Guam is an unincorporated, organized territory of the United States. It is "unincorporated" because not all provisions of the U.S. Constitution apply to the territory. Guam is "organized" because Congress provided it with the Organic Act of 1950, which organized the government much as a constitution would.
The Guam Organic Act currently provides a republican form of government with locally elected executive and legislative branches and an appointed judicial branch. Guam also has one elected representative to Congress. Currently serving in that position is the Honorable Robert Underwood. He possesses the same powers and privileges as Representatives from the States, with the exception of not voting on the House floor.
Our government structure is very much like where you live. Our governor right now is the Honorable Carl T.C. Gutierrez who was elected in 1994 and reelected in 1998 with the Lieutenant Governor Madeleine Z. Bordallo. There was much debate over the outcome of the 1998 election and recently his opponents took it on to the Supreme Court and Gutierrez and Bordallo were officially declared the winners.
The legislative branch has 21 members who are elected every two years. The executive branch includes a territorial court and an U.S. District Court. Appeals, such as the governor's race, first go to San Francisco, and then onto the Supreme Court.
Another unknown is that the people of Guam are unable to vote in the Presidential Election. They are trying hard to change that and I think that it is only fair. Either way, politics are always exciting on Guam.
