United States government federal republic representative democracy three separate branches of government executive legislative judicial bicameral House of Representatives lower house Senate upper house state decentralized widely differing laws ranks highly quality of life income wealth economic competitiveness human rights innovation education perceived corruption incarceration inequality universal healthcare melting pot immigrant population liberal democracy
The United States government is a federal republic and a representative democracy with three separate branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial. It has a bicameral national legislature composed of the House of Representatives, a lower house based on population; and the Senate, an upper house based on equal representation for each state. Many policy issues are decentralized at a state or local level, with widely differing laws by jurisdiction. The U.S. ranks highly in international measures of quality of life, income and wealth, economic competitiveness, human rights, innovation, and education; it has low levels of perceived corruption. It has higher levels of incarceration and inequality than most other liberal democracies, and is the only liberal democracy without universal healthcare. As a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities, the U.S. has been drastically shaped by the world's largest immigrant population.
