United States of America Country Brief
Political
The United States is a liberal democracy with a federal political structure comprising 50 states and the District of Columbia. The federal government is characterised by a separation of the powers of the executive from the legislative and judicial functions. The constituent states have significant powers of self-government.
Heading the executive is a president elected every four years in a national contest by universal suffrage. Voting is state-based on a first-past-the-post basis. Each state is assigned seats equal to the sum of its electoral representatives in a 538-member electoral college. The president serves as head of state, commander in chief of the armed forces and head of the civil service.
The legislature, known as the Congress, consists of the 100-member Senate and the 435-member House of Representatives. Senators are elected on a state basis and serve six year terms. Each state is represented by two Senators. Representatives are elected from single-member constituencies and serve two year terms. Congress has sole powers for the making of legislation and operates through a system of committees. Legislation must be approved by both chambers to become law. The president can veto legislation, but can be overridden by two-thirds majorities in both chambers.
The Supreme Court is the highest judiciary body in the United States and leads the judicial branch of the U.S. federal government. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and a number of Associate Justices decided by Congress. There are currently eight Associate Justices on the Supreme Court. The Justices are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The Court is the highest tribunal in the nation for all matters arising under the Constitution and the laws of the United States. It has the authority to invalidate legislation or executive actions which it deems to conflict with the Constitution.
The United States has two broad party coalitions, the Democrats and the Republicans. There is an absence of electorally viable third parties. The Democratic Party evolved from the party of Thomas Jefferson in the late 1700s. The Republican Party was formed by a coalition opposed to slavery led by Abraham Lincoln in the 1850s. Both parties embrace a wide variety of views and have supporters across the community.
Barack Hussein Obama is the forty-fourth and current President of the United States of America. President Obama was elected in the November 2008 presidential election. President Obama's term commenced with his inauguration on 20 January 2009. The next Presidential election will be held in 2012.
Congressional and gubernatorial elections took place on 4 November 2008. All 435 United States House of Representatives seats and roughly one third of the 100 United States Senate seats were contested in this election, as well as 11 state governorships. The Democratic Party increased its majority in both Houses, with a 256-178 advantage in the House of Representatives (1 seat in the House of Representatives is currently vacant). The Democrats also enjoy a 57-40 current advantage in the United States Senate (1 seat in the Senate is currently vacant). The Democrats made a net gain of one Governorship from the 11 contested.
The 111th US Congress was sworn in on 6 January 2009. Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) was re-elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) was re-elected as Senate Majority Leader.
Bilateral Relations
Vital national interests are advanced through strong relations with the United States. As the world's largest economy and strategic player, the US has a significant influence in international affairs. We engage with the United States closely and advocate our views across a very broad range of international issues. While Australian and American interests converge on a majority of international policy issues, we do not agree on all issues. Where this is case, Australia pursues its interests separately from the United States.
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