The United States Constitution

Constitution Outlined Preamble – Short Introduction Article I – Legislative Branch Article II – Executive Branch Article III – Judicial Branch Article IV – Relationships between States Article V – Amending the Constitution Article VI – Constitution is the Supreme National Law Article VII – Ratification Process

Six Basic Principles Popular Sovereignty – the government gets all of its power from the people. Limited Government – gov’t can only do the things that the people have given them power to do. Separation of Powers – Each branch (legislative, executive, judicial) has their own distinct job descriptions.

Six Basic Principles Checks and Balances – each branch is provided duties to check the power of the other branches…prevents an imbalance of power. Judicial Review – The power of the courts (USSC in particular) to determine whether government is working within its Constitutional means. Federalism – Sharing of power between a central government and several (50 state) governments.