How does the Bill of Rights balance govermental powers with the rights of individuals?
959626
It guards against the "tyranny of the majority."\n\nIn other words, it specifies *limits* on what a government can do ... even a democratically elected government.  It recognizes that the majority is NOT always right.  That the majority of people in a population may support a law, and the majority of representatives may vote to pass a law, when that law is oppressive to a minority of individuals.\n\nIt gives an individual the basis on which to challenge an unjust act (such as an arrest, or the passage of a law) by the government.  If prosecuted and convicted by the government, the individual can appeal to the Supreme Court that the law itself violates the Constitution ... the Bill of Rights describes on what basis the constitutionality of the law can be challenged.
1059627
Federal goverrnment oversees the states. Imagine each state as it's own country then giving them a higher authority to answer to.
475598
Because the Constitution was set up that way. Certain powers are delegated to the federal government while others are delegated to the state or local governments. While states cannot go against the constitution (such as the bill of rights), they have great latitude in making laws tailored to their state.\n\nSome would say the fact that each state is different is a strength- people in Maine, California, Michigan, and Alabama all have different values. Why should they have the same laws ?
1155931
The constitution gives states the right to govern elections, and as all things at the state level, laws regarding elections are passed by the state legislature. The laws are enforced by the Division of Elections of the Department of State.
779038
"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people"\n\nThe Ninth Amendment has generally been regarded by the courts as negating any expansion of governmental power caused by the enumeration (listing) of rights in the Constitution, but has not been regarded as further limiting governmental power.\n\nIt is a hard one to explain and seems to remain open to interpretation by many judges and courts.\nHave you read Wikipedia's account of it? \nThe link is below:\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution#Interpretation_of_the_Ninth_Amendment
20629
In the United States, our government is the system of power that acts on behalf of its people. The U.S. government was designed to serve the American people. Our government protects our rights and preserves our freedoms. Governments are set up to make and enforce laws. In this section, we will look at the basic types of governments in the world, yet the main emphasis will be placed on the understanding our American government system.\n\nIn the United States there are three levels of government. The federal government (national level) makes and enforces laws for our nation. The fifty state governments (state level) make and enforce laws for their respective states. Each city or town in which a person lives has a city or town government (local level) that makes and enforces laws for their community. The most powerful of the three levels is our federal (national level) government.
1153330
The legal system is not solely devoted to protecting individual rights.  It also regulates privileges, agencies, corporations, etc.\n\nWhich right of law-abiding citizens personal peace and security is being violated by the American legal system that you are referring to?  This question is too vague.
760799
Are you talking about the English Magna Carta or the Constitution and Bill of Rights of the USA.???\nIt is confusing.
378545
The Bill of Rights consists of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution.  The founding fathers knew that it would take more time than they had to put together a Bill of Rights for the original constitution so they agreed to add one later instead.
149271
It sets the rules and regulations. The bill of Rights, things like that.
1103155
The constitution is considered "the highest law in the land."  It contains the Preamble, which is basically a statement of what the US is all about; the Articles, which give the basic structure of the government and the powers that each branch of government has, and the rules for amending the constitution; and the Amendments, which cover all kinds of issues regarding citizenship, rights of citizens, and more stuff about the structure of the government and how it gets paid.
852784
Three features of our government which protect the rights of few against a majority include: \n\nFirst, The US Constitution which protects against unfair laws and provides for specific individual rights.  There is also a process to update the Constitution to better meet the needs of the people.\n\nSecondly, The US Senate in which each state get 2 Senators despite the size of the state.  A senator from Wyoming has just as much voting power as a Senator from California despite the fact that the Senator from California represents about 60 times as many people.  This prevents the majority in California from dominating smaller states.\n\nFinally, the electoral college provides a very clever balance between small and large states.  Every state has at least 3 electoral votes again providing some balance to the population difference of the larger states.  If we use the same example of Wyoming and California, California has 15 times the number of electoral votes as Wyoming but more than 60 times the number of people.  This disproportional allocation of voting power insures smaller states are not completely forgotten during a Presidential election.
283595
Yes, the constitution does allow the rights of freedom speech, assembly, and religious practice in the 1st amendment.  But because these rights sometimes conflict with eachother (like in your scenario), its pretty safe to say that you have right and liberties as long as they dont interfere with anyone else, or cause other people malicious harm.
810059
Rights of the people.
10511
Its called the bill of rights and they apply to everyone.
439102
The constitution does not say that only citizens are protected by the 4th-8th Amendments, it merely says, "no person." You would want to be given the same rights of citizens if charged in another country, wouldn't you? In fact, the public tends to get up in arms, even when someone IS given the same rights and is given a harsh punishment.
99305
Civil liberties typically apply to individuals while civil rights apply to defined groups. The term civil liberties refers to protection from the arbitrary power of the state, and includes such rights as freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and, debatably, the right to privacy. The two concepts are overlapping yet distinct—and thus the new inclusion of civil liberties under the rubric of civil rights rhetoric is far from trivial. Rather, it gives Democrats a pulpit from which to challenge the Bush administration on many fronts.