How does your understanding of the supporting principles enhance your ability to explain the "just and holy principles" embodied in the Constitution?
I have listed the six supporting principles which he discussed and a brief outline of what is included in each principle. My responses are in blue.
1. The Supreme Law of the Land must be set forth in a
Written Constitution
a.
The Rule of Law must be the underlying premise of the entire
constitutional system.
b.
The power of government must be limited and constrained by a
written constitution.
c.
Civil governments are ordained of God and instituted by Him
for the benefit of all the people and for the protection of their basic,
inalienable rights.
d.
The content of the Constitution must be subject to change by
an amendment process.
If
laws weren’t written, they would be unfixed and changeable based on people’s
memory. They must be written to remain stable. If it is to be written, there
must be guidelines detailed. This is what the supporting principles do—detail
guidelines for the written law of the land. It must give power but limit it. It
must be stable, but have the ability to be changed. It must protect freedoms
and rights, so the rule of law is the only way that it will work.
2. The power to make law and to govern in a civil society
must arise from the popular will and sovereign power of the people. (popular
sovereignty)
a.
A true understanding of man’s nature – of both man’s
capacity for virtue and man’s natural propensity to vice and corruption – must
be the foundation of a government which derives its power from the people.
b.
Popular government must generally follow the will of the
majority.
c.
A republic is the best form of popular government.
d.
The people have the right to choose those who govern in open
and fair elections.
e.
The terms of office for those who govern must be fixed and
reasonable for the purposes of their offices.
People
have the right to make and execute the laws to which they are subject. If you
give the power to the people, you must understand their nature and plan for
both virtue and vice. Allowing the people to elect those who will govern, with
limitations on service, will keep the power with the people, but not so
completely that their lesser natures will take over.
3. Governments must secure and protect the basic,
inalienable rights of the people.
a.
Freedom of conscience must be protected as the most inherent
and inalienable right of man.
b.
The great rights of free speech, freedom of the press, and
of assembling and petitioning the government must be secured and protected.
c.
Prosecutions, accusations of wrongdoing, and judgments
against the people must be based on principles of fairness, equity, justice,
and due process of law.
If
the people vote leaders to govern them, the governance must protect the rights
of the people. There are certain rights which are endowed to us by God and no
government has the right to limit them.
4. The legislative power (to make the law), the executive
power (to administer and enforce the law), and the judicial power (to apply and
interpret the law) must reside in separate branches or departments of the
government.
a.
Each of the three branches of government must have some
check on the power of the other branches.
b.
The legislative power, which tends to predominate in a
republic, must be further divided.
To
“help control the corrupting influence of
power and the tendency to tyranny,” each of the three branches must be able
to check the power of the other two. This way the government can still survive
if the people and leaders don’t remain virtuous and it lessens the negative
effect of “immediate passions and
shortsighted interests of the people.”
5. The powers to govern ought to be further divided by
national and local interests.
a.
The powers given to any level of government should be based
in moderation and justice, and should engender confidence and trust in the
people.
b.
The powers given to the national government should be
specifically delegated, enumerated, and limited.
c.
The state governments should exercise the powers to regulate
the health, welfare, safety, education, and moral behavior of the people.
The
governance of the people should stay close to the people. The national
government should be limited in scope and handle higher level issues such as
national security and defense. Things more related to individuals should stay
at the local level.
6. The principles of economic freedom should be preserved
and protected.
Government
should encourage hard work, commerce, frugality and virtue; promote science and
the arts and invention. This will help preserve and protect the economic future
of the people.