Features of US Constitution

i)Written, enacted and ratified: The US Constitution is one of the two oldest written
Constitutions of the world. It was made by the Philadelphia convention (1787) after
extensive deliberation by the representatives of the people of 13 states. From the day of its
inauguration on May 25th, 1787 till the final passing of the constitution on September 15
1787, the constitution framers worked day and night to give a written, acceptable, desired
and popular constitution.

Before the inauguration of the constitution, it was submitted for ratification to the 13 states,
which were to join the federation and form the United States of America as a single
sovereign state. The Constitution became operational on March 4th, 1789. As such, the US
constitution is an adopted and enacted Constitution.

ii)A very brief Constitution: The Us Constitution consist of just 7 Articles , and only 27
Amendments as it is small booklet of just 15 pages containing only 4 thousand words, If we
add the Amendment the total number of words become 6 thousand. The Constitution
makers made it brief because of several reasons. They believe that a lengthy Constitution
could be a source of controversies resulting from every interpretation. Further they wanted
to give to the nation the basic framework for organizing the government of the United
States and let it evolve in the environment. Its loyalty has really helped it to mould itself I
accordance with the changes in its environment.

iii) Faith in Popular Sovereignty: The United States Constitution places full faith in and
accepts the concept of popular sovereignty. It clearly affirms in its preamble that people are
the real and ultimate source of all power. All authority emanates from the people and is
accountable to them. It is through free, fair secret and regular election that the people
exercise their sovereign power and choose their representatives. The representatives
exercise authority on behalf of the people and for a fixed term after which they have to seek
a fresh popular mandate.

iv) Very Rigid Constitution: The American Constitution is a very rigid constitution. The
process of Amendment of the constitution is a difficult one. There are two stages in the
Amendment process. First, the proposal for an Amendment has to be initiated and passed
either by the 2/3rd majority of both the houses of the congress or by a special Constitutional
Convention told by Congress when asked by 2/3rd of the several state legislatures. Secondly,
after clearing the first stage, the Amendment has to secure a ratification either by the 3/4 th
of the several state legislatures or by special conventions in 3/4th states, only then it
becomes a part of the constitution. So rigidity of the Amending process is evident from the
fact that only 27 Amendments have been so far made in the constitution.

v) A large number of Conventions: There are almost as many conventions in the United
States of America as there are in Britain. The brevity and rigidity of the American
Constitution have been together responsible for creating situations which have given rise to
many conventions. The institution of the presidential cabinet, the office of the Speaker of
the House of Representatives Senatorial Courtesy, direct election of the president, party
system etc. have all originated and continue to function through conventions. Conventions
have played an important and crucial role in the evolution of the Constitution.

Vi) Constitution as the Supreme Law: In the United States, the thesis of the supremacy of
the constitution stand accepted by one and all. The government of the United States derives
all its powers from the constitution. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land. No one
can violate it. The Supreme Court protects the supremacy of the constitution by exercising
the power to reject any law or policy which finds it against the spirit of the constitution. No
state constitution can contain any provision against the US constitution. In case a state law
controverts the constitution, that law is declared unconstitutional and invalid by the
Supreme Court.

vii) Bill of Rights: At the time of its making, the Us Constitution did not contain a formal Bill
of Rights. It was o the account that some states criticised the constitution. To meet this
demand 10 Amendments were made in the constitution and a Bill of Rights was
incorporated in it. These 10 Amendments together constitute the Bill of Rights of the
American people. The Supreme Courts acts as the guardian, protector of the rights of the
people. The people enjoy the right to freedom of expression and press, religious freedom,
right to equality, right to freedom, right to property and several other rights.

viii)Federal Constitution: The United States is a federation of 50 states. The Philadelphia

ix) Separation of powers as the basic principle: The constitution framers accepted the
concept of separation of powers as the ideal device for securing a limited Government
incapable of behaving arbitrarily. Article 1 states that the legislative powers of the
federation shall be in the hands of the Congress. Article 2 place down that the executive
power shall be with the president of the United States and Article 3 vests the judicial powers
in one Supreme Court and other inferior Courts created by the Congress. Each of these
organs of the US Government has been kept separate from the other two.

x) Checks and Balances: While accepting and incorporating the concept of separation of
powers, the makers of the US Constitution were also conscious of the fact that absolute
separation in neither possible nor desirable. This could lead to an unhealthy deviation of
powers and each organ behaves arbitrarily in its own sphere. To prevent this, they created a
system of mutual checks and balances among the three organs of government. Each organ
was given a checking power over the other two organ.
xi)Democratic Republic: The Constitution provides for a democratic republic. The people are
the source of all power and authority. They elect their government through election. The
people elect their representative for the House of Representatives, the Senate and the
respective State Legislatures. The Governors od-s several states and the president and vice
president of the United States are elected by the people for a fixed term. The struggle for
power is open and free. A large number of interest group is active in politics. People enjoy
fundamental rights and freedom. The head of the state is an elected person who has a
definite and fixed tenure. Thus, the USA is a democratic republic.

xii) Presidential form of Government: It has been at work in the United States. The
constitution framers decided to have a government which was strong and yet limited. They
adopted the separation of powers between the legislature and the executive and decided to
make the judiciary a fully independent judiciary. Each organ was given a fixed tenure and
the right to dissolve was not given to the other organs. Neither the president was made
responsible to the Congress nor the latter was made subordinate to the former.

Xiii) Bi-cameral Legislature: The Constitution accepts bicameralism. The US Congress is a bi-
cameral. The lowers house is a directly elected house and consists of 435 representatives of
the people. It has a fixed but short tenure of only two years. The upper house of the
Congress is the senate which consist of 100 members. Two senators are elected by each of
the 50 States which form the US Federation. It represents the state of the US Federation.
The Senate is a quasi-permanent house and 1/3rd of its members retire after every two
years. Each senator has tenure of six years.

14) Senate as the strongest second chamber: The US senate, despite being the upper house
of the Us Congress, is more powerful than the lower house. The senate has equal powers
with the House of Representatives in the spheres of ordinary law making and amendment of
the constitution. In the sphere of financial legislation, the senate has the final saying. It is
the senate which has been given the special role checking exercise of powers by the
president. The appointments and treaties made by the president become operative only
after these gets an approval of the senate.

15) Dual Judicial System: The constitution provides for dual judicial system. Along with the
Federal Judiciary which is headed by the US Supreme Court consist of several other federal
______, each state has its own judicial inculcates and applies the federal laws and ach state
judiciary interprets and advice the laws of its state only.

16) Independence of Judiciary: The courts in the USA, whether Federal or State Courts, are
independent of the control of the legislature and the executive. All the features essential for
an independent judiciary are present in the US judicial system. The judges of the Supreme
Court are appointed by the president with the approval of the senate. The judges have high
qualification, they get good salaries and other service benefits, they held office for a very
long tenure and they can be removed from office only through a difficult process of
impeachment. As such, the USA has an independent and well organized judicial system.

17) Judicial Review Power of the Supreme Court: The supremacy of the constitution is the
feature of the constitution. The US Supreme Court enjoys the position of being the guardian
and final interpreter of the Constitution. It has the power to finally determine the meaning
and scope of the constitutional provisions. It is the power of the Court to review the laws of
the Congress and the measures of the President can come before it during the force of
litigation. If it finds any law or any part of law or measure unconstitutional rejects the same.

18) The US Constitution provides for a dual citizenship: Each American enjoys common
citizenship of the USA as well the citizenship of the state which he belong. In other words,
he is a citizen in which he is domiciled as well as the citizen of the USA.

19)Bi-party System: The freedom to form associations and political parties is an important
fundamental right of the people of the US. There can be several political parties in the
political system. Despite the aversion of the founding fathers of the US constitution to the
concept of organized political parties, the US political system has naturally provided and
opportunity for the rise and development of several political parties, two of which have
come to be the dominant and major parties. ________

20) Separate Constitution for each State of the Federation: The Constitution accepts the
rights of each state of the federation who have its own constitution. All the 50 States have
their separate constitutions. All these constitutions provide for a Democratic-republican
system of Government. They are the salient features of the United States. All these features
were designed by the Constitution framers to meet the needs of the American people. They
accepted the spirit of the democratic system which was at work but preferred _______. In
accordance with fabric that was at the disposal age and the need that they wanted to meet.