Constitution is the set of laws and principles by which a country, state or organization is governed. It can also refer to the document written as a record of these laws. The word is derived from the Latin constituere, which means “to establish.”
Article I vests the legislative power in Congress, which is divided into two parts: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The bicameral arrangement represented a compromise between large states that wanted representation in the legislature based on population and small states that wanted equal representation.
The Constitution provides for the selection of the President through the Electoral College and rules for eligibility (must be a natural-born citizen at least 35 years old) and term length. It also lays down the rules for admitting new states and changing borders among existing ones.
It also outlines the powers that belong to the federal government and limits the rights of people by putting restrictions on what the government can do to them, especially the right to vote. This continues today in various forms of voter suppression, such as cuts to early voting, barriers to registration and arbitrary disenfranchisement of incarcerated voters.
The judicial power shall extend to all Cases in Law and Equity arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which may be made, under their Authority, and to all Matters of Admiralty and Maritime Jurisdiction. The Supreme Court shall have original and appellate jurisdiction, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress may make.
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