has the power to nominate federal judges. The Constitution's Ineligibility Clause prevents the President from simultaneously being a member of Congress.The image to the left shows the southern facade of the White House, Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC. Photo CC-BY-SA-3.0/Matt H. Wadeat Wikipedia.The Presidency has, as stated above, three major positions of power: Head of State, Head of Government and Commander-in-Chief. In many countries these three positions are maintained by at least two people, for example President and Prime Minister. However, even if the President of the United States has the federal executive power, the power is not unlimited but distributed between the President and Congress according to the constitutionally prescribed checks and balances system. The President therefore cannot simultaneously be a member of Congress or be a federal judge.The different states of the United States have a form of government that reflects the federal power of State with a state Congress (similar to the US Congress), a Supreme Court (corresponding to the US Supreme Court) while a Governor corresponds to the US President.The President is – unlike in parliamentary forms of government – not unconditionally dependent of the support of Congress to execute his office. Political opposition between the President and Congress is thereby not unconstitutional and in reality not unusual.The President can under no circumstances dissolve Congress. Within the rules of impeachment the President can be removed from his office by Congress.The traditional seat and residence of the President is the White House in the capital Washington DC. The Oval Office in the West Wing of the White House is the President’s workroom.
The United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States. Its seat is at The Capitol in Washington D.C.Congress is split into two chambers:•United States Senate•United States House of RepresentativesBoth representatives and senators are chosen through direct election.The image the western side of the Capitol, Washington DC, at Capitol Hill at the end of the National Mall.The SenateThe Senate is the “upper chamber” of the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States. Each U.S. state is represented by two senators, regardless of population, who serve six-year terms. Before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were elected by the individual state legislatures. However, a growing movement to amend the Constitution to allow for the direct election of senators resulted in popular elections to the Senate standardized nationally in 1913 by the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment.The chamber of the United States Senate is located in the north wing of the Capitol.The Senate has 100 seats and the senators serve six-year terms; the terms are staggered so that approximately one-third of the seats are up for election every two years. Elections to the Senate are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years, Election Day, and coincide with elections for the House of Representatives. Senators are elected by their state as a whole. The Vice President of the United States is the ex officio President of the Senate, with authority to preside over the Senate's sessions although he can vote only to break a tie.The Senate has several exclusive powers not granted to the House of Representatives, including consenting to treaties as a precondition to their ratification and consenting to or confirming appointments of Cabinet secretaries, federal judges, other federal executive officials, military officers, regulatory officials, ambassadors, and other federal uniformed officers, as well as trial of federal officials impeached by the House.The House of RepresentativesThe House of Representatives (or short the House) has 435 seats. Each U.S. state is represented in the House in proportion to its population as measured in the census, but every state is entitled to at least one representative. The most populous state, California, currently has 53 representatives. Each representative serves for a two-year term. Elections for representatives are held in every even-numbered year, on Election Day the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.The Speaker of the House of Representatives, who presides over the chamber, is elected by the members of the House, and is therefore traditionally the leader of the House Democratic Caucus or the House Republican Conference, whichever party has more voting members.The House of Representatives convenes in the south wing of the Capitol.The House has the exclusive power to initiate bills for raising revenue, to impeach officials, and to choose the President in the event of an Electoral College deadlock.
The Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest federal court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all federal courts and over state court cases involving issues of federal law, plus original jurisdiction over a small range of cases. In the legal system of the United States, the Supreme Court is the final interpreter of federal constitutional law.The Court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Once appointed, justices have life tenure. Each justice has one vote.
Washington District of Columbia
The District of Columbia is a federal district hosting Washington, the capital of the United States. As permitted by the U.S. Constitution, the District is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and is therefore not a part of any U.S. state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district. Named in honor of George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital.The centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court.The District is not a U.S. state and therefore has no voting representation in the Congress. D.C. residents elect a non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives, who may sit on committees, participate in debate, and introduce legislation, but cannot vote on the House floor. The District has no official representation in the United States Senate. Residents of D.C. call this angrily "Taxation Without Representation".The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961, grants the District three electoral votes in presidential elections.The District of Columbia is located along the Potomac River on the East Coast of the United States.
The Flag of the United States of America - The Stars and Stripes
The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white (7 red and 6 white stripes), with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars. The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 states of the United States. The 13 stripes represent the thirteen original colonies that declared independence from Great Britain; Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island.To the right we have the present 50-star flag adopted on July 4, 1960.Alternative names of the flag: The Stars and Stripes; Red, White and Blue; Old Glory; The Star-Spangled Banner.The primary design of the American flag was established during the American Revolutionary War 1775 – 1783. The British colonial flag was red with the Union Jack in the upper left corner known as the Red Ensign. To mark their independence from Britain during the Revolutionary War the American colonies added 6 white stripes to the flag and thereby the flag got 13 stripes (7 red and 6 white). This flag was in use until June 1777 when the Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution; the flag of the thirteen United States would be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union (canton) be thirteen stars, white in a blue field. Thereby the British Union Jack was removed from the flag.The thought at first was to add a star for every new state in the Union but also to add an additional stripe. In 1795, the number of stars and stripes was increased from 13 to 15 (to reflect the entry of Vermont and Kentucky as states of the Union). When 5 new states joined the Union in 1818 the flag was not changed, probably because it was thought that this would cause too much clutter.In April 1818, a plan was passed by Congress in which the flag was changed to have 20 stars, with a new star to be added when each new state was admitted, but the number of stripes would be reduced to 13 to honor the original colonies.
Earlier flags
The Emigration from Sweden to the USA (7d)
The British flag used from 1707 at sea as well in the American colonies. The British Red Ensign 1707 - 1801.
The first flag of the USA used between 1775 and 1777. It is basically the British Red Ensign with 6 added white stripes and thereby the flag got 13 red and white stripes. The Grand Union Flag.
The flag of the USA used between 1777 and 1795. It still has the 13 stripes but the Union Jack is replaced with a blue canton with 13 white stars (five-pointed).
The flag of the USA used between 1795 and 1818. In 1795 two more states joined the Union, Kentucky and Vermont, which now constituted of 15 states. The number of stars was increased to 15 but also the stripes. The flag had now 8 red and 7 white stripes.
The flag of the USA used between 1818 and 1819. In 1818 another 5 states joined the Union which now constituted of 20 states. The stars were increased to 20 but the number of stripes was reduced to the original 13. From now on only the number of stars was to be changed when a new state joined the Union. The 13 stripes will remain the same, 7 red and 6 white.
A state is a type of polity that is an organized political community living under a single system of government. States may or may not be sovereign. For instance, federated states are members of a federal union, and may have only partial sovereignty, but are, nonetheless, states. Some states are subject to external sovereignty or hegemony, in which ultimate sovereignty lies in another state. States that are sovereign are known as sovereign states.The term "state" can also refer to the secular branches of government within a state, often as a manner of contrasting them with churches and civilian institutions.Speakers of American English often use the terms state and government as synonyms, with both words referring to an organized political group that exercises authority over a particular territory.A presidential system is a system of government where a head of government is also head of state and leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch. The United States, for instance, has a presidential system. The executive is elected and often titled "president" and is not responsible to the legislature, which cannot in normal circumstances dismiss it. The legislature may have the right in extreme cases to dismiss the executive, often through impeachment; however such dismissals are seen as so rare as not to contradict a central tenet of presidentialism, that in normal circumstances using normal means the legislature cannot dismiss the executive.
The Constitution
The United States Constitution is one of the oldest constitutions in the world still in force. The Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and ratified by conventions in eleven States before it went into effect on March 4, 1789. The original copy of the Constitution is kept at The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), in Washington D.C. The State of Delaware was the first state to agree to the Constitution. Therefore, Delaware is seen as the first state and is also nicknamed the First State. The others of the original 12 states are counted in the chronological order they ratified the Constitution even if in all reality they joined the Union at the same time. However, in many of the states there was a hard and protracted debate about the ratification. On March 4, 1789, the United States began its rule according to the regulations of the Constitution.The Constitution originally consisted of seven Articles. The first three Articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers whereby the federal government is divided into three branches: the legislature, consisting of the bicameral Congress; the executive, consisting of the President; and the judiciary, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. The fourth and sixth Articles frame the doctrine of federalism, describing the relationship between State and State, and between the several States and the federal government. The fifth Article provides the procedure for amending the Constitution. The seventh Article provides the procedure for ratifying the Constitution.It is considered that the Constitution should be kept as it is and not be altered. When there are needs of alterations they are executed by amendments according to Article V.Since the Constitution was adopted, it has been amended twenty-seven times. The first ten amendments were proposed by Congress on September 25, 1789. These first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights.
The President
The United States is a Republic and its President is the Head of State. The seat of the president is the White House in Washington D.C. (District of Columbia).Under the Constitution, the president is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The president is indirectly elected to a four-year term by an Electoral College. Since 1951, no person may be elected President more than twice. George Washington, the first president, was inaugurated in 1789 after a unanimous vote of the Electoral College.The power is divided between the President, the Congress and the Supreme Court.The president is the head of the executive branch of the federal government and has the power to nominate federal judges. The Constitution's Ineligibility Clause prevents the President from simultaneously being a member of Congress.The image to the left shows the southern facade of the White House, Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC. Photo CC-BY-SA-3.0/Matt H. WadeatWikipedia.The Presidency has, as stated above, three major positions of power: Head of State, Head of Government and Commander-in-Chief. In many countries these three positions are maintained by at least two people, for example President and Prime Minister. However, even if the President of the United States has the federal executive power, the power is not unlimited but distributed between the President and Congress according to the constitutionally prescribed checks and balances system. The President therefore cannot simultaneously be a member of Congress or be a federal judge.The different states of the United States have a form of government that reflects the federal power of State with a state Congress (similar to the US Congress), a Supreme Court (corresponding to the US Supreme Court) while a Governor corresponds to the US President.The President is – unlike in parliamentary forms of government – not unconditionally dependent of the support of Congress to execute his office. Political opposition between the President and Congress is thereby not unconstitutional and in reality not unusual.The President can under no circumstances dissolve Congress. Within the rules of impeachment the President can be removed from his office by Congress.The traditional seat and residence of the President is the White House in the capital Washington DC. The Oval Office in the West Wing of the White House is the President’s workroom.
The United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States. Its seat is at The Capitol in Washington D.C.Congress is split into two chambers:•United States Senate•United States House of RepresentativesBoth representatives and senators are chosen through direct election.The image the western side of the Capitol, Washington DC, at Capitol Hill at the end of the National Mall.The SenateThe Senate is the “upper chamber” of the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States. Each U.S. state is represented by two senators, regardless of population, who serve six-year terms. Before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were elected by the individual state legislatures. However, a growing movement to amend the Constitution to allow for the direct election of senators resulted in popular elections to the Senate standardized nationally in 1913 by the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment.The chamber of the United States Senate is located in the north wing of the Capitol.The Senate has 100 seats and the senators serve six-year terms; the terms are staggered so that approximately one-third of the seats are up for election every two years. Elections to the Senate are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years, Election Day, and coincide with elections for the House of Representatives. Senators are elected by their state as a whole. The Vice President of the United States is the ex officio President of the Senate, with authority to preside over the Senate's sessions although he can vote only to break a tie.The Senate has several exclusive powers not granted to the House of Representatives, including consenting to treaties as a precondition to their ratification and consenting to or confirming appointments of Cabinet secretaries, federal judges, other federal executive officials, military officers, regulatory officials, ambassadors, and other federal uniformed officers, as well as trial of federal officials impeached by the House.The House of RepresentativesThe House of Representatives (or short the House) has 435 seats. Each U.S. state is represented in the House in proportion to its population as measured in the census, but every state is entitled to at least one representative. The most populous state, California, currently has 53 representatives. Each representative serves for a two-year term. Elections for representatives are held in every even-numbered year, on Election Day the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.The Speaker of the House of Representatives, who presides over the chamber, is elected by the members of the House, and is therefore traditionally the leader of the House Democratic Caucus or the House Republican Conference, whichever party has more voting members.The House of Representatives convenes in the south wing of the Capitol.The House has the exclusive power to initiate bills for raising revenue, to impeach officials, and to choose the President in the event of an Electoral College deadlock.
The Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest federal court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all federal courts and over state court cases involving issues of federal law, plus original jurisdiction over a small range of cases. In the legal system of the United States, the Supreme Court is the final interpreter of federal constitutional law.The Court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Once appointed, justices have life tenure. Each justice has one vote.
Washington District of Columbia
The District of Columbia is a federal district hosting Washington, the capital of the United States. As permitted by the U.S. Constitution, the District is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and is therefore not a part of any U.S. state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district. Named in honor of George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital.The centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court.The District is not a U.S. state and therefore has no voting representation in the Congress. D.C. residents elect a non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives, who may sit on committees, participate in debate, and introduce legislation, but cannot vote on the House floor. The District has no official representation in the United States Senate. Residents of D.C. call this angrily "Taxation Without Representation".The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961, grants the District three electoral votes in presidential elections.The District of Columbia is located along the Potomac River on the East Coast of the United States.
The Flag of the United States of
America - The Stars and Stripes
The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white (7 red and 6 white stripes), with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars. The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 states of the United States. The 13 stripes represent the thirteen original colonies that declared independence from Great Britain; Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island.To the right we have the present 50-star flag adopted on July 4, 1960.Alternative names of the flag: The Stars and Stripes; Red, White and Blue; Old Glory; The Star-Spangled Banner.The primary design of the American flag was established during the American Revolutionary War 1775 – 1783. The British colonial flag was red with the Union Jack in the upper left corner known as the Red Ensign. To mark their independence from Britain during the Revolutionary War the American colonies added 6 white stripes to the flag and thereby the flag got 13 stripes (7 red and 6 white). This flag was in use until June 1777 when the Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution; the flag of the thirteen United States would be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union (canton) be thirteen stars, white in a blue field. Thereby the British Union Jack was removed from the flag.The thought at first was to add a star for every new state in the Union but also to add an additional stripe. In 1795, the number of stars and stripes was increased from 13 to 15 (to reflect the entry of Vermont and Kentucky as states of the Union). When 5 new states joined the Union in 1818 the flag was not changed, probably because it was thought that this would cause too much clutter.In April 1818, a plan was passed by Congress in which the flag was changed to have 20 stars, with a new star to be added when each new state was admitted, but the number of stripes would be reduced to 13 to honor the original colonies.
Earlier flags
The Emigration from
Sweden to the USA (7d)
The British flag used from 1707 at sea as well in the American colonies. The British Red Ensign 1707 - 1801.
The first flag of the USA used between 1775 and 1777. It is basically the British Red Ensign with 6 added white stripes and thereby the flag got 13 red and white stripes. The Grand Union Flag.
The flag of the USA used between 1777 and 1795. It still has the 13 stripes but the Union Jack is replaced with a blue canton with 13 white stars (five-pointed).
The flag of the USA used between 1795 and 1818. In 1795 two more states joined the Union, Kentucky and Vermont, which now constituted of 15 states. The number of stars was increased to 15 but also the stripes. The flag had now 8 red and 7 white stripes.
The flag of the USA used between 1818 and 1819. In 1818 another 5 states joined the Union which now constituted of 20 states. The stars were increased to 20 but the number of stripes was reduced to the original 13. From now on only the number of stars was to be changed when a new state joined the Union. The 13 stripes will remain the same, 7 red and 6 white.
