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Basic Principles Reflected in the U. S. Constitution

BASIC PRINCIPLES / DESCRIPTION / IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THE PRINCIPLE / EXAMPLE OF HOW THE CONSTITUTION REFLECTS THESE PRINCIPLES
Limited Government / Powers of government are restricted by the constitution.
Republicanism / Voters hold the sovereign power and elect representatives to exercise power for them.
Checks and Balances / Each of the three branches of government exercise some control over the others, sharing power among them.
Federalism / Power divided between the national and state governments, limiting central power.
Separation of Powers / Each branch of government has its own responsibility and limitations.
Popular Sovereignty / Authority for government flows from the people and they rule through their representatives.
Individual Rights / Unalienable rights guaranteed to all citizens by the government.

Seven principles of the US Constitution

Limited government is a government where any more than minimal governmental intervention in personal liberties and the economy is not usually allowed by law, usually in a written Constitution. It is closely related to free market libertarianism and some tendencies of liberalism and conservatism in the United States. The theory of limited government contrasts with the idea that government should intervene to promote equality and opportunity through regulation of property and wealth redistribution.

Limited government is a common practice through Western culture. It has roots in Hebraic Law. In Western Civilization, the Magna Carta and the United States Constitution are examples of the limiting of government powers

Added as an afterthought, but today very much a key part of the American Constitution is the Bill of Rights. The Ninth Amendment and the Tenth Amendment summarily spelled out the principle of limited government. Together, these two last Amendments clarify the differences between the rights of the people versus the expressly codified delegated powers of the federal government. The Ninth Amendment codified that the rights of the people do not have to be expressly written in the Constitution to still be retained by the people. In the reverse, though, the Tenth Amendment codified that any delegated powers of the federal government are only authorized to be performed so long as such delegated powers are expressly delegated to the federal government specifically by the U.S. Constitution.

The U.S. Constitution limits the power of the government in several ways. It prohibits the government from directly interfering with certain key areas: conscience, expression and association. Other actions are forbidden to the federal government and are reserved to state or local governments.

Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context. The sometimes contrary definitions are all covered in this article.

Checks and balances

These guarantee that no part of the government becomes too powerful. For example, the legislative branch is in charge of making laws. The executive branch can veto the law, thus making it harder for the legislative branch to pass the law. The judicial branch may also say that the law is unconstitutional and thus make sure it is not a law.

The legislative branch can also remove a president or judge that is not doing his/her job properly. The executive branch appoints judges and the legislative branch approves the choice of the executive branch. Again, the branches check and balance each other so that no one branch has too much power.

Federalism

Sovereignty is divided between the center and the constituent regions. The constitutions of Canada and the United States establish federal states, with power divided between the federal government and the provinces or states. Each of the regions may in turn have its own constitution (of unitary nature). The state or province and the national government have powers which are either shared, granted or denied.

Separation of powers

Constitutions usually explicitly divide power between various branches of government. The standard model, described by the Baron de Montesquieu, involves three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial. Some constitutions include additional branches, such as an auditory branch. Constitutions vary extensively as to the degree of separation of powers between these branches.

Popular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people is the belief that the legitimacy of the state is created by the will or consent of its people, who are the source of every political power. It is closely associated with the social contract philosophers.

Individual rights in the original Constitution

In Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution, there are three key individual rights that are protected:

"The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."

"No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed."

Habeas corpus, which requires an authority to prove to a court why it has cause to hold someone, is a key individual right. A bill of attainder is a bill written to punish one person or group of people. An ex post facto law is one which retroactively makes an act a crime.

Article 3, Section 3 is also very specific about how a charge of treason can be brought, and that only a person convicted of treason can be punished for treason (no "corruption of blood").

Other rights

There are a few other rights that are not directly protected, but which can be protected. Specifically, in Article 1, Section 8, Congress is granted the power to protect the "Writings and Discoveries" of individuals by legislation. These are better known as copyright and patent.

Some other rights are also not directly protected but are inherent. The members of the House of Representatives, for example, are to be elected "by the People of the several States." There must, therefore, be an inherent right of the people to elect Representatives. The 17th Amendment expanded this inherent right to the election of Senators.

The Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights, which is recognized as the first ten amendments to the Constitution, lists many rights of individuals. It is important to note here why the bill of rights was not originally included in the Constitution. Bill of Rights does not grant people the listed rights. The Bill of Rights simply guarantees that the government will not infringe upon those rights. It is assumed that the rights pre-exist. It is an important distinction.