Political and legal environment

The United States of America is a federal republic, which is based on representative democracy,
with three equally powerfull branches of Government.

The executive power is represented by The President who is the Chief of the State, Commander-
in-Chief of the Armed Forces and the Head of Government. The President is elected by an
electoral college to serve a four year term.

In USA the legislature is bicameral. The Congress consists of Senate (the upper house) and the
House of Representatives (lower house). The Senate has the power to confirm or reject
presidential appointments and to ratify taxes. The House of Representatives has the sole right to
initiate revenue bills.

There are two political parties which dominate the politics in USA:

- The Democracy Party: this party favours the Government intervention to temper market
economy

- The Republican Party: supports free-market capitalism

The current president in USA is Donald Trump (since 20 January 2017) who is a member of the
Republican Party. The Vice President is Michael Pence.

The United States is a federation of States, each with its own government structure. The national
government has regulatory authority over the commerce between the states, foreign trade and
other business activities of national scope and interest.

Regulations can be split in four categories:

- Those that are applicable to all businesses, such as business registration and licensure, tax
codes

- Those that affect specific aspects of business operations, such as employee relations, workplace
safety

- Those that are focused on particular industries like insurance, health care

- Those generally protective of business activities and interests, such as intellectual property
protection

Intellectual Property Protection refers to creation of the mind, such as inventions, design,
symbols. It consists of:

- Trademarks – words, phrases, symbols that can differentiate you from your competitors
- Copyrights – refers to original works, such as books, photographs

- Patents – refers to ideas and inventions

- Trade Secrets – refers to private data, that have to be guarded from the public view