35. THE RIGHTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL.--We have not purchased strength and
stability at the expense of personal freedom, for both Federal and
state constitutions specifically safeguard the rights of the
individual. The fundamental guarantees set forth in the Magna Charta,
the Petition of Right, and the Bill of Rights were cherished by the
American colonists, and in 1791 they formed the basis of the first ten
Amendments to the Federal Constitution. Provisions similarly designed
to safeguard individual rights are found in the constitution of every
state in the Union. [Footnote: For an enumeration of these rights, see
the first ten Amendments to the Federal Constitution, Appendix.
Consult also the Bill of Rights in the constitution of your state.]
From the beginning of our national history a fundamental principle of
American government has been to allow the individual as much freedom
of thought and action as is compatible with the general welfare.

36. CONTROL BY THE PEOPLE.--Under American constitutional government,
sovereignty resides with the people as a whole, though the people act
through their chosen representatives. There is no power in American
government beyond that created or permitted by the people themselves.
The suffrage, so narrowly restricted in the eighteenth century, has
since widened to include the great majority of adults, both male and
female. Elections are frequent, so that ill-chosen officials may not
long abuse their position. The Initiative, the Referendum and the
Recall are methods of popular control which in many sections are
spreading. Constitutional amendment in the United States is not easy;
on the other hand, if any considerable percentage of the voters evince
a sustained desire for change, an amendment is the normal
result. [Footnote: In Part IV of the text we shall consider the
dangers of an over-extension of popular control; here it is only
necessary to point out that American government is essentially