Fundamental Principles of Democratic Government
All governments carry out the purposes of protecting citizens, providing services, preserving order, and planning for the future. However, different types
of governments do this in different ways. In the United States, our democratic government functions based on certain fundamental principles which form
the foundation for everything it does.
Fundamental
Principle
Popular
Sovereignty
Limited
Government
Rule of Law
Explanation
How would life in the U.S. be
different without this?
Illustration
with caption or speech
Fundamental
Principle
Separation of
Powers
Checks and
Balances
Judicial
Review
Federalism
Explanation
How would life in the U.S. be
different without this?
Illustration
with caption or speech
Fundamental Principles of Democratic Government
All governments carry out the purposes of protecting citizens, providing services, preserving order, and planning for the future. However, different types
of governments do this in different ways. In the United States, our democratic government functions based on certain fundamental principles which form
the foundation for everything it does.
Fundamental
Principle
Explanation
Popular
Sovereignty
Only the people of a country
or district have the power to
determine the type of
government they have or
what their government does.
Outsiders do not decide; the
citizens do.
Limited
Government
Government is not allpowerful and may do only
those things the people have
given it the power to do.
There are restrictions on what
government can do. These
are identified especially in the
Bill of Rights.
Rule of Law
The government and those
who govern are bound by law,
just as those who are
governed, regular citizens,
are. Status, occupation, or
role in government does not
make one exempt from the
law.
How would life in the U.S. be
different without this?
Illustration
with caption or speech
Fundamental
Principle
Explanation
Separation of
Powers
Power is divided into three
separate branches, Legislative,
Executive, Judicial so that no
one branch can become too
powerful or have too much
control.
Checks and
Balances
Each branch has constitutional
powers with which it can
check the operations of the
other two.
Judicial
Review
The power of the courts to
determine the legality of
Legislative and Executive
actions. Courts can declare
laws and executive acts
unconstitutional and they are
therefore voided.
How would life in the U.S. be
different without this?
Illustration
with caption or speech
Federalism
A system of government
where power is divided and
shared between national and
state government to prevent
an abuse of power.