2. Basic Principles of the Constitution

3. Powers granted to the Government The Constitution sets forth the powers that the citizens of the United States grant to the Federal Government. The Constitution then sets rules for the US government to follow. These rules form six main principles: These principles create a government that serves the people, while preventing the concentration or abuse of power, and respecting the rights of the states. Popular Sovereignty FederalismSeparation of Powers Checks and Balances Judicial Review Limited Government

4. Popular Sovereignty Popular sovereignty means the authority of the government, comes from the people. Examples of popular sovereignty can be seen throughout the Constitution. –Ex. The Preamble states, “We the People of the United States do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.” –This points to the fact that the people themselves are the ones who have given the Constitution its authority to establish the United States. The Constitution also sets the people’s authority by setting up rules for the election of government officials, based on merit not birthright.

5. Federalism The federalist system of the United States divides the powers of government among the national, state, and local governments. To prevent another weak national government (like under the Articles of Confederation) the Constitution prohibits the states from exercising certain powers that belong to the national government. The Constitution also states that the power of the national government is superior to that of the state governments. (Supremacy Clause)

6. Separation of Powers The Founding Fathers were weary of the type of abuses that had occurred in England due to the concentration of power. They designed the Constitution to divide the duties of government among three branches. The first three articles of the Constitution list the responsibilities of each branch: –Article I - Legislative Branch –Article II - Executive Branch –Article III - Judicial Branch

7. Checks and Balances Not only does the Constitution prevent the concentration of power in any one branch, it also gives each branch the authority to check (restrain) the powers of the other two branches. The system of checks and balances then forces each branch to consider the opinions and actions of the other branches.

9. Executive and Legislative Checks The system of checks and balances is taken into consideration by both the executive and legislative branches when they make policy. The executive branch holds a very important check called the veto. The president can veto or reject legislation, approved by Congress. So congressional leaders meet with members of the executive branch to reach agreement on legislation before it is passed. However, the veto can be overridden by a 2/3 vote of both houses of Congress.

10. Judicial Review The judicial branch has its own means to balance the other two branches, known as judicial review. Judicial review is the power of the courts to declare the constitutionality of a law or other government action. A law that is found to violate any part of the Constitution is said to be unconstitutional. (Marbury vs. Madisen) Unconstitutional laws cannot be enforced by the government and are void. But the Supreme Court is also limited. It can only review cases in which the constitutionality is a question.

11. Limited Government A government with unlimited power cannot truly serve the will of the people. Therefore the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution to establish the limits of government. (Bill of Rights) The Constitution then limits government, by establishing guidelines for how the government may act.