In trying to understand immigration, foreign policy, international trade, or even domestic issues, it is helpful to first understand what is the United States of America. At first it may seem obvious. As children, we studied a blob on a map with a line around it; we pledged to the flag and sang patriotic hymns; we were told we live in the United States of America. But what does it all mean? The USA is not a blob on a map or a flag or a song.
The blob on the map obviously represents land with the line representing a border. Is the land the United States of America? When the USA was founded, thirteen colonies with ill-defined borders declared themselves to be states and agreed to combine into the United States of America. The land was already here before they formed the USA. But as borders, land area, and number of states have changed dramatically, the United States of America has remained. If the USA were to cease to exist, the land would still be here. The land and borders are important, but the land is not the USA.
Are the people the United States of America? The US Constitution begins, “We the People of the United States … do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” The phrase, “People of the United States”, seems to imply that the United States contains people, but the people are not the United States. Since the constitution constitutes, or forms, the USA, and the people established the constitution, it is clear that those people existed before they established the USA. Since that time, several generations have been born and died, and millions have joined or left the USA, yet the USA continues. The people are important, but the people are not the United States of America.
What the constitution describes is an organization called the United States of America. It is a type of corporation, a membership organization that can in some ways be compared to a club, though not exactly like your local civics club. The name, United States of America, identifies the members of the club as the states of America. But if the USA is a club of states, where do the people and land fit in?
The United States of America is a nation state. State means it is an identifiable political organization under a system of governance. Nation means most of the people have a shared culture. The system of governance is called a democratic federal republic. Republic means that decisions are made by a group of individuals, each of whom represents a number of people. Federal means that several states have been combined into one state with a central government. Democratic means that the people choose their representatives by voting.
There are important differences between a state, whether federal or individual, and other organizations. Most citizens of a state are typically born into citizenship, rather than joining voluntarily. States typically assert a monopoly over the legitimate use of physical force or violence. (People within the state are allowed to employ violence only when permitted by the state, such as self-defense.) But there are also similarities, so the analogy to a club can be useful as long as we remember the differences.
Each state shares sovereignty jointly with the United States over land and waters within the borders of that state. This relationship is analogous to that of condominium owners to their owners association. Each owns his/her condo, but shares responsibility for maintenance subject to the rules of the association. The US federal government also has sovereignty over the US territories and districts outside of the states, and allows those territories and districts to establish local governments, but this is not shared sovereignty as with the states.
The states are also organizations, or clubs, with the citizens of the state being the members of the club. The constitution says that, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” So all citizen-members of the states are also citizen-members of the United States. Non-citizens living in or visiting the states and territories can be thought of as guests.
So the United States of America has two kinds of members, citizen-members and states. The citizen-members and states have differing complementary roles in the United States club. Those roles are defined in the constitutions of the states and of the United States. The powers delegated by the people to the United States of America in the US Constitution are broad but not unlimited. Each state also has a constitution wherein the people delegate limited powers to their state. Any powers not delegated by the people to their state or federal governments in their constitutions are reserved for the people.
Every club, organization or corporation has some purpose—a reason to exist. The constitution defines the purpose of the United States of America as, “to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity”. The United States exists solely to serve these purposes and has no other legitimate purpose. The articles and amendments of the constitution describe the limited powers the representative federal government of the United States is allowed to exercise to accomplish these purposes. Our federal government is allowed no other powers. Similarly, the states have no purposes or powers beyond those laid laid out in their constitutions.
Understanding what the United States of America is and what it is not may help in understanding the Big Ideas as they are added to this site.
Originally posted January 23, 2021
Revised January 24, 2021 in response to reader comments.
Note: Mrs JOI suggests this post also explain why our founders arranged our governments in this manner and tell how they researched successes and failures of different arrangements of government throughout the world throughout recorded history before writing our constitution. Perhaps JOI will get ambitious enough to address that in the future. Perhaps pigs will sprout wings and fly. In the meantime, here is a video that touches on the subject.