The U.S. Constitution was drafted in 1787 and established 6 major principles: popular sovereignty, where all political power comes from the people; limited government, where government is only given specific powers; separation of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches; checks and balances to limit each branch's power; judicial review allowing courts to determine if laws abide by the Constitution; and federalism dividing power between central and regional governments.

1. U.S. Constitution – Major
Principles
 As the supreme law of the land, you might
expect the Constitution to be long.
 When the founders drafted the Constitution
in 1787, it was only around 7000 words &
could be read in about ½ hour.
 They purposefully didn’t include many
details about how the new government
would work
 The new Constitution was built on 6 major
principles

2. Popular Sovereignty
 “We the People” are the opening words
of the Constitution
 All political power in the U.S. resides in
the people
 People are the source of government
power
 Government can only govern with the
consent of the governed

3. Limited Government
 Government is not all powerful
 Government may only do the things that
the people have given it the power to do
 In the Bill of Rights the founders
strengthened the concept of limited
government power over the people with
the words, “Congress shall make no
law”

4. Separation of Power
 The Constitution distributes the powers
of government among 3 equal branches
 Legislative – Tasked with creation of
laws (Article 1)
 Executive – Tasked with enforcement of
the laws (Article 2)
 Judicial – Tasked with interpretation of
the laws (Article 3)

5. Checks and Balances
Each branch is subject to restraints on their
power by other branches.

6. Judicial Review
 The power of judicial review is the
power of courts to determine
whether what government does is
in accord with what the constitution
provides.
 That means that any laws that the
government creates cannot break
any of our constitutional rights such
as freedom of speech.

7. Federalism
 The principle of federalism is the
division of power among a central
government and several regional
governments.
 By spreading the powers throughout
the different states the Framers of
the constitution built a
stronger, more effective national
government while preserving the
existing states and the concept of
local self government.