The Constitution of the United States

CH 3.1 Principles & Structure

The Establishment of a Republic

• Power held by voting citizens

• Power exercised by elected representatives

Importance of educated citizens

Representative democracy

Flexible Document

• Founders left it to later generations to work out details

Major Principles of the Constitution

Popular Sovereignty

• The people establish government and are the source of its power.

• Note the Preamble says “We the people… establish this government.”

Limited Government

• Government powers are restricted to protect individual rights.

• Rule of law- The government and its officers are always subject to, and never above, the law.

Separation of Powers

• The power to govern is divided among executive, legislative, and judicial branches to prevent the concentration and abuse of power by any one branch

Checks and Balances

• Each branch of government has the authority to check, or restrain, some powers of the other two branches.

Judicial Review

• The judiciary has the power to strike down laws and government actions as invalid under the Constitution.

• This power is not spelled out in the Constitution, but was implied by the Framers

It was established by the Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison in 1803

Federalism

• The rights of the states are protected by dividing powers between the national government and the state governments

This is a compromise to allow citizens to manage their own local affairs but provides national structure and cohesion without too strong of a national government

The Structure of the Constitution

Three Parts

1. Preamble

• Provides an introduction• Explains the purpose of the document

2. Articles

• Article I– legislative branch Creates the legislative branch Describes Congress’ makeup & rules

• Article II- executive branch Creates the executive branch Describes election procedures of the

President and Vice President Describes the President’s power’s

and duties

• Article III- judicial branch Creates the judicial branch Lays out the structure of the judiciary

and describes its’ powers

• Article IV- federalism Describes the relationship between

states Defines states’ relationship with the

national government

• Article V- amending the Constitution Describes how the Constitution can be

amended (changed)

• Article VI- “the supremacy clause” Says the Constitution and laws passed by

Congress are the Supreme law of the land

• Article VII- ratification Explains that the Constitution would

become law when ratified by 9 of the states

3. The Amendments