We the People Essay Example

We the People Essay Unit 1 Speech 2: What are the fundamental characteristics of a constitutional government? Â ·In what ways does constitutional government mean limited government? Â ·Describe at least three provisions of the Constitution that provide a means of preventing the abuse or misuse of government power. Explain how these provisions work in our system of government today. The fundamental characteristics of a constitutional government contain of a written document which establishes the rules, rights, and principles of the government. These characteristics are the establishment of individual rights, federalism, higher law, separation of powers, and checks and balances. The establishment of all these rules, rights, and principles are all an important feature towards the constitutional government because they all make up the Constitution. They are all very important when it comes to making up the Constitution and the government. A constitutional government is a limited government through separation of powers and checks and balances. Separating powers is a primary strategy of promoting constitutional or limited government by ensuring that no one individual branch has excessive power that can be abused, it consists of three branches, legislative, judicial, and executive branch. These branches were put forth so that no one branch has more power than the other, thus, checks and balances. Federalism is the power shared between the states and the national government. This limits the government by sharing its powers amongst the states so it would not be a tyrannical government. We will write a custom essay sample on We the People specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on We the People specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on We the People specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer One provision of the Constitution that provides a means of preventing the abuse or misuse of governmental power is checks and balances. Checks and balances give a limit on each branch and its powers by dividing the legislative branch into a bicameral legislature which consists of a Senate and a House of Representatives, the executive branch which the president appoints justices of the Supreme Court and they have to be approved by the U. S Senate, and the judicial branch has no power to make laws only find them or unconstitutional. An example of checks and balances is the two-third vote of Congress to approve a bill that the president has vetoed. Another provision of the Constitution that provides a means of preventing the abuse or misuse of governmental power is higher law which is to be obeyed by the government in the U. S. Constitution. The higher laws were established to protect individual rights. The government cannot use any of its power to take these rights away from any person without due process of law or in times of war. The last but not least provision that prevents the misuse or abuse of governmental power is the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights was put into our Constitution to help each person receive the rights they deserve, and to limit the government’s power in order to secure people’s rights. The Constitution is the highest law in the United States, higher law is used in our government today in every aspect because we live based on the Constitution. Checks and balances is used in our system of government today because they still limit each branch and give them certain powers. The executive branch still can veto bills from the legislature, and the judicial branch still may declare a law constitutional and unconstitutional. The Bill of Rights will always be used in the life of Americans. It is used today by giving U. S. citizens the rights they should receive and limits the governments powers on their rights. We still have these rights today, and in which the government cannot take away without due process of law. Many of these rights are used today to help the citizens better their lives and for them to help better our country. The Constitution consists of many fundamental characteristics which make a constitutional government. The characteristics of such fundaments are higher laws that limits the government. The Constitution is very important for each and everyone. The law provides order and security of one’s rights. Nevertheless, the United States Constitution is made up of laws, rights, and a government. We all must abide by these laws and appreciate the rights we are given through out Constitution.