Introduction

In an era of ever increasing executive and judicial power in the United States, it is a worthwhile exercise to re-read the Constitution with an eye to its structure.  For it is in the way the document was constructed that a better understanding of how to federal government relates both to the People and to the States. In this article, I use the official transcript from the National Archives. Sections that have been modified by amendment are called out in this text, but the original text is left in place, including the spelling and punctuation as written on the official parchment copy in the archives.

It is often stated that the three branches of government (legislative, executive, and judicial) are co-equal.  In reality, this is only partially true.  The order in which the branches are laid out, and the amount of text devoted to each, speak to the importance of each branch in the eyes of the Founders.The three branches of government are discussed in order of decreasing importance to the People.This holds true even in laying out the two houses of Congress. Continue reading “On The Structure of the US Constitution and American Government”