•       However, there are still parts which are uncodified; there is no mention of important matters such as political parties, primary elections or congressional committees.

•       Some acts of Congress (e.g. War Powers Act 1973) can be considered part of the constitution, in addition to unwritten conventions (e.g. Washington setting the precedent of a two-term presidency – only written down when FDR broke convention in 1940 and 1944).

• After the disaster of the Articles of Confederation, there had to be a compromise between a strong central government and states’ rights – this was to be federalism.
• Out of the Articles of Confederation came the United States of America – e pluribus unum – ‘out of many, one’.
• But nowhere in the constitution is the word ‘federal’ or ‘federalism’ mentioned; it is written in the enumerated powers of the 3 branches of government and the implied powers.
• The Supreme Court was to be the umpire of all disagreements between federal and state governments.

• The framers of the constitution included the principle of Popular Sovereignty in their design of the new government.
• Simply explained, this means that the people rule this country.
• The people elect public officials to represent them in free and frequent elections.
• The Constitution even begins with the words, “We the People…”.

• A theory of government whereby political power is distributed among these branches of government – the legislature, the executive and the judiciary – acting both independently and interdependently.
• As applied to the US government, the theory is better understood as one of ‘shared powers’. It is the institutions of government that are separate, while the powers are shared through an elaborate series of checks and balances.

• The Founding Fathers wanted ‘limited government’, whereby government would only do what was essential, leaving the citizens’ fundamental rights and freedoms as untouched as is possible in an organized and orderly society.
• The Founders wanted to move away from the tyranny of an absolute monarch, and ensure that no government would ignore the rights of individuals.
• The Bill of Rights is an example of how the Constitution limits the powers of the government, by protecting certain inalienable rights of citizens.

• Judicial review is the power of the Supreme Court to declare acts of Congress, or actions of the executive, or acts or actions of state governments unconstitutional, and thereby null and void.
• The power is not mentioned in the Constitution; it “just happened” in the case of Marbury v Madison (1803) when, for the first time, the Supreme Court declared an Act of Congress unconstitutional.
• Judicial review means that the Supreme Court are the interpreters and guardians of the constitution (e.g. the 1^st amendment protects free speech, but the Supreme Court can interpret what is meant by “free speech”).