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US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
The federal government of the United States is the centralized United States
governmental body established by the Constitution. The federal government has
three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial. Through a system of
separation of powers or "checks and balances," (inspired by the work of the
Enlightenment philosopher Montesquieu) each of these branches has some authority
to act on its own, some authority to regulate the other two branches, and has
some of its own authority, in turn, regulated by the other branches. In
addition, the powers of the federal government as a whole are limited by the
Constitution, which leaves a great deal of authority to the individual states.
The federal government is based in the federal district of Washington, D.C.
and is often referred to metonymically as "Washington".
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