Principles of American government

The Constitution has been amended 27 times since it was signed in 1787, and the first ten amendments, the Bill of Rights, came in 1791.

The first section of the 2025 list, Principles of American Government, has 15 questions about the ideas behind the system: what kind of government the United States has, which document is the supreme law, and why power is split up. Most answers come from two documents, the Declaration of Independence of 1776 and the Constitution of 1787. If you know what each one says, most of this section follows.

The Constitution

The Constitution is the supreme law of the land (question 2, starred). It forms the government, defines its powers and its parts, and protects the rights of the people (question 3). It was signed in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787, and it opens with a single long sentence called the Preamble, which begins with the words We the People. The 2008 test asks you to name those three words; the 2025 test asks what they mean (question 4). The listed answers are self-government, popular sovereignty, consent of the governed, people should govern themselves, and an example of a social contract. In plain terms, the government gets its authority from the people.

The form of government is a republic (question 1): citizens elect representatives who make decisions for them, under a written constitution. The list also accepts constitution-based federal republic and representative democracy. Federal means power is shared between a national government and the states, a point that comes back in the unit on the President and the courts.

Amendments and the Bill of Rights

The Constitution is changed through amendments, by the amendment process (question 5). There are 27 amendments (question 7, starred). The first ten were ratified together in 1791 and are called the Bill of Rights; they protect the basic rights of Americans and of people living in the United States (question 6). The 27th Amendment, about pay raises for members of Congress, was proposed in 1789 but not ratified until 1992, more than two centuries later.

The Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 4, 1776, said the American colonies were free from Britain (question 9). The 2025 list gives four reasons it is important: it says America is free from British control, it says all people are created equal, and it identifies inherent rights and individual freedoms (question 8). Its most quoted sentence contains the words Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness (question 11). Question 10 asks for two ideas the Declaration and the Constitution share, such as equality, liberty, natural rights, limited government and self-government.

Rule of law, the economy and three branches

The rule of law means everyone must follow the law, including leaders and the government; no one is above the law (question 13). The economic system is capitalism, or a free market economy (question 12, starred). Question 14 asks for a document that influenced the Constitution; the list includes the Articles of Confederation, the first plan of national government, ratified in 1781, the Federalist Papers, the Mayflower Compact of 1620 and the Iroquois Great Law of Peace. Question 15 asks why there are three branches: so one part does not become too powerful, through checks and balances and the separation of powers.

2008 version: Principles of American Democracy, questions 1 to 12