USA

The U.S. Constitution established Americas national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed
certain basic rights for its citizens. It was signed on September 17, 1787, by delegates to the
Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, presided over by George Washington. Under Americas first
governing document, the Articles of Confederation, the national government was weak and states
operated like independent countries. At the 1787 convention, delegates devised a plan for a stronger
federal government with three branchesexecutive, legislative and judicialalong with a system of checks
and balances to ensure no single branch would have too much power. The Bill of Rights10 amendments
guaranteeing basic individual protections such as freedom of speech and religionbecame part of the
Constitution in 1791. To date, there have been a total of 27 constitutional amendments.

NATURE

Nature of democracy
Democracy can be understood as having at least two dimensions:
1) Self-government, that is to say, meaningful participation of individual citizens in the establishment of the
polity in which they live and in its subsequent governance;
2) pluralism, that is to say, the right of every individual to develop for him or herself a way of life and a set of
beliefs and opinions appropriate to it, consistent with agreed upon common norms, and to live accordingly, with
minimum interference on the part of others, including and especially, on the part of government.
Both of these dimensions combine issues of liberty and equality, the twin pillars of democracy. Neither selfgovernment nor pluralism, nor for that matter, liberty and equality, are absolute. Living in society requires the
tempering of all in the face of the realities of the human condition but, for those who believe in them, they
remain not only basic aspirations but basic requirements for the good society.
The problem is that the humanist form of democracy, such as that practiced in much of the rest of the world, operates
from the false concepts of relativism and that everybody is exactly the same. They think in terms of the rights of man, not
the rights of individuals as we do in America.

They then attempt often through state power to create this myth in the real world. This is the source of the conflict in
American politics today in my opinion.
Democracy is only as functional as the nation and culture the voters live in. America was never founded as a democracy,
but a constitutional republic. The Constitution was designed to protect individual liberty from the state - and the irrational
mobs that can sometimes overcome the political system.
The American Revolution where the Founders believed our rights come from God, should never be confused with the
French Revolution where rights come from the state

BASIC FEATURES
(A)FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS

Right to self-determination[1]

Right to liberty[2]

Right to due process of law[2]

Right to freedom of movement[3]

Right to freedom of thought[4]

Right to freedom of religion[4]

Right to freedom of expression[5]

Right to peaceably assemble[6]

Right to freedom of association[7]

*DOCTRINE OF SEPRATION OF POWER

U.S.A.: Usually it is said that the principle of separation of powers finds a good mention in the
Constitution of United States; while the Federal Constitution of the United States of America
does not expressly provide for the principle of separation of powers. Having reliance on the
doctrine of Montesquieu, Madison, the Federalist observed; The accumulation of all powers
legislative, executive and judicial, in the same hands whether of one, a few or many and
whether hereditary, self appointed or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of
tyranny
SECULARLISM
Secular states become secular either upon creation of the state (e.g. United States of America or India) or upon
secularization of the state (e.g. France or Nepal). Movements for lacit in France and for the separation of
church and state in the United States defined modern concepts of secularism. Historically, the process of

secularizing states typically involves granting religious freedom, disestablishing state religions, stopping public
funds to be used for a religion, freeing the legal system from religious control, freeing up the education system,
tolerating citizens who change religion or abstain from religion, and allowing political leadership to come to power
regardless of religious beliefs

AMENDMENTS OF CONSTITUTION

1st

Subject

Date

Date

submitted for

ratification

Ratification

completed

[3]

Ratification
time span[4]

[3]

Prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion,

September 25,

December 15,

2 years

impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech,

1789

1791

2 months

infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably

20 days

assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of

grievances.

2nd

Protects the right to keep and bear arms.

September 25,

December 15,

2 years

1789

1791

2 months
20 days

3rd

Places restrictions on the quartering of soldiers in private homes without the

September 25,

December 15,

2 years

owner's consent, prohibiting it during peacetime.

1789

1791

2 months
20 days

4th

Prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and sets out requirements

September 25,

December 15,

2 years

for search warrants based onprobable cause as determined by a neutral

1789

1791

2 months

judge or magistrate.

5th

20 days

Sets out rules for indictment by grand jury and eminent domain, protects the

September 25,

December 15,

2 years

right to due process, and prohibitsself-incrimination and double jeopardy.

1789

1791

2 months
20 days

6th

Protects the right to a fair and speedy public trial by jury, including the rights

September 25,

December 15,

2 years

to be notified of theaccusations, to confront the accuser, to obtain

1789

1791

2 months

witnesses and to retain counsel.

7th

20 days

Provides for the right to trial by jury in certain civil cases, according

September 25,

December 15,

2 years

to common law.

1789

1791

2 months

20 days

8th

Prohibits excessive fines and excessive bail, as well ascruel and unusual

September 25,

December 15,

2 years

punishment.

1789

1791

2 months
20 days

9th

Protects rights not enumerated in the Constitution.

September 25,

December 15,

2 years

1789

1791

2 months
20 days

10th

Reinforces the principle of federalism by stating that thefederal

September 25,

December 15,

2 years

government possesses only those powers delegated to it by the states or the

1789

1791

2 months

people through the Constitution.

11th

Makes states immune from suits from out-of-state citizens and foreigners not

20 days

March 4, 1794

living within the state borders; lays the foundation for sovereign immunity.

12th

Revises presidential election procedures.

December 9,

February 7,

11 months

1795

3 days

June 15, 1804

6 months
6 days

1803

13th

14th

15th

16th

Abolishes slavery, and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a

January 31,

December 6,

10 months

crime.

1865

1865

6 days

Defines citizenship, contains the Privileges or Immunities Clause, the Due

June 13, 1866

July 9, 1868

2 years

Process Clause, the Equal Protection Clause, and deals with post-Civil

0 months

War issues.

26 days

Prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or previous

February 26,

February 3,

11 months

condition of servitude.

1869

1870

8 days

Permits Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among

July 12, 1909

February 3,

3 years

1913

6 months

the states or basing it on theUnited States Census.

22 days

17th

Establishes the direct election of United States Senators by popular vote.

May 13, 1912

April 8, 1913

10 months
26 days

18th

Prohibited the manufacturing or sale of alcohol within the United States.

December 18,

January 16,

1 year

(Repealed December 5, 1933)

1917

1919

0 months
29 days

19th

Prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on sex.

June 4, 1919

August 18,

1 year

1920

2 months
14 days

20th

Changes the date on which the terms of the President and Vice President

March 2, 1932

(January 20) and Senators and Representatives (January 3) end and begin.

21st

January 23,

10 months

1933

21 days

Repeals the 18th Amendment and prohibits the transportation or importation

February 20,

December 5,

9 months

into the United States of alcohol for delivery or use in violation of applicable

1933

1933

15 days

laws.

22n

Limits the number of times that a person can be elected president: a person

March 24,

February 27,

3 years

cannot be elected president more than twice, and a person who has served

1947

1951

11 months

more than two years of a term to which someone else was elected cannot be

6 days

elected more than once.

23rd

Grants the District of Columbia electors (the number of electors being equal

June 16, 1960

to the least populous state) in theElectoral College.

24th

March 29,

9 months

1961

12 days

Prohibits the revocation of voting rights due to the non-payment of a poll

September 14,

January 23,

1 year

tax or any other tax.

1962

1964

4 months
27 days

25th

Addresses succession to the Presidency and establishes procedures both

July 6, 1965

for filling a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, as well as responding

February 10,

1 year

1967

7 months

to Presidential disabilities.

26th

27th

4 days

Prohibits the denial of the right of US citizens, eighteen years of age or older,

March 23,

to vote on account of age.

1971

Delays laws affecting Congressional salary from taking effect until after the

September 25,

next election of representatives.

1789

July 1, 1971

3 months
8 days

May 7, 1992

202 years
7 months
12 days

How Democratic is the American Constitution? (2001, ISBN 0-300-09218-0, among others) is a book by political scientist Robert A.
Dahl that discusses seven "undemocratic" elements of the United States Constitution.
The book defines "democratic" as alignment with the principle of one person, one vote, also known as majority rule. The author
praises the Framers of the Constitution as "men of exceptional talent and virtue" (p. 7) who made admirable progress in the creation of
their republican government. But Dahl also points out that innovation and change in democratic techniques and ideals continued even
after the Constitution was codified, and the American system has not adopted all of those new ideas. He says that the Founders were
partially constrained by public opinion, which included maintenance of the sovereignty of the thirteen states.