The document discusses the six basic principles of the US Constitution: Popular Sovereignty, which holds that the power to govern belongs to the people; Separation of Powers, which divides government among branches; Checks and Balances, a system where each branch limits the others' power; Federalism, which allocates powers between national and state governments; Supremacy of National Laws, where federal law overrides state law; and Civilian Control of Government, ensuring elected officials control the military. It provides details on each principle and how they are reflected in the Constitution.

1. Aim: What role does
the Constitution play in
shaping and protecting
its citizens?
12.1.5

2. What are the six basic principles of
the Constitution?
- Popular Sovereignty
- Separation of Powers
- Checks and Balances
- Federalism
- Supremacy of National Laws
- Civilian Control of Government

3. What is Popular Sovereignty?
- Popular Sovereignty: the power to govern belong to
the people.
- Several provisions in the Constitution ensure popular
sovereignty.
- The members of the House of Representatives need
to be elected directly by the people.
- It also guarantees each state a “republican form of
government”.

4. What is Separation of Powers?
- The framers of the Constitution wanted to create a strong
central government.
- To prevent the concentration of power in the hands of few,
the delegates adopted the idea of separation of powers.
- Separation of Powers: the division of
governmental power among separate branches

5. What is Checks and Balances?
- The delegates wanted to be sure that no one branch
could act completely without restraints. Therefore
they set up the system of checks and balances.
- Checks and Balances: a system under which
each branch of government limits the power of
the other branches.

6. What is Checks
and Balances?

7. What is Federalism?
- To solve the problem between the National
Government and the State Government, the delegates
created federalism.
- Federalism: some powers are given (delegated)
to the national government, and some powers
are kept (reserved) by the states.

9. What is Supremacy of National Laws?
- The framers anticipated that national laws and state
laws might sometimes contradict each other so they
added the Supremacy Clause.
- Supremacy Clause: declares that where the
national government has constitutional authority,
the states may not challenge or contradict it.
- All state courts must uphold national laws.

10. What is Supremacy of National Laws?
- Judicial Review: The power of the courts to declare
national, state or local acts of government invalid.
- All federal and most state courts may exercise judicial
review, but the United States Supreme Court remains
the ultimate authority on what is or is not
constitutional.

11. What is Civilian Control of
Government?
- The delegates included numerous safeguards in the
Constitution to ensure that elected government
officials would control the military.
- A president is the Commander-in-chief of
the armed services.
- Congress alone can declare war and approve
money for defense spending.