Лекция: The Constitution

The American Constitution is based on the doctrine of the separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judiciary. The respective government institutions – The Presidency, Congress and the Courts – were given limited and specific powers; and a series of checks and balances, whereby each branch of government has certain authority over the others, were also included to make sure these powers were not abused. Government power was further limited by means of a dual system of government, in which the federal government was only given the powers and responsibilities to deal with problems facing the nation as a whole (foreign affairs, trade, control of the army and navy, etc.). The remaining responsibilities and duties of government were reserved to the individual state governments.

Article V allowed for amendments to be made to the Constitution (once passed by a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress and then ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states). The Constitution finally ratified by all thirteen states in 1791 already contained ten amendments, collectively known as the Bill of Rights (the freedom of religion, speech and the press, etc.), to protect the citizens against possible tyranny by the federal government. So far only twenty-seven amendments have been made to the Constitution.