The United States is an indirect democracy — that is, the people rule through the representatives they elect. In the beginning, only white men with property could vote. Over time, the vote has been given to more and more people. Today any citizen who is at least 18 years old can vote. The capital of the country is the City of Washington, situated in the Columbia District1 — a territory not included in any of the states.

 

The Constitution

The United States Constitution, written in 1787, established the country's political system and is the basis for its laws. In the 200 years of its history, the United States has greatly grown and changed. Yet the Constitution works as well today as when it was written. One reason is that the Constitution can be amended (for example, the Fifteenth Amend­ment gave black Americans the right to vote and the Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote). Another reason is that the Constitution is flexible: its basic principles can be applied and in­terpreted differently at different times.

 

State and Local Governments

Each state has its own constitution. Like the na­tional government, state governments are divided into legislative, executive and judicial branches. In ! each state there are state senators and representa­tives, state court systems, and, like the President of the country, a governor of the state. Below the state level of government, there are county and city governments