United States: Difference between revisions

The United States is a [[federal republic]] of 50 states, withand itsa capitalfederal indistrict, [[Washington, D.C.|a federal district]],. It also assertingasserts sovereignty over [[Territories of the United States|five unincorporated territories]] and several uninhabited [[United States Minor Outlying Islands|island possessions]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Common Core Document of the United States of America|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/179780.htm|date=December 30, 2011|publisher=[[United States Department of State|U.S. Department of State]]|access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref>{{sfn|Onuf|2010|p=xvii}} The world's oldest surviving federation,<ref>Desjardins, Jeff (August 8, 2019). [https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/08/countries-are-the-worlds-oldest-democracies/"Mapped: The world's oldest democracies"].[[World Economic Forum]]</ref> the U.S. has the world's oldest [[Constitution of the United States|national constitution]] still in effect (from March 4, 1789). Its [[Presidential system|system of government]] has been adopted, in whole or in part, by many newly independent nations following [[decolonization]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ryan |first1=David |title=The United States and Decolonization |year=2000 |publisher=Springer |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9780333977958}}</ref> It is a liberal [[representative democracy]] "in which [[Tyranny of the majority|majority rule is tempered]] by [[Constitutional right|minority rights]] protected by [[Law of the United States|law]]."<ref name="Scheb">Scheb, John M.; Scheb, John M. II (2002). ''An Introduction to the American Legal System''. Florence, KY: Delmar, p. 6. {{ISBN|978-0-7668-2759-2}}.</ref> The [[Constitution of the United States]] serves as the country's [[Supremacy Clause|supreme legal document]], also establishing the structure and responsibilities of the national federal government and its relationship with the individual states.<ref>[[#Feldstein|Feldstein, Fabozzi, 2011]], p. 9</ref>