United States (From Sea to Shining Sea)

The United Socialist Republics, officially the United Socialist Republics of America, abbreviated as USRA and informally referred to as the "United Republics" and simply America, is a democratic socialist country in North America.

The coming of revolution
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, many citizens of the United States began turning to communism. This lead to the creation of the American Workers' Party; a new political party with the purpose of creating a communist society in America. Sarah Leslie was elected as its leader in 1929, just after the start of the Great Depression, and gathered support from across the United States. She lead the American Workers' Party under a version of communism created by Leon Trotsky, named "Trotskyism". Members of the party traveled across the United States, increasing the popularity of Trotskyist communism. Over 3 years later, as the Second American Revolution highlighted, she lead the November Revolution, capturing Washington D.C. and signing the New American Constitution, declaring independence from the United States. This started the Second American Civil War in 1932, which lasted for the next 6 years. This clash between communism and capitalism in America sparked a "Red Scare" around the world. In 1938, the United States officially surrendered to communist forces. Following surrender, the old United States was dissolved, and in its place the United Socialist Republics of America was formally established. It quickly seized the United States territory of Alaska, with Alaskan socialists easily overthrowing the Alaskan government. Alaska was then annexed as the "Democratic Socialist Republic of Alaska". Most of the remaining United States territories such as Cuba, declared independence. With the city of Washington, D.C. annexed into the Democratic Socialist Republic of Maryland, America was now comprised of 50 republics.

Creating a workers' state at home and abroad: The Leslie Era
Under Leslie's leadership, massive campaigns were launched that greatly increased the percentage of Americans in the working class, which boosted the new country's economy, as well as redistributing wealth and political power equally among the people, temporarily ending the system of social classes. Shortly afterward, in 1942, Leslie abolished the US Dollar without creating a new currency, making America a moneyless society. Despite her belief in Trotskyism, Leslie heavily pushed for individual rights, believing individualism was key to achieving communism. She believed the only purpose of a national government was to distribute resources among the republics, and that by giving a large amount of power to the republics, they would supposedly provide jobs, money, and housing for each individual. As a result, the constitution she crafted gave a large amount of power to the republics, based on the Articles of Confederation, which she believed failed due to the "primitive times" in which it was crafted. However, it failed, as many republics either became corrupt authoritarian regimes or violent lawless environments. Leslie was forced to reform the constitution to give more power to the national government. At the same time, attempts to lead socialist revolutions in former United States territory failed, convincing Leslie to wait until the country was stable to lead revolutions. In 1941, after stabilizing, America declared war on Germany, recognizing Nazism as anti-communism and thus the threat to the working class. In response, Japan declared war on America and began an invasion of Hawaii. Following the collapse of Nazi Germany, America detonated two nuclear bombs on Japan, forcing their surrender in 1945. Germany was then divided among the Allies: Britain, France, Russia, and America. While the British, French, and Russian-occupied areas were reunified, the America-occupied section was transformed into an independent nation: the German Democratic Republic. This lead to a brief civil war, after which the entire country was reunified. Japan was left to America's control. Americans began supplying Japanese communists with weapons and assisting them in overthrowing the government, with the hope of incorporating it as the 51st republic.

Following the execution of Emperor Hirohito in 1947, the Japanese Civil War broke out. The Japanese Empire fell, and Japanese revolutionaries founded the Democratic People's Republic of Japan. America supported this new nation, giving it supplies and military support it required. The American-Japanese Split in 1953 caused this alliance to deteriorate, when the country developed its own form of communism, called "全自立" (translated "total self-reliance"), that transformed the country into a totalitarian dictatorship and refused to join America. The failure of Sarah Leslie to create a democratic government in Japan was universally seen as an embarrassment, and Leslie lost most of her support at home and abroad. Japan and America retained a partial alliance, the "Communist League", which would be dissolved in the 1970s. In the final two years of her term President Leslie's approval ratings collapsed, prompting the initiation of emergency Reforms.

An enduring star: Progress, and Pacifism
The Reforms of 1954 introduced a new set of laws intended to prevent corruption and authoritarianism in the government, such as limiting future presidents to serving only 5 terms (10 years) and limiting members of the People's Council to serving a maximum of 13 years. When the American-Japanese Split ended in 1971, America's alliance with Japan was severed, allowing American-Russian relations to improve. On October 14, 1986, the world saw a thawing in the Cold War when America joined the World Economy. The Cold War ended in 1991 with the dissolution of the American Workers' Party, allowing American-Russian relations to improve and fully bringing America out of isolation. The fall of the American Workers' Party has lead to protests nationwide, which continue to this day. "The Internationale" was officially discontinued as the national anthem on January 13 of the following and the "Song of the Union of Friendship and Labor" was adapted in its place on February 27, 1992, symbolically marking the "end of Leslie's party".

In 2012, America joined the American Collective, a political and economic union of countries in North America, identical to the European Union and Asian Alliance. As a result, America, which had not been using money from 70 years, adopted the Continental Credit, the currency of the American Collective. Janet Kim passed the Reforms of 2015, which allowed private ownership in an attempt to both stabilize its economy, and renounced America's right to declare war, in an attempt to gain allies. Today, American citizens enjoy the second-highest standard of living, the fifth-lowest infant mortality rate, the world's largest industry, the seventh-least corrupt and tenth-most stable government. In modern times, America benefits from a prosperous economy, a rapidly growing population, and a large arsenal of nuclear weapons, but suffers from an unorganized military and lack of international support. It is ranked as one of the most liberal and democratic countries in the world, along with China, Korea, and Norway.

Form of Government
The United Socialist Republics of America is structured as a federation; a union between "socialist republics", usually referred to simply as "republics", forming the country. Each republic is run by a "Council of Workers", more commonly known as a "Workers' Council". The members of a Workers' Council are democratically elected by the citizens of a republic who are not running for political office. Most republics use a system of preferential voting is used to determine the victors of these elections, though a few, particularly underpopulated ones, use a system of first-past-the-post voting. The number of members of the council and timing of the elections is determined by each republic, resulting in wide difference between when these elections are held in each republic, ranging from as little as 5 months to 8 years between elections. Council members are required to work when the council is not in session, to ensure government officials are working members of society. While non-workers are prohibited from holding office, as the uphold the "dictatorship of the proletariat", the government bans capitalists and anarchists from holding office as well, without an official explanation. Each Workers' Council democratically elects 3 of its members to be representatives of their republic to the legislative branch of America. The main purpose of the national government is to administer resources to the republics, as each republic is given the right to self-governance.

Despite this, the national government possess the power to override the decisions of a republic's government, though this can only be done if the supreme court determines the act to be unconstitutional or the majority of republics vote in favor of vetoing such decisions. This is done to insure each republic adheres to the nation's constitution. This system is intended to give each republic a restricted amount of control of its neighbors, while maintaining their control over themselves. Republics cannot legally succeed from the union, unless all 3 branches of government unanimously vote in favor of Article 24 of the Constitution. Even if this did happen, it would not guarantee the dissolution of the nation, as the republic would then have to agree to leaving in order to achieve its own independence. It is intended for this to happen for a true communist utopia to be established though the creation of a stateless society, but because only 5 republics are truly self-reliant, this has never happened and likely never could. For most of its history, America has been decentralized, with large amount of power being vested in the republics. However, the restricted power of the national government prevented it from fully distributing resources, specially food, completely among its citizens, as it was unable to enforce businesses in to giving resources to it. As a result, many citizens in resource-poor republics are underfeed, even when living in a well-maintained house and have the same amount of money as citizens in resource-rich republics. As a result, since Sarah Leslie's death, centralists have become increasingly popular, with the current President and most Supreme Court members believing in centralization. Janet Kim has successfully centralized the American government, forcing businesses into giving resources into the government and thus assist citizens in resource-poor regions.

Branches of government
The national government is comprised of 3 branches: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. The legislative branch is comprised of the unicameral "Council of the People of the United Socialist Republics of America", more commonly referred as the "People's Council of America" or simply the "People's Council". The People's Council possess more power than the executive branch of America, the "President of the People of the United Socialist Republics of America", both referred to as the "People's President of America" or simply the "People's President". The People's President is elected through direct democracy, using a preferential voting system. Originally, America used a first-past-the-post voting system to determine the candidate that became president, though since 1983, elections have consistently narrowed 5 finalists for president, ranging from the far left to moderate right. As a result, Amendment 14 was added to the constitution, changing the voting system from first-past-the-post to preferential, in order to better represent the people. This system remained in place even after the dissolution of the American Workers' Party. The People's President mainly serves as an ambassador between the People's Council and the people of the country, with political power mainly limited to advisory powers, being able only to propose laws and constitutional amendments to the People's Council. The country's ambassador is selected by the "Supreme Court of the People of the United Socialist Republics of America", more commonly known as the "People's Supreme Court", though this choice can be overridden by the People's Council. The national government does not possesses a system of "checks and balances"; the legislative branch is the most powerful section of government. New laws are first bought before the Supreme Court to determine its constitutionality, after which the People's Council votes on whether to pass it or not.

Political parties
American politics is dominated by 3 parties: the left-wing American Communist Party, the People's Democratic Socialist Party, and the right-wing United States Revival Party. The American Communist Party is the most popular party in America and is the only major communist party in the world that espouses Marxism-Trotskyism. The American Workers' Party, sometimes shortened as the "Workers' Party", was originally the sole official party of America, though it was incredibly loose, large, and decentralized. The Workers' Party held a monopoly on power, controlling each branch of government. Other political parties could have been formed legally, and elect their own candidates, though these parties were banned from holding office. This system was intended to promote unity among individuals with differing opinions, with political discourse working out the flaws with communism and allowing everyone to work together under the banner of socialism to create an absolute communist utopia worldwide. Unfortunately, disagreements among party members divided the party rather than uniting it. Sarah Leslie, America's founder, manged to prevent complete collapse of party member relations.

Following Sarah Leslie's death on February 28, 1986, differences between party members began to increase once again. Even before her death, the rise of nationalism in America lead to a new ideology that became popular within the Workers' Party, referred to as "Socialism in One Country". This ideology is the exact opposite of the theory of "Permanent Revolution", as it states that communist-controlled nations (specifically America) should only work to sustain and improve themselves. This is the opposite of Permanent Revolution, which states communist nations should make every attempt to create communist governments in other countries. Socialism in One Country states that America can only survive through economic and political supremacy, which can only be done through work to improve the living conditions for its own citizens combined with peaceful negotiation efforts to gain capitalist nations as allies.

The Workers' Party became divided among supporters of Permanent Revolution and supporters of Socialism in One Country. Just 5 years after Leslie's death, this division within the party become too much to bear, and it split into 3 separate parties. By 1991, it became clear that the collapse of the American Workers' Party was inevitable. On May 26, 1991, Samuel Allen added Amendment 15 to the constitution, which allowed political parties other than the American Workers' Party to hold office. This was done to prevent the fall of the American government, which most believed would happen when the ruling party disbanded. On December 26, 1991, the People's Council voted to dissolve the American Workers' Party without a legal successor, ending America's status as a single-party state.

Historical Development
America possess a semi-capitalist mixed economy. Originally, its economy was originally a state-controlled planned economy with all businesses and enterprises being state-owned and production of capital goods being planned out by the state. Citizens, regardless of occupation and government position, were required to work for the first 7 years of their adult life. Through the 1930s and 1940s, the country's economy grew with unemployment plummeting from over 50% to below 10%. With unemployment down the economy flourished, and citizen productivity increased. Through the 1950s and 1960s, however, the economy began to stagnate, as resources were drained supporting socialist revolutions in foreign countries. Through the 1970s and 1980s, the economy began to gradually decline as many American products were of little value. The Reforms of 1986 were passed by Samuel Allen, which began to integrate America into the World Economy, changing it from a highly centralized planned economy to a mainly decentralized one. Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, state-owned industries were gradually transferred to the public, as the economy became less nationalized.

America's mixed economy
Janet Kim passed the Reforms of 2015, fully reforming America's economy to a mixed economy, with the intention of creating a post-capitalist economy in America. These reforms banned state-owned industries, forcing existing ones to either privatize or become public property. In its current form, the American economy is built on the both capitalist and communist principles. General resources are disturbed to citizens based on needs rather than greed, but the specifics of those resources are chosen by citizens based on their personal greed rather than needs. American citizens are still required to work for a certain amount of time, though this decreases as the population grows. Currently, American citizens are subjected to a 3-day work week, as well as 2 days of volunteer work, though volunteer work is not enforced by the government. Citizens work until the age of 55, after which they are granted retirement by the government. The value of goods can fluctuate according to supply and demand and private property is legal and encouraged by the government. Businesses and enterprises can be both privately and publicly owned, but state-owned ones are illegal. Private businesses are owned by individuals and public ones are owned by the people as a whole, rather than an individual. Private businesses are controlled by individuals, while public ones are controlled a democratically elected council comprised of its workers. Public industries are owned by the entire population of the country, by are maintained and controlled by the local community around it. Because of how transactions in America function, those in charge of private businesses are mostly citizens going into retirement. Private businesses are significantly more regulated by the government than public industries, which are very unregulated. However, all privately-owned businesses are required to gradually become publicly-owned ones, as a method of bringing the means of production into social ownership while maintaining a capitalist-style economy. All industries are required to implement long-term economic planning, though the products they create is determined differently. The owner of a private industry determines the production of its products, whereas public industries use polls to determine the public's opinion on what products they want, and then makes those products accordingly. All businesses, regardless of its owners, are required by law to surrender their profits to the government; the majority of companies are publicly owned due to public stigma against private ownership. Due to profits from businesses being required to be given to the government for redistribution among citizens, many critics describe American businesses is state-owned, even though the government is limited power to enforce this policy.

Transactions and Public Services
The American government follows a "civilians first" policy, putting the value of its citizens above all else. The government provides temporary jobs to unemployed citizens, based on their abilities, until they have found a permanent job and are financially stable. All citizens are given housing, medical care, clean water, food, and education for free, as they pay for these through taxes. Taxes are paid every year on December 31st with Continental Credits, earned from paychecks given by the state for the the citizens' work. Citizens are essentially in a state of perpetual debt, working so they can pay it off and continue their rather luxurious lifestyle. For every months' worth of taxes paid prematurely, citizens are given a "vacation card", which allows for a week-long state-paid vacation to a location of their choosing. Although the American government distributes wealth equally among citizens, and thus income inequality does not exist, a form of class divide does exist under this new system. Citizens working the longest or in extremely dangerous jobs have either the most vacation cards, can be considered the "richest", as they have the most free time. Once citizens have worked for the amount required by the state requires, they are allowed and encouraged by the state, though not required, to retire. Under this system, the American economy recovered and prospered, with American goods increasing and value and the American GDP growing to the largest in the world.