U.S. law recognizes Indigenous tribes as possessing sovereign powers, while being subject to federal jurisdiction.

In September 1783, the Thirteen Colonies ultimately prevailed over the British in the Revolutionary War, establishing the United States as an independent nation.

Some make a case for expansive federal powers while others argue for a more limited role for the central government in relation to individuals, the states, or other recognized entities.

[3][4] One of the theoretical pillars of the U.S. Constitution is the idea of "checks and balances" among the powers and responsibilities of the three branches of American government: the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary.

If a vacancy occurs, the state governor appoints a replacement to complete the term or to hold the office until a special election can take place.

For example, the Senate must approve (give "advice and consent" to) many important presidential appointments, including cabinet officers, federal judges (including nominees to the Supreme Court), department secretaries (heads of federal executive branch departments), U.S. military and naval officers, and ambassadors to foreign countries.

Enumerated in Article I, Section 8, these include the powers to levy and collect taxes; to coin money and regulate its value; provide for punishment for counterfeiting; establish post offices and roads, issue patents, create federal courts inferior to the Supreme Court, combat piracies and felonies, declare war, raise and support armies, provide and maintain a navy, make rules for the regulation of land and naval forces, provide for, arm and discipline the militia, exercise exclusive legislation in the District of Columbia, regulate interstate commerce, and to make laws necessary to properly execute powers.

Over the two centuries since the United States was formed, many disputes have arisen over the limits on the powers of the federal government.

"[17] Legal scholars William P. Marshall and Saikrishna B. Prakash write of the Clause: "the President may neither breach federal law nor order their subordinates to do so, for defiance cannot be considered faithful execution.

The Constitution also incorporates the English bars on dispensing or suspending the law, with some supposing that the Clause itself prohibits both.

[15][20] Under the Reception Clause, the president is empowered to "receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers"; the president has broad authority to conduct foreign relations, is generally considered to have the sole power of diplomatic recognition,[15][21] and is the United States' chief diplomat,[21] although the Congress also has an important role in legislating on foreign affairs,[15][21] and can, for example, "institute a trade embargo, declare war upon a foreign government that the President had recognized, or decline to appropriate funds for an embassy in that country.

"[18] This Section invests the President with the discretion to convene Congress on "extraordinary occasions"; this special session power that has been used to call the chambers to consider urgent matters.

In that capacity, the vice president has the authority (ex officio, for they are not an elected member of the Senate) to cast a tie-breaking vote.

These are the White House Chief of Staff, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Director of the Office of Management & Budget, United States Trade Representative, U.S.

Section I also establishes a lifetime tenure for all federal judges and states that their compensation may not be diminished during their time in office.

The U.S. Supreme Court decides cases and controversies, which include matters pertaining to the federal government, disputes between states, and interpretation of the United States Constitution, and, in general, can declare legislation or executive action made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions.

The interplay of the Supremacy Clause and Article III has resulted in a complex set of relationships between state and federal courts.

The U.S. Constitution safeguards judicial independence by providing that federal judges shall hold office "during good behavior"; in practice, this usually means they serve until they die, retire, or resign.

Another Constitutional provision prohibits Congress from reducing the pay of any present Article III judge.

Today, U.S. citizens have almost universal suffrage under equal protection of the laws from the age of 18, regardless of race, gender, or wealth.

The Tenth Amendment prohibits the federal government from exercising any power not delegated to it by the Constitution; as a result, states handle the majority of issues most relevant to individuals within their jurisdiction.

Because state governments are not authorized to print currency, they generally have to raise revenue through either taxes or bonds.

As a result, state governments tend to impose severe budget cuts or raise taxes any time the economy is faltering.

Therefore, there are often great differences in law and procedure between individual states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health and education, amongst others.

In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system.

Hundreds of laws, executive orders and court cases have modified the governmental status of tribes vis-à-vis individual states, but the two have continued to be recognized as separate bodies.

The institutions that are responsible for local government within states are typically counties, municipalities, and special-purpose districts, which make laws that affect their particular area.

In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.

Population centers may be organized into incorporated municipalities of several types, including the city, town, borough, and village.

However, many rural and suburban regions are in unincorporated areas that have no municipal government below the county or civil township level.