The United States government operates as a constitutional federal republic, fundamentally structured around three co-equal branches established by the U.S. Constitution: the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. This design enforces a separation of powers to prevent tyranny, intricately balanced by a system of checks and balances where each branch can limit the actions of the others. The Legislative Branch (Congress), comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate, holds the sole federal power to make laws, declare war, approve treaties, control the federal budget through the “power of the purse,” and conduct oversight of the executive branch. The Executive Branch, headed by the President as both Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, is empowered to enforce and administer laws, veto legislation, negotiate treaties (subject to Senate approval), appoint federal officials and judges, and direct foreign policy. The Judicial Branch, anchored by the Supreme Court, interprets laws and possesses the power of judicial review—the authority to declare laws or executive actions unconstitutional, thereby defining the law’s meaning and ensuring its alignment with the Constitution.
Underpinning this tripartite structure is the principle of federalism, which divides sovereign power between the national government in Washington, D.C., and the fifty state governments. The national government holds enumerated or delegated powers explicitly listed in the Constitution (e.g., regulating interstate commerce, coining money, conducting foreign affairs), while the Tenth Amendment reserves all other powers to the states or the people, granting them authority over education, policing, intrastate commerce, and public health. This creates a dynamic, sometimes contentious, relationship where federal law is supreme under the Supremacy Clause, but states serve as laboratories of democracy. The system’s function relies on constant negotiation and conflict among the branches and levels of government, with political parties, interest groups, and the media acting as informal but critical forces that shape policy, representation, and the practical exercise of power in a continuously evolving democratic republic.
