Society, Culture, Norms and Values
Every society has a culture: a shared way of life that includes language, customs, beliefs and everyday habits, passed down from one generation to the next. Culture is learned, not something people are born with, which is why people raised in different societies can grow up with very different habits and beliefs. Culture is made […]
Key Features of the US Constitution: Reaching a Judgement
Is Madison’s claim that “ambition must be made to counteract ambition” still relevant? The Supreme Court’s tariffs ruling in 2026 shows one ambitious branch is still capable of checking another when a case reaches it. But the immunity ruling, the impoundment stand-off and DOGE’s rapid restructuring of the federal government tell a different story. In […]
Limited Government
Limited government is, again, not a phrase used in the Constitution. It is expressed indirectly through the same mechanisms that create federalism and separation of powers. The federal government is only granted specific, enumerated powers. The rest are reserved to the states and the people under the Tenth Amendment. Certain actions are also forbidden to […]
Bipartisanship
Unlike the other three principles in this section, bipartisanship has no constitutional basis whatsoever. It cannot be enshrined in the text because the Founders hoped to avoid the very thing it describes: organised political parties. Where it exists today, it exists only as a political norm. It is a voluntary habit of cooperation between lawmakers […]
Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances
As with federalism, the exact phrases ‘separation of powers’ and ‘checks and balances’ do not appear anywhere in the constitutional text. Madison used similar language in Federalist No. 51, but the Constitution itself simply establishes the three branches through its structure. Article I creates Congress and its legislative power, Article II creates the presidency and […]
Federalism
The word ‘federalism’ itself never appears in the Constitution. It is a structural principle that political scientists and lawyers infer from several provisions working together, rather than a single named clause. Article I, Section 8 lists the specific, enumerated powers (powers written down and specifically granted) given to Congress, implying that anything not listed remains […]
The Founding Fathers’ Aims
When delegates gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 for the Constitutional Convention, they were trying to solve two problems at once. The Articles of Confederation (1781-1789), America’s first constitution, had given the national government so little power that it could not reliably raise tax revenue or respond effectively to unrest. Shays’ Rebellion in 1786-87 exposed this […]
Principles of the US Constitution – Introduction
The Principles of the US Constitution Figure 1: the four principles covered in this document, at a glance. “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.” James Madison wrote this line in Federalist No. 51 in 1788, as part of a series of essays written to persuade New York to ratify the newly drafted Constitution. His […]
Reaching a judgement: how effective is the constitutional framework of the USA?
Madison’s warning in Federalist No. 37, that no language could ever be precise enough to remove all doubt, has proved remarkably accurate. Vagueness, far from weakening the Constitution, has arguably been one of the main reasons it has lasted since 1789 without a full rewrite. The case for the current constitutional framework The case against […]
Extension activities
The tasks below go beyond what is required for the exam, but they are good preparation for the synoptic (drawing together several topics you have studied), comparative questions that appear in Section C of Paper 3. Bookmark this page and revisit these activities at the end of your studies. Extension activity 1: separation of powers […]