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US Constitution
1. The US Constitution was adopted in 1787 after the War of Independence. A constitution is a set of customs, traditions, rules and laws that sets forth the basic way a government is organized and functions. It is very important to understand that having a constitution does not mean that a nation has a constitutional government. If a constitution makes it possible to concentrate power by one or few, it is not the basis of a constitutional government. If a constitution says that the government’s power should be limited but doesn’t mention the ways how to do it, it is not the basis for a constitutional government.
2. In a constitutional government the constitution is a form higher law that must be obeyed by everyone including those in power.
The US Constitution consists of 7 articles and 26 amendments. According to the Founders of the American state a constitution or higher law should have the following characteristics:
it sets forth the basic rights of citizens to life, liberty, and property;
it establishes the responsibility of the government to protect those rights;
it establishes limitations on how those in government use their powers with regard to citizens’ rights and responsibilities, the distribution of resources, the control of conflict;
it establishes the principle of a private domain – which means that there are areas of citizens’ lives that are no business of the government and in which the government cannot interfere;
it can be changed with the consent of the most citizens. This is how the Constitution differs from the ordinary law that governments regularly create and enforce. The US Constitution has 26 amendments, the first 10 are called the Bill of Rights and it was adopted in 1791. The Bill enumerated basic freedoms and guaranteed them and declared what the government was not allowed to do.
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How can the US Constitution be changed?