wish them changed, the people of the Nation have adopted the very important document called the Constitution of the United States, and the people of each State have adopted a similar constitution for their State. By these written constitutions the people have created such governments as they think are best fitted to care for the public interests of the States and the Nation. The constitutions may be amended to meet new needs of the people, but by their rigidity prevent hasty changes. They cannot be altered by the governments, neither can the governments make any change in their own powers. All changes in an old constitution must be made by the people, who made that constitution, and who may abolish the old constitution and have a new one in its place.1 Since, therefore, the people may change their old constitu- Hart, tions and make new ones, we say the people are sovereign ; Actual that is, the people have the supreme power which govern- §§ 19, 28-31 ments and individual citizens are obliged to obey. and can be changed only by the people. Gov't, Representation from districts. Gov't, § 20. 8. Representative Government through Political Parties. The governments created by the constitutions comprise not only the national government and the central governments of the States, but the local governments of the States as well. Hart, All of these governments are composed of representatives Actual who are elected by voters in the territory governed, or of officials who are appointed by some direct representative of the people. Some of the representatives, as the President of the United States or the governors of the States, represent the whole Nation or State. Others, like the members of the lower house of Congress, or practically all members of the state legislatures, are chosen from districts. It is the American practice, when representatives are chosen for any legislative body, to divide the State into districts which shall have, as nearly as possible, the same population. In short, 1 The exact method by which the people are to change any existing constitution is prescribed in the constitution itself. There is considerable variation in the process used to amend the present state and national constitutions, as we can see by consulting §§ 162, 197. Political party representatives. Ashley, Citizenship in the Constitu tion. Definition of citizenship. Some rights of citi zenship. Ashley, Am. Gov't, §§ 222-224. representative government in America means the representa tion from territorial districts of equal populations. These representatives, and officials appointed by them, are members of some political party. Whenever an election occurs to fill a position, each political party attempts to persuade the voters to select a man from its party as the people's representative. Although some elections, especially in cities, are not party contests, it can truthfully be said that government in the United States is representative government of the people acting through political parties. 9. Citizenship and Its Rights. Our constitutions not only give the form and the powers of the governments, as described briefly later in this chapter (§§ 13-19), but they treat of the very important subject of citizenship, enumerating the rights which all citizens possess, rights with which no government may interfere. The national Constitution in the Fourteenth Amendment, adopted in 1868, gives this definition of citizens: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States. and of the State wherein they reside." Citizenship may be acquired therefore by birth in this country or by a process of naturalization (§ 291) for natives of other lands. cally all of the men, women, and children in the United States are CITIZENS. Practi The rights of citizens are of such importance that many of them are mentioned in the constitutions, in order that no one chosen to represent the people shall arbitrarily interfere with citizens in the performance of their everyday duties. Among these are the right to free speech, religious freedom, exemption from search of a home unless accused of crime, freedom from arbitrary arrest or extended imprisonment without trial, and the right to a free and fair trial by a jury of citizens. 10. The Privilege of Voting. These constitutions also state who may take part in the work of government by citizens voting. Not all citizens are allowed to vote, as some people Why all "imagine, because most of them are not old enough nor are not sufficiently trained to do so intelligently. Accordingly, only voters. those classes of citizens who are especially qualified by maturity, experience, and their daily contact with the world, Hart, are allowed the privilege of voting. At the present time no one less than twenty-one years of age is granted this privilege, and in only four States are women allowed to vote. Actual Gov't, § 34. ments. The qualifications of voters are given in the state consti- State tutions, as the United States Constitution allows those who requiremay vote for state officials to vote also for national officials. Aliens who intend to become citizens enjoy the elective franchise in some States. (See § 30.) are Am. Fed. §§ 24-26. 11. The Departments of Government. In order that any Why three government may perform properly the work for which it departments has been created by the people, it must have three depart- necessary. ments. First of all, there must be some body to make laws, and this body is called the legislature or the legislative de- Ashley, partment. Then, we must have officials who see that the laws are obeyed, and those officials who enforce the laws constitute the executive department. Finally, a system of courts is necessary so that proper punishment may be meted out to those who break the laws, and that persons who have suffered loss or injury at the hands of others may have an opportunity to secure redress for the wrong done. Those courts which interpret the laws are known as the judicial department. One of the most distinguishing characteristics of American government is the almost complete separation of these three departments. This separation has been made because our people have always believed that the liberties of the people would be endangered, if the departments were united. Distribu tion of powers in 12. Our Federal System of Government. — Our country is governed under two great systems of government, each of which has its own constitution or set of constitutions. a federal These two which carry out the wishes of a single sovereign government. system of Difference between a centralized and a federal system of government. Summary. people are the NATION and the STATES.1 Such a division of power between state and national governments, which look after different interests and work independently, although simply supplementing each other, is called a "FEDERAL SYSTEM" of government. This division of the work of governing leaves to the national government such matters as making war, raising an army and navy, making treaties with foreign countries, regulating foreign and interstate trade, admitting new States to the Union, and many other things that no one State can do for itself, while the governments of the States are allowed to make and carry out laws concerning the holding and transference of land, laws dealing with marriage and divorce, education, the punishment of crime, the incorporation of industrial and most other corporations; in fact, with an almost innumerable list of subjects for which uniform laws are not necessary throughout the United States. This federalism is perhaps the most distinguishing and important feature of our government. In some countries, most or all of these subjects last named are looked after by the national government, which is then called a centralized government. In the United States, however, these powers of government are left with the States, and the States cannot be deprived of them except by the people of the whole United States in the cumbersome way provided for the amendment of the national Constitution, so that we have a system that is not centralized, but which constitutes a form of federalism. The most important characteristics of American government may be summarized as follows: The United States has (1) popular government (2) based on the written constitution and (3) carried into effect through a system of representation. It is distinguished by (4) a broad citizenship with ample protection of citizens' rights, (5) manhood suffrage, 1 By the term "State "is meant the people of the whole State, who are governed under a central government usually called the " state government, and under local governments. and (6) the separation of the departments of government. (7) Although the people of the nation are sovereign, the Federal System provides that part of the work shall be performed by distinct governments, the national and the state. THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT provisions. ment derives its authority from the people of the United tions and States through our national Constitution, which was drafted by a convention held in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787, and was ratified by conventions elected for that purpose in the thirteen States that then composed the Union. This Constitution enumerates the different powers that may be exercised by the three departments of the national government, and tells how Congress shall be organized, how the President shall be chosen, and what the national judicial system shall be like. By it the States are prohibited from making war, treaties, or alliances, in order that the States may not be able to interfere with the work of the national government. Fifteen amendments to this Constitution have. since been adopted. It will be well to consider the organization of the different departments of the government, although we shall not study until later the more important subject of their powers. 14. Congress.—The legislative power granted to the national government is vested in a Congress of two houses, the smaller of which is called the Senate, and the larger the House of Representatives.1 The Senate is composed of two members from each State who are elected by the state legislature for a term of six years. The representatives, on the contrary, are elected for a term of two years by the voters from districts into which the States are divided, the number of districts in a State depending upon its population. In addition to its general legislative powers, each of the 1 Commonly called the House. 2 See Constitution of United States, Art. I, § 8. The houses and their special powers. |