Salient features of Constitution of the United

States:
The constitution of the United States was documented in Philadelphia
Convention on 17th September, 1787. It was enforced in the newly formed
federation on 4th March, 1789. It has 7 articles and 27 amendments have been
done and ratified to the constitution till date.
It is the strongest constitution in the modern world. It has given powers to the
different offices in the federation of the United States along with their
jurisdictions. It has defined the rules and regulations to run the businesses and
affairs of the United States.
Some of the key features and attributes of the constitution of the United States
are given below;
 Supreme and commanding law:
The constitution of the supreme and commanding law of the country. Article 6
of the Constitution utters; “This Constitution, and the laws of the United States
which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall
be under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the
land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the
Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.” It means
that no law shall be made which is repugnant to this Constitution.
 Written form:
The Constitution of the United States is a written document. It can be found in
the same form as it was proposed and ratified in Philadelphia Convention. This
character distinguishes the US Constitution from the Constitution of its mother
country, United Kingdom (whose constitution is mostly unwritten). The
draftsmen of the constitution designed it in very lucid, majestic and tasteful
manner. Originally, only 7 articles were present in written, then several
amendments were done them that are also present in the written form.
Each and every rule regarding the functions of the states were not present in
written form. These regulations were put forwarded by the acts of parliaments
(Congress) and judicial precedents. Moreover, the traditions and customs are
also not present in written form.
 Republic state and government:
The United States has the republican form of government. Republic is a form of
state in which the people elects the heads of the state and which is not
hereditary. United States got independence from the United Kingdom which
had monarchy. So, in this case, America also chose for different things as
compared to the United Kingdom. The President of the United States is the
chief executive of the country who is elected by the citizens of America.
Moreover, the constitution guarantees the protection against invasion,
assistance against domestic insurgence and proper application of authority of
the state, to all the states of the United States of America.
 Federalism:
The United States has federal form of government. This federation was formed
with advent of the constitution in 1789. It had originally 13 states but later on
their number increased to 50 which is the existing number of states.
There is a division of powers between the centre and the states (federating
units). Some powers are exercised by the centre while the remaining powers
are exercised by the federating units. According to the constitution, the federal
centre is very weak but practice, the centre is very strong. If the centre is
weaker, then it would be a difficult task to control the states.
The designers of the constitution has framed the constitution in such a manner
that assures the unity and supremacy of the Federal Government and the unity
of the Federal Union. This has further strengthen the authority of the
federation.
 Bicameral house (legislature):
The constitution of United States of America utters for bicameral legislature
(two houses in the centre). It is collectively known as Congress.
According to Article 1 of the Constitution, “All legislative powers are vested in
Congress.”
Congress consists of two chambers;
 House of representatives (Lower House):
It is the lower house of the Congress. It has 435 members. All these
members are elected through direct election. These members represent
their respective constituencies. The distribution of seats of states is
based population of respective state. These members are elected for the
term of 2 years.
 Senate (Upper House):
 It is the Upper Chamber of the Congress. It is composed of 100
members. All these members are elected by the people through direct
election. 2 members are elected from each state. So there is equal
representation of all states. These senators are elected for the term of 6
years. It is regarded as the most powerful upper house in the world.
 Rigid and rigorous constitution:
The American constitution is said to be the most rigid constitution in the world.
It is known as the rigid constitution because of the process of amendment to
the constitution. It is very strict and time consuming.
 Process of amendment:
o The amendment can be proposed by two methods. Either by two-
third majority of both the house (Senate and House of
Representatives) or by two-third majority of states in the national
convention.
o The amendment can be ratified either by legislatures of three-
fourth of the total states or by three-fourth of the states in the
national convention.
Due to this difficult procedure of the amendments, only 27 amendments have
been done to the constitution out of 33 proposals since 4th March, 1789.
The Constitution of the United States is devised in such a manner it can adapt
itself to contemporary changes and conditions. It has withstand the democratic
and economic crises, wars and other insurgencies.
 Brief constitution:
The Constitution of the United States is the briefest constitution among the
countries of modern era. It has only 7 articles. 27 amendments have been
done to the constitution till date. It is written in a very unique and concise
manner. It lay down the fundamentals and essentials about anything rather
than its details.
It should be kept in mind that its briefness has not affected its applicability and
effectiveness. It is its mesmerizing character that only with 7 articles it has
survived since 1789 and rose to become the strongest constitution of the
world.
 Sovereignty of people (popular sovereignty):
The constitution of the United States of America illuminates on the sovereignty
of the people (popular sovereignty). It is given by the preamble of the
Constitution;
“We the people of the United States, in order to form more perfect union,
establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common
defence, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States.”
The sovereignty is given to the people. The people are the source of the
supreme power according to the Constitution of the United States. The
Constitution was designed by the representatives of the people and dedicated
to themselves by the people.
 Representative form of democracy:
The administration of the state is carried on by the representatives. These
representatives are elected on adult franchise basis. Every adult male and
female has been given right to vote without any discrimination of colour, caste
and language.
The representative are the depictions of the people. They execute and
implement the will of the state.

 Presidential form of government:

According to the constitution, there is a presidential form of government in the
United States of America. United States of America is the oldest and most
successful Presidential government in the world.
The President is the real executive head. There are members of the cabinet
who assist the president in executive functions and this cabinet is responsible
to the President. The president is elected for the term of 4 years. In practical,
the president is elected by direct election through popular vote.
The president and his cabinet (executive) are separated from the legislature.
They are also answerable before the legislature. In the same manner, the
congress is also powerful, the president cannot dissolve the congress.

 Conventions, customs and usages:

When the constitution was drafted, it was only a framework. This body was
filled by the conventions, customs and usages. These conventions are of great
importance as they were the unwritten practices followed by the people from
a long time. Some of the important conventions are given below;
 The party system in America is not given by the constitution. But was
a convention that election at every stage shall be contested between
the parties and their heads shall be presidents.
 According to the constitution, the president should be elected
through indirect election but the convention was developed due to
which the president is elected directly.
 The nomination of the candidates for presidency and delegates is not
given by the constitution. But as a result of conventions, the
candidates for the presidency are nominated in the national
conventions.
 Judicial review:
Judiciary is one the pillars of the state. It is the major organ that interprets the
laws. The constitution of the United States has given the power of judicial
review which is a very unique feature. It is a constitutional manifesto that gives
to the court system the power to annul and negate legislative or executive acts
which the judges declare to be unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court or its inferior courts can declare any order of president and
legislation null and void if it is against the provisions of the Constitution. It is
the check of courts of the legislature and executive. The judiciary is a kind of
custodian of the supreme law of the land. It keep balances between the
powers of the executive and legislature. If any act of Congress is against the
human rights, then the court can direct the Congress to make necessary
amendments.
Thus, it can be said that the constitution provides and guarantees the
supremacy and independency of judiciary in the country.

 Power separation:
The Constitution of the United States emphasizes on the principle of
separation of powers. According to Justice Brandeis, the doctrine of separation
of powers was adopted by the Convention of 1787 not to promote efficiency
but preclude the exercise of arbitrary power. The powers are distributed
between the pillars of the government.
 Legislature:
 The Article 1 of the constitution provides that all legislative powers
therein granted shall be vested in the Congress. The Congress (Senate
and House of Representatives) has the power to make law for the
country.
 Executive:
The Article 2 utters that the executive powers shall be vested in the
President. The executive powers are exercised by the president and his
cabinet. They implement and administers the laws that are made by the
legislature.
 Judiciary:
The Article 3 provides that the judicial powers will be vested in one
Supreme Court and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from
time to time ordain and establish. They interpret the laws and make
decisions.
 Division of powers between Centre and states:
As United States is a federal state so it has double government; centre and
federating units. The powers given by the constitution have been divided
between centre and states. According to section 8 of Article, the American
Congress (Centre) has powers to legislate on 18 subjects. Rest of the matters
are left over to the State legislature.
 Limitation of powers and doctrine of checks and
balances:
The principle of checks and balances on different organs have been adopted to
ensure that no organ of the government may become despot. The system of
checks and balances works in such a manner that though a department or
organ of the State in provided with all powers, yet their exercise is shared with
another department or organ of the state in some aspect. It limits the
unprecedented and absolute powers of organs of the state.
 Congress has all the powers to make law but their legislative powers
can be checked by president in form of veto. The legislation can also
be checked by the Courts of law.
 The executive is headed by the president who has all the powers to
administer. The powers of president can be checked by the senate in
the form ratification of treaties. The Senate also checks the president
 in appointments of judges and other officials of the states. Even after
veto of a law, the senate can pass it by two-third majority. President
is checked by the Senate in the form of impeachment.
 The Supreme exercises the judicial powers. The judges of the
Supreme Courts are nominated by the president on the consent and
advice of the Senate. The duties can be checked through legislation.
New courts can be established by the Congress. The Supreme Court
can declare any order of president and legislation null and void if it is
against the provisions of the Constitution.

 System of dual citizenship:

The Constitution of the United States utters that there shall be dual citizenship
for the people of the United States. It is very unique and peculiar feature of US
Constitution. Every American is the citizen of United States and also the citizen
of the State where he/she is domiciled.
In Pakistan, India and United Kingdom, there is only one citizenship and that of
the whole country.
For instance; if Harris belongs to Virginia, so he is the citizen of United States as
well as citizen of Virginia.
 Separate constitutions of the states:
Every states in the federation has its own separate constitution. These states
had their constitutions before joining the federation so they were allowed to
keep it.
Federal constitution deals with the organization and powers of the federal
government while the constitution of the states deal with the organization and
powers of the state governments. It should be kept in mind that the
constitution of the state must be in abidance with the federal constitution.
Moreover, the purpose of state constitution is that the federal constitution is
brief and just a skeleton with less details. More details are present in the state
constitutions.

 Rights and liberties:

The fundamental rights of the Americans are guaranteed by the Constitution. It
includes different kinds of rights like right to live, property, person, fair trial,
liberty, speech etc. The fundamental rights were not part of the initial draft of
the constitution. They were later on injected to the constitution through
several amendments.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited the discrimination based on race, color,
religion, national, sex, origin and gender. It also prohibited the racial
discrimination in voting and their manipulation in public places.

 System of spoils:
This is also an important feature of the constitution of the United States. It was
predominant in America in 19th Century. According to this system, when a
President wins the election and takes over the charge of administration, he
appoints fresh candidates for the important offices of the federal government.
The entire administration and the appointments of the important officials by
the previous President is streamlined. All these appointments are done
through political consideration.
According to this system, a civil servant appointed by one president on political
consideration cannot retain his office when an opposition President secures
victory in election.
The Pendleton Act was passed in 1887 in the Congress to stop the system of
spoils. According to which, around 80 percent of the important official shall be
appointed through competitive exams and 20 percent officials shall be
appointed directly by the president of his own choice.

Conclusion:
In the nutshell, it can be concluded that the constitution of the United States is
a unique amalgamation of British and French Constitution. It is somehow
different from British constitution (mother country) in its rigidity which is its
defining behaviour. It is very lucid in nature that gives the fundamental sketch
for the laws in the United States.