Constitution

Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exercised freely. Such freedom implies no or minimal censorship or prior restraint from government, and is often protected by laws or a provision in a constitution. The concept of freedom of speech is often covered by the same laws as freedom of the press, thereby giving equal treatment to spoken and published expression; many countries also protect scientific freedom.

Government restrictions on freedom of the press may include classified information, state secrets, punishment for libel, punishment for violation of copyright, privacy, or judicial orders. Where freedom of the press is lacking, governments may require pre-publication approval, or punish distribution of documents critical of the government or certain political perspectives. Jurisdictions with high levels of transparency are subject to "sunshine laws" or freedom of information legislation that allow citizens broad access to government-held information.

The right to privacy is an element of various legal traditions that intends to restrain governmental and private actions that threaten the privacy of individuals. Over 185 national constitutions mention the right to privacy. Since the global surveillance disclosures of 2013, the right to privacy has been a subject of international debate. Government agencies, such as the NSA, FBI, CIA, R&AW, and GCHQ, have engaged in mass, global surveillance. Some current debates around the right to privacy include whether privacy can co-exist with the current capabilities of intelligence agencies to access and analyze many details of an individual's life; whether or not the right to privacy is forfeited as part of the social contract to bolster defense against supposed terrorist threats; and whether threats of terrorism are a valid excuse to spy on the general population. Private sector actors can also threaten the right to privacy – particularly technology companies, such as Amazon, Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo that use and collect personal data.

The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally including seven articles, the Constitution defined the foundational structure of the federal government.

The drafting of the Constitution by many of the nation's Founding Fathers, often referred to as its framing, was completed at the Constitutional Convention, which assembled at Independence Hall in Philadelphia between May 25 and September 17, 1787. Influenced by English common law and the Enlightenment liberalism of philosophers like John Locke and Montesquieu, the Constitution's first three articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers, in which the federal government is divided into the legislative, bicameral Congress; the executive, led by the president; and the judiciary, within which the Supreme Court has apex jurisdiction. Articles IV, V, and VI embody concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments, the states in relationship to the federal government, and the process of constitutional amendment. Article VII establishes the procedure used to ratify the constitution.

Fundamental rights are a group of rights that have been recognized by a high degree of protection from encroachment. These rights are specifically identified in a constitution, or have been found under due process of law. The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 17, established in 2015, underscores the link between promoting human rights and sustaining peace.

Consensus democracy is the application of consensus decision-making and supermajority to the process of legislation in a democracy. It is characterized by a decision-making structure that involves and takes into account as broad a range of opinions as possible, as opposed to majoritarian democracy systems where minority opinions can potentially be ignored by vote-winning majorities. Constitutions typically require consensus or supermajority.

A consensus government is a national unity government with representation across the whole political spectrum. A concordance democracy is a type of consensus democracy where majority rule does not play a central role. Optional referendums and popular initiatives correspond to consensus democracy.

A supermajority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of one-half used for a simple majority, the latter sometimes expressed as a "50% + 1 vote." Supermajority rules in a democracy can help to prevent a majority from eroding fundamental rights of a minority, but can also hamper efforts to respond to problems and encourage corrupt compromises at times when action is taken. Changes to constitutions, especially those with entrenched clauses, commonly require supermajority support in a legislature. In consensus democracy the supermajority rule is applied in most cases.

The Charter of the United Nations, also referred to as the UN Charter, is the foundational treaty of the United Nations. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the United Nations System, including its principal organs: the Secretariat, General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, International Court of Justice, and Trusteeship Council. The UN Charter is an important part of public international law, and is the foundation for much of international law governing the use of force, pacific settlement of disputes, arms control, and other important functions of the maintenance of international peace and security.

The UN Charter mandates the United Nations and its member states to maintain international peace and security, uphold international law, achieve "higher standards of living" for their citizens, address "economic, social, health, and related problems", and promote "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion". As a charter and constituent treaty, its rules and obligations are binding on all members and supersede those of other treaties.

In political history, stasis (Ancient Greek: στάσις in the sense of "faction, discord"; plural: staseis) refers to an episode of civil war within an ancient Greek city-state or polis. It was the result of opposition between groups of citizens, fighting over the constitution of the city or over social and economic problems. Staseis were endemic throughout the ancient Greek world, in mainland Greece as well as in the colonies of Magna Graecia. With 19 episodes of civil strife between 650 and 214 BC, Syracuse, in Sicily, was the city with the most recorded staseis.

Parliamentary sovereignty, also called parliamentary supremacy or legislative supremacy, is a concept in the constitutional law of some parliamentary democracies. It holds that the legislative body has absolute sovereignty and is supreme over all other government institutions, including executive or judicial bodies. It also holds that the legislative body may change or repeal any previous legislation and so it is not bound by written law (in some cases, not even a constitution) or by precedent. Changes to the constitution typically require a supermajority, often two thirds of votes instead of one half.

In some countries, parliamentary sovereignty may be contrasted with separation of powers and constitutionalism, which limits the legislature's scope often to general law-making and makes it subject to external judicial review, where laws passed by the legislature may be declared invalid in certain circumstances.