Proper Allocation Of Power In The U.S. Constitutional Legislation: The Foundation Of A Stable And Prosperous Nation

The constitution is the fundamental law of a country, and acts as the basis for the making of other laws. It has supreme legal authority in the whole legal system. The stability and development of a nation rely on a perfect constitution.It is well-known that as a young nation with a history of only more than two hundred years, the United States of America has now grown into a most developed and powerful country of the world. In addition, this country has remained stable for the most part of its history. All these are closely connected with its Constitution. In this sense, the study on the Constitution of the United States of America is significant for the understanding of the history and future development of the nation.From the angle of distribution of power in the U.S. Constitutional Legislation, this thesis analyses the basic principles embodied in the U.S. Constitution. The first principle is called popular sovereignty, which means that the people are the ultimate source of the government's authority. The second one is separation of powers with built-in checks and balances. By distributing the essential powers of the government among three separate but interdependent branches, the Constitution ensures that the principal powers of the government,legislative, executive and judicial, are not concentrated in the hands of any single branch. With the system of checks and balances, each of the three governmental branches can limit the powers of the others. The third principle is federalism—the states and the national government divide authority. This kind of division of power helps curb abuses by either the national or the state governments. Furthermore, the Constitution provides vital protection for individual rights. The Bill of Rights—the first ten amendments to the Constitution, and those subsequent constitutional amendments concerning individual liberties stand as a bulwark against governmental abuses of power and guarantee the American people the opportunity to enjoy fundamental human rights.Of course, no product of human society is perfect. The Constitution of the United States still contains flaws. But more than two centuries of growth and today's prosperity have proven the role the Constitution plays in American society. The Constitution has remained in force because the Founding Fathers successfully separated and balanced governmental powers to safeguard the interests of majority rule and minority rights, of liberty and equality, and of the central and state governments. In general, proper allocation of power in the U.S. Constitutional Legislation has laid a solid foundation of a stable and prosperous nation.