18. Reading. The Constitution of the USA

 

 

The American Constitution rests on three principles: a person's fundamental human rights, government by the people and the separation of powers when three branches of power are kept separate.

 

The Presidency, Congress, and the Courts — representing the three branches — have certain powers and responsibilities; this principle is know as system of checks and balances — each branch checks and balances the others to prevent the misuse of authority. 

Government power is split between the federal government and the individual state governments (the states are quite independent). The federal government deals only with issues concerning the country as a whole. The rest of duties belong to the individual state governments.

The Constitution was written in \(1787\), ratified in \(1788\), and in operation since \(1789\). The Bill of Rights includes the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. There are overall \(27\) amendments to the Constitution. 

  

  

1. Three branches of power are kept separate.

 

   

 

2. The federal government deals only with issues concerning the country as a whole.

 

  

 

3. There are overall \(27\) amendments to the Constitution.