Six Principles US constitution

The United States Constitution is the backbone of our government and it is built around 6 basic principles. The first words of the constitution are we the people. These words describe the first principle, popular sovereignty. This means that the government's power is given to it by the people. The next principle is limited government, similar to popular sovereignty, limited government means that no government is all powerful and it may only perform duties that the people have given it to do. In other words, no one and no government is above the law. Another word for this is constitutionalism. The U.S. government is divided into three branches the legislative executive and judicial. This is the principle of separation of powers. Each branch has its own functions and those functions are reserved for that branch alone. In essence, the legislative branch writes the law, the executive branch enforces the law and the judicial branch interprets the law. Each of these branches can be checked by one another to be sure that no branch becomes too powerful. This is the principle of checks and balances. For example, the president or chief executive may reject or veto any bill written by the legislative branch. Likewise, the judicial branch can determine that a law passed by the legislative and the executive is unconstitutional. This process is known as judicial review. The 6th and final principle is federalism. Federalism means that power is divided between the central government and the state governments. All power that is not granted to the central or federal government is left to the states. It has been over 200 years since the constitution was signed. But we still hold its values very true. I hope that now you have a better understanding of the basic principles of the United States Constitution.