The Founding Fathers understood that direct democracy was impractical in a country as large as the United States. They also did not trust the mass of common people to vote directly on important political decisions. Thus, they made the United States a representative democracy in which the people elect respected citizens to make decisions on their behalf.
The Constitution created regular elections in which citizens choose representatives for the national government.
However, the original rules allowed the public to directly elect only members of the House of Representatives. State legislatures selected the senators, and the president would choose federal judges with Senate approval.
For the presidential election, the Framers devised the Electoral College. Instead of electing the president directly, citizens vote for presidential electors, officials who represent their state and select the president. This system is still in effect today.
Today, with a few minor exceptions, nearly all adult US citizens can vote. Even now, however, the United States has not perfected democracy.
In many presidential elections, barely half of those with voting rights actually cast a ballot, and there are frequent reports of people being erroneously disqualified from voting. In congressional, state, and local elections, even fewer people bother to vote.
"The accumulation of
all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether one, a few, or many . . . may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny."
—Federalist Paper Number 47
The Framers firmly believed in the idea of the separation of powers. The phrase "separation of powers" refers to a government system in which power is shared, usually between three branches.
The US Constitution divides the national government between the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. Congress, which has the authority to pass laws, makes up the legislative branch. The president, who possesses executive authority, implements the laws passed by Congress. The judicial branch, which consists of the Supreme Court and lower courts, interprets laws and decides what is constitutional.
In addition to dividing the powers of the government, the Framers also gave each branch the power to stop or influence the actions of the other branches. This power to interfere established a system of checks and balances.
Under the system of checks and balances, the president has the power to appoint the members of the Supreme Court. The president also has the power to call a special session of Congress and the power to veto, or reject, laws passed by the legislature.
Congress on the other hand, has the power to override the president's veto with a two-thirds majority vote. Congress holds the final power to fund presidential initiatives and can approve presidential nominees to the Supreme Court and other positions. If the president or a judge does something illegal, Congress also has the authority to remove officials through the process of impeachment.
The Supreme Court primarily exerts the power of judicial review. If the court decides that a law passed by Congress or an action of the president goes against the Constitution, it can declare that law or action unconstitutional and nullify it.
Federalism refers to how governing powers are shared between nation, state, and local governments. The Articles of Confederation, which structured the first government of the United States, gave all power to the states, making the national government too weak to run the country.
Under the federal system, states run most of their affairs, but the national government takes precedence in many matters.
Like separation of powers, federalism divides the authority of the government. Under the new federal system, the Constitution gave the national, or federal, government significant powers and granted the states some authority within their own borders.
The states and the federal government share responsibility in some areas, including taxation, where both have the power to tax. You may have noticed that people pay state taxes, such as sales taxes, and federal taxes, such as the federal income tax.
Federalism provides a compromise between the centralism of the British system and the loose affiliation experienced under the Articles of Confederation. Although the states retained much of their earlier authority, the Constitution increased the power held by the central government.
England, along with many other European countries, maintained an official religion, the Church of England. Many early colonists came to America fleeing religious persecution in their own country.
The religious freedom clause of the First Amendment actually contains two pillars. It states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . ."
The first pillar prohibits the government from establishing an official religion. That means that the government cannot support one religious group over another.
The second pillar prohibits the government from interfering with the "free exercise" of religion. The government cannot make laws that prohibit or limit the practice or expression of religious beliefs.
The Founders based the religion clause on the principle of separation of church and state, which holds that government should not involve itself in religious matters.
Despite the First Amendment, the government does involve itself in religion, though sometimes in subtle ways. For example, the government provides tax breaks for churches, works with religious charities, and appoints military chaplains to serve the religious needs of the US military forces.
In 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment forbade the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol in the United States. This amendment greatly divided people's opinions. During the 1920s, black markets developed for alcohol, leading to smuggling in the United States. [The video shows government officials destroy alcohol during prohibition.]
After 14 years, Congress repealed the Eighteenth Amendment. The Twenty-First Amendment, passed in 1933 stated, "The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed." The Eighteenth Amendment remains the only amendment to have been repealed.
Adopted in 1971, the Twenty-Sixth Amendment lowered the legal voting age from 21 to 18. Today all adult US citizens ages 18 and older, other than convicted felons and certain others, have the right to vote.