1. Structure
   • The Preamble sets forth the goals of the government.
   • The seven articles are the main divisions in the body of the Constitution, each article covering a general topic.
     • Article I - The Legislative Branch
     • Article II - The Executive Branch
     • Article III - The Judicial Branch
     • Article IV - The States
     • Article V - Amendment
     • Article VI - Debts, Supremacy, and Oaths
     • Article VII - Ratification
   • The ammendments, which provide for changes in the original document, are the third part of the Constitution.
     • Amendment I - Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, Petition (1791)
     • Amendment II - Right to Bear Arms (1791)
     • Amendment III - Quartering of Troops (1791)
     • Amendment IV - Search and Seizure (1791)
     • Amendment V - Grand Jury, Double Jeopardy, Self-Incrimination, Due Process (1791)
     • Amendment VI - Criminal Prosecutions - Jury Trial, Right to Confront and to Counsel (1791)
     • Amendment VII - Common Law Suits - Jury Trial (1791)
     • Amendment VIII - Excess Bail or Fines, Cruel and Unusual Punishment (1791)
     • Amendment IX - Non-Enumerated Rights (1791)
     • Amendment X - Rights Reserved to States (1791)
     • Amendment XI - Suits Against a State (1795)
     • Amendment XII - Election of President and Vice-President (1804)
     • Amendment XIII - Abolition of Slavery (1865)
     • Amendment XIV - Privileges and Immunities, Due Process, Equal Protection, Apportionment of Representatives, Civil War Disqualification and Debt (1868)
     • Amendment XV - Rights Not to Be Denied on Account of Race (1870)
     • Amendment XVI - Income Tax (1913)
     • Amendment XVII - Election of Senators (1913)
     • Amendment XVIII - Prohibition (1919)
     • Amendment XIX - Women's Right to Vote (1920)
     • Amendment XX - Presidential Term and Succession (1933)
     • Amendment XXI - Repeal of Prohibition (1933)
     • Amendment XXII - Two Term Limit on President (1951)
     • Amendment XXIII - Presidential Vote in D.C. (1961)
     • Amendment XXIV - Poll Tax (1964)
     • Amendment XXV - Presidential Succession (1967)
     • Amendment XXVI - Right to Vote at Age 18 (1971)
     • Amendment XXVII - Compensation of Members of Congress (1992)
    
2. Major Principles
   • Popular sovereignty, or rule by the people, is the cornerstone of the Constitution.
   • Federalism, in which power is divided between national and state governments, is the government's basic structure.
     • In practical terms, the single most important feature of the Constitution is probably the federal system it created.
     • A federal system is one in which a national government exercises at least some coordinating authority over the governments in smaller jurisdictions within the larger borders of that nation.
       • Critics of the Constitution complained that the system established by the Constitution was not a federal one at all but rather a national or unitary one in which the states were wholly subordinate to the national government.
       • Responding to such criticisms, Madison wrote in Federalist Paper 39 that the Constitution established a thoroughly federal system, albeit with some "judicious modifications" of the federal principle. Because it was to be ratified state by state, Madison argued that the Constitution would be federal in its origins. And, given the representation of states in the Senate and the "mixed" manner in which Presidents would be chosen, the composition of the national government would be based on the federal principle.
       • The system of federalism was clearly a key feature of the Constitution at the time of the Founding and it remains an integral component of American government today.
   • The Constitution provides for separation of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
   • Checks and balances, the process by which each branch of government exercises some powers over the others, guarantees that no branch of government will become too powerful.
   • Judicial review, or the power of the courts to overturn laws and actions of national, state, and local governments ensures that laws made by Congress and the states do not violate individual rights.
   • Limited government, in which the Constitution limits government actions by specifying its powers and listing powers it does not have, retains for the people the right to govern themselves.
   • The Constitution is a flexible document. When changes have been necessary, the amendment process provided by the Constitution itself has been available.

Biographies of the 56 signers of the Declaration

One of the most widely held misconceptions about the American system of government is that it is a democracy. In reality, the American Framers were suspicious of democracy and the problems that attended it. In a pure democracy, the people vote directly on every major political question, with the majority determining which course to take. Because there is nothing to prevent the majority from taking the property, liberty or even the lives of the minority in such a system, the Framers believed that democracy was just as likely to result in tyranny as was a monarchy. Indeed, Madison argued, direct democracies have "in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths" (Federalist Paper 10).

Properly understood, the form of government established by the Constitution is not a democracy, but rather a republic. What is a republic? Madison offered this definition:

We may define a republic to be, or at least may bestow that name on, a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people, and is administered by persons holding their offices during pleasure, for a limited period, or during good behavior.

In other words, in a republic, the people elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf in the political process. In a republic, the people do not voice their opinions directly in the policy making process, but rather their views are conveyed through their representatives.

The republican form of government the Framers established is largely intact in the United States, especially at the national level. While Senators are now directly elected by the people (instead of by state legislatures) and several states have enacted provisions allowing for various forms of direct democracy (such as ballot initiatives and referendums), the American system of government is primarily a representative republic, not a democracy.

By design, then, the decisions made by America's political leaders are often different from the will of the majority of the people at any given point in time. Individual political leaders, however, are kept in check through frequent elections. Members of the House of Representatives must face reelection every two years and Senators every six. Presidents serve terms of four years.

By staggering these elections so that there is never a case in which all congressional seats and the presidency are being contested at the same time, it is impossible for a majority faction to take control of the national government through one election.

• Canada
• France
• Japan
• Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
• Switzerland

The Greal Seal has two sides. The obverse side displays a bald eagle, the national bird, in the center. The eagle holds a scroll inscribed E Pluribus unum in its beak. The phrase means "out of many, one" in Latin and signifies one nation that was created from thiteen separate colonies. In one of the eagle's claws is an olive branch and in the other is a bundle of thirteen arrows. The olive branch signifies peace and the arrows signify war.

A shield with thirteen red and white stripes covers the eagle's breast. The eagle alone supports the shield to signify that Americans should rely on their own virtue and not that of other nations. The red and white stripes of the shield represent the states united under and supporting the blue, representing the President and Congress. The color red signifies valor and bravery, the color white signifies purity and innocence, and the color blue signifies vigilance, preseverance, and justice. Above the eagle's head is a cloud that surrounds a blue field containing thirteen stars, which form a constellation. The constellation represents the fact that the new Nation is taking its place among the sovereign powers.

The reverse side contains a thirteen-step pyramid with the year 1776 in Roman numerals at its base. Above the pyramid is the Eye of Providence and the motto Annuit Coeptis, meaning "He [God] favors our undertaking." Below the pyramid, Novus Ordo Seclorum, meaning "New Order of the Ages," is written on a scroll to signify the beginning of the new American era.

The obverse side of the Great Seal is used on postage stamps, military uniforms, U.S. passports, and above the doors of U.S. embassies worldwide. Both sides are present on the one dollar bill.