Salient features of US Constitution

Although there are many interesting features in its constitution but the most important are:

1.      Written Constitution:

First prominent feature of the American constitution is that unlike the British Constitution, it is written or documentary .It is very brief document and contains about 4000 words and at least 10—12 pages. It consists of preamble and seven articles only. Three of the articles are related to structure and powers of Legislative (Article 1), Executive (Article 2) and Judiciary (Article 3) and the other four dedicated to position of states (Article 4), modes of amendments (Article 5), 

supremacy of national power (Article 6) and ratification (Article 7). It also holds that constitution is the supreme law of the land. Article one is the longest and cannot be amended. Like other constitutions, it also consists of preamble; a single sentence that introduces and defines purpose of the document.

2.      Rigid Constitution:

Another feature of the American constitution is that it is rigid, which means that it cannot be amended by the congress by the ordinary procedure. The procedure is very intricate and difficult. The procedure to amend Constitution consists of 2 steps;

a.    Proposal for Amendment:

There are two ways to propose for amendment. Either two-third (67%) of both the houses (Senate and House of Representatives) shall propose for amendment to constitution or on the application of legislatures of two-third (67%) states shall call a convention for proposing amendment.

b.     Ratification of Proposal:

The amendment shall be ratified by the legislatures of three fourth (75 %) of all states or by the convention of three fourth of  states.   It   is   because  of  this   rigidity   that   American constitution has been amended only 27 times in over 200 years. It is, therefore, rightly remarked that "it the founding fathers were to return to life today, they would not find it difficult to recognize handiwork.

3. Popular Sovereignty:

The U.S constitution establishes the popular sovereignty of the people. This means in U.S, the people rule i.e. they have delegated their powers to the government and the government owes its authority to the will of the people. The principle of popular sovereignty is stated in the Preamble of constitution as "we the people do ordain and establish this constitution for United States of America." This means that the ultimate seat of authority in United States is the American people.

4. Bicameral Legislature:

The constitution of USA provides for bicameral legislature. According to Article 1, "All legislative powers are vested in Congress." In United States, congress is the parliament, which consists of two houses; House of Representatives and the Senate. House of Representative is regarded as the Lower House and the Senate is the Upper House.

a. House of Representatives:

The House of Representatives has 435 members who are elected by the people for a period of two years on population basis i.e. state with larger population gets more seats in this house like California has 53 members.

b.     Senate:

The members of Senate are elected by the state legislatures. Each state has two senators which means each state has two votes in senate. These senators are elected for a period of six years. The total number of senators is 100 as the total states are 50.

5. Separation of Powers:

American constitution is based on the principle of "separation of powers". The framers of the constitution believed that the separation of various organs of the government was necessary to ensure individual liberty and to check despotism. They, therefore, gave the presidential system to their people. The powers are divided among Congress, President and the Judiciary.

Congress has the power to make laws which outline general policies and set certain standards. President can enforce, execute and administer law. He is assisted by his cabinet but is solely responsible for all actions of Executive branch. Judicial Powers are exercised by the Supreme Court which interprets laws and decided cases and controversies in conformity with the law and by the methods prescribed by law.

In short, In U.S.A all the legislative power is enjoyed by the president;  he   is   not  responsible  to   the  legislative.  The powers have been vested m the Congress. The jud\c\a\ powers ate vested m the Supreme Court..

6. Checks & Balances:

The framers of the U.S constitution were aware that a department, if left unchecked, would become oppressive. They; therefore, introduced checks and balances in the constitution. The separation of powers confirms the system of Checks and Balances. This system prevents misuse of powers. The powers are provided in such a way that it provides a check upon other institutions.

Thus, Congress has been given a share in the executive powers. It can check the president's powers of making treaties and appointments. Similarly, the President enjoys the powers of suspense veto. By using this power he can influence legislation. He also enjoys judicial powers of giving pardon and reprieve.All this creates a system which makes compromises necessary which is a sign of healthy democracy. It prevents the rise of dictators as well.

7.  Judicial independence:

The direct consequence of separation of powers is the doctrine of judicial independence. In United States all the judicial powers are enjoyed by the Supreme Court and other federal courts, no other office can influence its independence.

8.  Federal System:

The U.S constitution provides for a federal system of government. Federalism is a device by which independent states form a union without losing their identity. According to Article 1, the federal government has jurisdiction over 18 matters and residuary powers are vested in states. States are autonomous bodies and centre cannot interfere in their affairs. In case of conflict, Supreme Court decides or settles the I dispute.

9. Presidential System:

The constitution provides for a presidential form government. Article 2 provides the powers, election and their matters related to president. President is elected for a term of 4 years and is not answerable to Congress and cannot dissolve Congress. He has a cabinet to assist him in running his executive powers.

10. Republicanism:

The constitution calls for a republican system with President as elected head of the state. The constitution derives its authority from the people and is supreme law of the land. Neither centre nor states can override it.

11. Fundamental Rights and Liberty:

Another important feature of the American constitution is that it ensures certain fundamental rights for every America citizen. He cannot be deprived of these rights by any lawful authority. The first ten amendments to the constitution are called "Bill of Rights". The Bill Of Rights provides for the rights of a person's property, liberty, freedom of speech, press, religion and assembly.

12. Dual Citizenship:

The constitution provides for dual citizenship i.e every American citizen is entitled to the right of dual citizenship. First of all, he is the citizen of America and secondly he is the citizen of that state in which he lives. The feature of dual citizenship was introduced in the American constitution by the 4th amendment.

13. System of Spoils:

When a president is elected, he does appointment of public offices. If in elections, the President is elected who is of the opposition party, he dismisses the public office bearers and makes fresh appointments. Under this system, a civil servant intend by one president on political consideration cannot Plain his office when an opposition President secures victory in polls.

14. Judicial Review:

ate important feature of the American constitution is the power of judicial Review. The Supreme court in U.S is supreme not only in theory but also in practice. Iu U.K no court can challenge the power of Parliament; however in United States all the laws passed by the congress and state legislatures are subject to judicial review.

15. Limited Government:

Another important feature is the doctrine of limited government. Unlimited powers of the government would make them despotic which would lead to tyranny and violence. In U.K the Parliament is supreme whereas in United States the constitution is supreme and the powers of the government organs are limited.