The First Amendment to the Constitution: Freedom of Speech

The US Constitution’s first ten amendments are called The Bill of Rights. The First Amendment limits the authority of government to enact laws impinging upon the natural rights of the people to practice religion, engage in speech, publish their ideas and assemble together to petition their government. Freedom of religion is the first named freedom. The second named […]

The Web of Law: International, Natural, Common, Constitutional, Statutes & Regulations

While the Constitution is the organic legal document of the United States, it is not the only source of law or legitimate government authority. There is a hierarchy and interrelationship among the laws that govern our lives. Each strand in the complex web of law has different sources and relationships to the other. People rely […]

Primer on Economic Systems and Societal Organization

There are words used to describe systems of government and economic approaches to organizing societies.  In public discussions the differences are often lost and terms of government are used interchangeably with terms of economics.  Though a given approach to organizing government may lend itself to adopting a given economic system, government and economics are not […]

Separation of Powers in the US Constitution: 1800 Years of Thought

All American schoolchildren are taught about the three branches of the federal government: legislative, executive and judicial. The Constitution’s establishment of these branches came from over 1800 years of political thinking. Most of the Founding Fathers were well educated and had studied classical political philosophy. The American government’s structure did not spring miraculously from the […]

Bill of Rights of the US Constitution: Promise Made, Promise Kept

The first ten amendments to the US Constitution are known collectively as the Bill of Rights. These amendments limit the power of the federal government. By virtue of the 14th Amendment, most government restrictions in the Bill of Rights apply to the states as well. The Constitution was a grant of power to the central […]

Article VII of the US Constitution: Ratification

The Articles of Confederation was the original operating document of the United States. Under the Articles, there was a weak central government with little authority to raise revenue. The Articles were written with the idea that each State was sovereign in its own right and like a little country of its own. Recognizing that each […]