section_path: Government and politics
section_name: Government and politics
paragraph_text: Government and politics
  
  The United States is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal district, Washington, D.C. It also asserts sovereignty over five unincorporated territories and several uninhabited island possessions. The world's oldest surviving federation, the U.S. has the world's oldest national constitution still in effect (from March 4, 1789). Its presidential system of government has been adopted, in whole or in part, by many newly independent nations following decolonization. It is a liberal representative democracy "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law." The Constitution of the United States serves as the country's supreme legal document, also establishing the structure and responsibilities of the national federal government and its relationship with the individual states.
  
  According to V-Dem Institute 's 2023 Human Rights Index, the United States ranks among the highest in the world for human rights.