United States (Friedman)

The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty-two states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific, the state of Puerto Rico lies in the Caribbean, while the State of Guyana lies in South America. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean, as well as several Lunar Colonies.

With over 415 million people, the United States is the third largest country by population, and is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2070 GDP of $35.1 trillion (29% of nominal global GDP and over 33% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity).Per capita income is the world's third-highest.

Formed through a War for Independence with the British Empire as a doctrinally anti-imperial country, the United States has progressively risen to become the Dominant Power of the world, and easily the most powerful Superpower in human history. Throughout the 19th century the United States amassed what is now considered its coherent homeland, as well as several exclaves. By the 1870s, its national economy was the world's largest, and has remained as such for over century. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a military power. It emerged from World War II as the first country with nuclear weapons and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The end of the First Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union left the United States as the world's sole superpower. The end of World War III left the country the sole military power in space, as well as the largest space colonial power. The country accounts for 36% of global military spending, and is the leading economic, political, and cultural force in the world

The US has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946. It has been a member of the American Free Trade Association since its creation in 2019. It is also a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic and Security Council), NATO, the Space Development Council and the World Trade Organization.

Government and politics
The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation. It is a constitutional republic and representative democracy, "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law".

President
The President is both the Head of State and the Head of Government in the United States, and while his domestic powers are very limited, his powers over American foreign policy have almost no constraints whatsoever. The President is elected to only two four year terms, as defined by the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, and must be a natural born citizen no younger than 35 to serve the office.

Domestically the President has the power to veto legislation, administer and enforce the projects and laws passed by Congress, grant pardons to convicted criminals, and submit candidates for the Supreme Court and lower courts to the Senate for consideration. Unofficially the President is expected to be the chief policy maker for the country, and has the greatest influence over the political process. They are expected to give a yearly address known as the State of the Union, where the status of the country is reviewed and the policy for the coming year is set.

The true power of the President is in foreign affairs. While Congress has the power to declare war and controls the power of the purse, as Commander-in-Chief, the President may deploy American forces whenever he/she sees fit, so long as the Congress is notified at least 24 hours prior.

Congress
The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature made up of a Senate and House of Representatives. Members of the House and Senate are both elected by popular vote, every two years for the House, six for the Senate, with term limits of 12 years for members of both houses.

Representation is decided based on population, and Congressional disticts are drawn using the shortest split line method. This is conducted through an algorithm that is publicly available for critique, but Congress can only pass or reject the submitted new districts, and can't draw them themselves.

The Congress resides in the Capitol building in Washington D.C. and while a number of Congressmen and Senators do physically present themselves to debate, they are legally only required to do so for a floor vote and the state of the union, otherwise most Representatives simply telecommute via hologram over government lines.

Congress holds the power of the purse, but the actual budgetary constraints and economic impact are determined by a bank of supercomputers in the Treasury Department and the Commerce Department respectively. The results of the computer's deliberations are posted online automatically, allowing both private citizen and elected official to view them simultaneously. When the system was first installed in 2027 a number of Congressmen attempted to contest the economic and budgetary results, but since the 2040s most Congresses simply defer to the computers' assessments of the regulatory and budgetary policies of the country. As such, while the economy still enters into periodic recessions, they are managed well enough that the majority of the country doesn't feel the sting of economic hardship, as was the case for much of the nation's history.

Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is made up of nine justices, one being a Chief Justice. It is charged with the power of judicial review and impeachment, however it rarely needs to exercise either power as it houses its own bank of computers that determines if legislation is constitutional or not before passing.

Parties and elections
General elections occur every four years, with midterm elections occurring every two years. Federal law sets national standards for campaigning, among them bans on any/all private donations to those seeking office, while the FEC provides funds for public debates. State and local governments set individual standards for candidates to run in their areas, usually involving a petition for candidacy including signatures from supporters.

The United States's four major political parties are the Republican Party, the Libertarian Party, the Democratic Party, and the Technocratic Party. The Republican part is a center right

Foreign relations and military
The president holds the title of commander-in-chief of the nation's armed forces and appoints its leaders, the secretary of defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The United States Department of Defense administers the armed forces, including the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Space Force. In 2061, the armed forces had 700,000 personnel on active duty. The Reserves and National Guard brought the total number of troops to 1.3 million. The Department of Defense also employed about 500,000 civilians, not including contractors.

Military service is voluntary, though conscription may occur in wartime through the Selective Service System, and citizens one government assist programs for more than ten years under the age of 50 are required to serve at least six years in the military. American forces can be rapidly deployed by the Space Force's large fleet of Hypersonic transfer vehicles, the Navy's nineteen active aircraft carriers, and Marine Expeditionary Units at sea with the Navy's Atlantic and Pacific fleets. The military operates 116 bases and facilities abroad, not including embassies, and maintains deployments greater than 100 active duty personnel in 25 foreign countries, in what has come to be known as the American empire.

The command-and-control operations of this global military presence are coordinated by a network of five military space stations, known as Battlestars, which are usually parked in Geostationary Orbit, but can maneuver to defend themselves. These space stations coordinate with ground based commanders, unmanned aircraft and missiles, as well as an extensive network of surveillance and orbital bombardment satellites to provide the US Military with unparalleled military superiority.

Science and Technology
The United States has been a leader in scientific research and technological innovation since the late 19th century. Home to the inventors of the telephone, phonograph, the first long-lasting light bulb, and the first viable movie camera. Nikola Tesla pioneered alternating current, the AC motor, and radio. In the early 20th century, the automobile companies of Ransom E. Olds and Henry Ford popularized the assembly line. The Wright brothers, in 1903, made the first sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight.

The rise of Nazism in the 1930s led many European scientists, including Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, and John von Neumann, to immigrate to the United States. During World War II, the Manhattan Project developed nuclear fission weapons, ushering in the Atomic Age. The Space Race produced rapid advances in rocketry, materials science, and computers, which became commercialized technologies by the 1980s. The United States largely developed the ARPANET and its successor, the Internet. During the first half of the 21st Century the United States saw the development of biotechnologies, genetic engineering, nanotechnologies, and fusion energy. Today the United States is the largest energy producer thanks to extensive lunar colonization and space based Solar energy platforms.

Transportation
Personal transportation is dominated by automobiles, which operate on a network of roads, including one of the world's longest highway systems. Cars are usually recharged at personal residences, commercial offices, and various private quick charge stations around the country.

Mass transit accounts for 56% of total U.S. work trips, dominated primarily by high speed and municipal rail lines, and rentable network vehicles. Transport of goods by rail is extensive, and it is the preferred form of travel between major cities.

The US is home to the largest number of civil spaceports and spaceliners, the largest being Polaris Spacelines.