U.S. Government · Unit 1 · Lesson 1 · 美國政治 單元一 第一課
Click Articles I, II, and III and watch each one raise a branch of government in a 3D model of Washington. Drag a timeline from 1776 to today, read the Preamble and Federalist No. 51 in the original, and find out why changing one word of the Constitution is so hard.
點憲法的第一、二、三條，看每一條在華盛頓的 3D 模型裡「長出」一個政府部門。拉動時間軸從 1776 年走到今天，讀序言與《聯邦論》第五十一篇的原文，再看看為什麼改憲法的一個字這麼難。
A written constitution can be read as a contract in which the people authorize a government. It first creates the institutions and divides power among them, and then it draws lines that the government may not cross. The U.S. Constitution is short and very hard to change, so for more than two centuries it has been applied to a changing country through interpretation and a small number of amendments.
成文憲法可以看成一份「人民授權政府」的書面契約：它先設立機關、分配權力，再劃出政府不能越過的線。美國憲法很短、很難改，所以兩百多年來，同一份文字是靠解釋和少數幾條修正案，用在一個不斷改變的國家上。
3D Model · 3D 模型
The model opens on September 17, 1787, the day the Constitution was signed: thirteen states, the parchment, and three empty foundations. Click Article I, II, or III and that article raises its building while the panel shows what it creates and which powers it grants. Articles IV to VII and the amendments are the five markers in front. Then drag the timeline. Before 1787 there are only the states and a one-chamber Congress; afterward each state turns gold on the day it ratified, and each branch appears on the day it began to work.
模型一開始停在 1787 年 9 月 17 日，憲法簽署的那一天：十三個州、那份寫在羊皮紙上的文件、三塊空的地基。點第一、二、三條，那一條就會把它的建築立起來，右邊欄同時顯示它設立了什麼、給了哪些權力。第四到七條和修正案是前排的五個標記。接著拉動時間軸：1787 年以前只有各州和一個一院制的國會；之後每一州在它批准的那一天變成金色，三個部門也各自在開始運作的那一天出現。
Drag to look around · 拖曳轉動視角 Scroll or pinch to zoom · 滾輪／雙指縮放
This 3D model needs WebGL, which this browser does not support. The article buttons, the panel, and the timeline still work, and so do the reading and the two activities below.
這個瀏覽器不支援 WebGL，無法顯示 3D 模型；條文按鈕、說明欄和時間軸照樣能用，下面的課文和兩個小互動也都能用。
Click a part of the Constitution · 點憲法的一個部分
Drag along the line, or tap a dot · 沿著線拖曳，或點一個圓點
A simplified diagram, not to scale. The real Constitution fills four sheets of parchment; the model shows one. The buildings stand for the three branches, and the real ones came later: Congress first met in the Capitol in Washington in 1800, the first president to live in the White House moved in that same year, and the Supreme Court had no building of its own until 1935. Their positions and the directions they face are simplified too.
這是簡化的示意圖，不照比例。真正的憲法寫滿四張羊皮紙，模型只畫一張。三棟建築代表三個權力部門，真正的建築都比較晚才有：國會 1800 年才第一次在華盛頓的國會大廈開會，第一位住進白宮的總統也是同一年搬進去的，最高法院則到 1935 年才有自己的大樓。三棟的位置與朝向也都簡化過。
Reading · 英文閱讀 High school and up · 高中以上
In most of life, laws come from the government. A constitution works the other way around: it is the law that creates the government in the first place. The Constitution of the United States, written in 1787, opens with the words “We the People,” and that opening is a claim about where power comes from. Political thinkers call the idea popular sovereignty: the people are the source of the government's authority, and officials hold power only because the people have granted it. In this sense the Constitution is a written contract. It sets up the institutions of government, hands each of them certain powers, and marks limits that none of them may cross.
The Constitution was the country's second attempt. After declaring independence in 1776, the thirteen states joined together under the Articles of Confederation, which took effect in 1781 and described the union as “a firm league of friendship.” Each state kept its sovereignty and had one vote in a Congress with a single chamber. That Congress could not collect taxes; it could only ask the states for money. It could not regulate trade between the states, and there was no separate president or national court system to carry out its decisions. Changing the Articles required every state legislature to agree, so their weaknesses were nearly impossible to repair.
In May 1787, delegates began to gather in Philadelphia. Twelve states sent them; Rhode Island refused. They had been called together to revise the Articles. Meeting in secret through the summer, they ended up drafting an entirely new plan of government. Fifty-five delegates took part, and thirty-nine signed the finished document on September 17, 1787. The plan was built on compromises. Large and small states disagreed about representation, so the two chambers of Congress were filled in different ways: a House of Representatives based on population and a Senate in which every state has two seats. The delegates also decided that the plan would take effect once nine states approved it, rather than all thirteen.
The document itself is brief. A one-sentence Preamble states its purposes, and seven articles follow. Article I creates Congress and lists its powers, such as taxing, regulating commerce, and declaring war. Article II creates the presidency, and Article III creates the Supreme Court and lets Congress set up lower courts. Article IV deals with relations among the states, Article V explains how to amend the Constitution, and Article VI declares the Constitution and the federal laws made under it “the supreme Law of the Land.” Article VII describes ratification, the formal approval that turned the proposal into law. Twenty-seven amendments have been added since. The original text, signatures included, runs to about 4,500 words.
Several principles run through these few pages. The first is limited government: the national government has only the powers the Constitution gives it, which are called enumerated powers, and the Tenth Amendment adds that powers not delegated to it “are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” The second is the separation of powers among three branches, each able to check the others; that is the subject of the next lesson. The third is federalism, the division of authority between the national government and the states. Finally, the Supremacy Clause of Article VI settles what happens when the two collide: valid federal law prevails, and judges in every state are bound by it.
Ratification was far from certain. Supporters of the Constitution, known as Federalists, argued that the union would not survive without a stronger national government; Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay made the case in eighty-five newspaper essays now called The Federalist. Opponents, known as Anti-Federalists, warned that a distant national government would overwhelm the states, and they pointed out that the document contained no bill of rights. Massachusetts ratified only after the Federalists agreed to recommend amendments, and other states followed that example. New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify in June 1788, and the Constitution took effect in March 1789. Congress then proposed twelve amendments, and ten were ratified in 1791. That Bill of Rights was in large part the product of a bargain.
The contract also had deep flaws, and they were written into its text. “We the People” did not mean everyone. The Constitution never used the word “slavery,” yet several of its clauses protected the institution. In dividing up seats in the House, three fifths of a state's enslaved population was added to its free population, which gave slaveholding states more seats than their free population alone would have. Congress could not ban the importation of enslaved people before 1808, and people who escaped to another state had to be returned. Twenty-five of the delegates held people in slavery themselves. Voting rules were left to the states, which at the time shut out nearly all women and many others. Slavery was abolished only in 1865, by the Thirteenth Amendment, after a civil war.
Because Article V sets a very high bar, formal change is rare. An amendment normally needs a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress and then the approval of three fourths of the states. Of the roughly twelve thousand amendments proposed in Congress since 1789, only thirty-three have been sent to the states, and twenty-seven have been ratified. Most of the work of applying the text to new situations has therefore been done through interpretation, as courts, Congress, and presidents apply eighteenth-century phrases such as “Commerce … among the several States” to railroads, radio, and the internet. How far interpretation may go is one of the oldest arguments in American law. It is also the reason a document of a few pages can still govern a country of more than 330 million people (2020 census).
Questions · 閱讀理解
The reading calls the Constitution “a written contract.” Who are the parties to this contract, and what does each side give or receive?
Choose two weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and explain which part of the Constitution was written to fix each one.
The Constitution has been formally amended only twenty-seven times. Is a constitution that is very hard to change a strength, a weakness, or both? Give one reason on each side.
Words & Phrases · 生字及片語
Quick Check · 小測驗
1. Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress asked the states for money and could not make them pay. Which feature of the Constitution answers that problem most directly?
2. A state passes a law that conflicts with a valid federal law. According to Article VI, what must a judge in that state do?
3. Why does the reading call the Bill of Rights “in large part the product of a bargain”?
4. Which conclusion is best supported by the three-fifths clause?
5. About 12,000 amendments have been proposed in Congress, and 27 have been ratified. What follows from that?
How to Read This Series · 這個系列怎麼讀
This is the first lesson of twenty-four, so it also sets the rules for the rest.
這是二十四課的第一課，所以也在這裡把整個系列的讀法說清楚。
Each lesson explains how one part of the system works: who may do what, in what order, and where the rule is written. It does not tell you what to think about today's news, and it does not compare what the two major parties stand for.
每一課說明這套制度的一個部分怎麼運作：誰可以做什麼、照什麼順序、規定寫在哪裡。它不告訴你該怎麼看今天的新聞，也不比較兩大黨各自的主張。
“What Does the Text Say?” quotes the clause the lesson rests on. “Read the Source” gives a primary document in the original. “The Design Debate” sets out the strongest case on each side of an argument about the institution and stops there. “Compare with Taiwan” puts two designs side by side. “News English” has eight terms with audio.
「條文怎麼寫？」引出這一課依據的條文；「讀原典」給一段第一手文獻的原文；「制度的爭論」把一場關於制度設計的爭論，兩邊各用最強的版本寫出來，然後停在那裡；「和台灣比一比」把兩種設計並排；「新聞英語」有八個附錄音的詞。
Rules last longer than the people who hold office under them. A judgment about someone still in public life changes with the news and divides readers by party before they have learned how the rule works. So the examples here come from history: the Convention of 1787, the amendments, and cases decided long ago.
規則比在位的人長久。對一位還在公共生活裡的人物下評語，會隨新聞改變，也會讓讀者還沒弄懂規則怎麼運作，就先依黨派分成兩邊。所以這裡的例子取自歷史：1787 年的制憲會議、歷次修正案，以及很久以前判決的案件。
The lessons do not flatter the founders. Slavery, and the exclusion of women and Native Americans, are part of the story. Quotations are copied from official transcriptions with their original spelling, numbers carry a year, and every lesson ends with a list of sources.
課文不美化建國的那一代人：奴隸制、女性與原住民族被排除在外，都是這段歷史的一部分。引文照官方謄本逐字抄錄並保留原來的拼法，數字標明年份，每一課最後都列出資料來源。
Try It in the Model · 在模型裡試試
When you have tried all four, press “1770 to today,” pull the timeline all the way to the present, and watch the number on the Amendments marker. It reaches ten in 1791 and then takes two centuries to reach twenty-seven.
四個都試過之後，按「1770 年到現在」，把時間軸一路拉到今天，看「修正案」標記上的數字：1791 年就到十，之後花了兩百年才到二十七。
Before the Constitution there are thirteen separate blocks joined by a dotted line, and one small hall where each state has a single vote. There is no separate president and no national court system.
憲法之前，畫面上是十三個各自獨立的方塊，用一條虛線串著；中間一間小會堂，每州在裡面只有一票。沒有獨立的總統，也沒有全國性的法院體系。
Watch each of the first three articles raise a building. Notice the order: the legislature comes first and receives the longest list of powers.
看前三條各自把一棟建築立起來。注意順序：立法部門排在最前面，拿到的權力清單也最長。
The markers in front are not institutions. They are rules about the system itself: how the states relate to one another, how to amend the text, which law wins a conflict, and how the document took effect.
前排的標記不是機關，而是關於這套制度本身的規則：州與州怎麼相處、條文怎麼修改、法律衝突時誰優先，以及這份文件怎麼生效。
Play the years after the signing. Each state turns gold on the day its convention ratified. The ninth, New Hampshire, makes the Constitution law. Then the three branches appear one at a time in 1789 and 1790, as each begins to work, and the last two states join.
播放簽署之後的那幾年。每一州在它的會議批准的那一天變成金色。第九個州新罕布夏讓憲法成立。接著在 1789 與 1790 年，三個部門各自開始運作時一棟一棟出現，最後兩個州也加入了。
Try It · 動手試試
Ten powers or rules. For each one, choose the article of the Constitution where it is written. There is no timer, and you can keep choosing until you find it; the game counts the ones you place on the first try. Two of them are not where most people expect.
十項權力或規定。每一題選出它寫在憲法的哪一條。不計時，可以一直選到對為止；遊戲會記下你第一次就放對的題數。其中有兩題不在大多數人以為的地方。
1 of 10 · 第 1 題（共 10 題）
Right on the first try · 第一次就答對 0 / 0
Try It · 動手試試
Article V gives two ways to propose an amendment and two ways to ratify it. Choose a route and see the gates it must pass, then use the sliders to try out vote counts. An ordinary bill needs only a majority in each house of Congress, and then the President's signature. An amendment needs much more, and it needs agreement spread across the country.
第五條給了兩種提案方式和兩種批准方式。選一條路線，看它要過哪幾關；再用滑桿試試票數。一般的法案只要國會兩院各過半數，再由總統簽署；修憲要的多得多，而且需要分散在全國各地的同意。
Step 1 · Who proposes? 第一步：誰提案？
Step 2 · Who ratifies? 第二步：誰批准？
The gates on this route 這條路線要過的關卡
Counts for 2026: 435 voting seats in the House, 100 in the Senate, and 50 states. Article V sets fractions, not head counts, so the numbers here assume that every seat is filled and every member votes. Congress chooses which of the two ways of ratifying will be used. The President has no formal role: a proposed amendment is not sent to the White House for signature.2026 年的數字：眾議院有 435 個有表決權的席位、參議院 100 席、全國 50 州。第五條寫的是分數，不是人數，所以這裡的票數是假設「席位全部有人、全員投票」算出來的。用哪一種方式批准，由國會決定。總統在修憲程序裡沒有正式的角色：修憲案不送白宮簽署。
Try the numbers on the usual route 在最常走的那條路線上試試票數
0
0
0
The record since 1789 1789 年以來的紀錄
The two lower bars are drawn to the same scale as the top one, which is why you can hardly see them: roughly one proposal in every 440 has become part of the Constitution. The count of thirty-three comes from a Congressional Research Service report of 2012.下面兩條和第一條是用同一個比例畫的，所以幾乎看不見：大約每 440 件修憲案，才有一件成為憲法的一部分。「三十三」出自國會研究處 2012 年的報告。 U.S. Senate: Measures Proposed to Amend the Constitution ↗National Archives: Constitutional Amendment Process ↗
What Does the Text Say? · 條文怎麼寫？
The words are copied from the National Archives transcription of the Constitution, with the capital letters and spelling of 1787.
原文照美國國家檔案館的憲法謄本逐字抄錄，保留 1787 年的大寫與拼法。
Article VI, Clause 2 (the Supremacy Clause)第六條第二款（最高條款）
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.本憲法、依本憲法所制定的合眾國法律，以及以合眾國的權力已經締結或將來締結的一切條約，都是全國的最高法律；各州的法官都受其拘束，即使任何一州的憲法或法律有相反的規定，也是如此。
Notice the condition: federal laws are supreme only when they are made “in Pursuance” of the Constitution. A federal law that goes beyond the powers the Constitution grants does not qualify. Whether a particular law does so is a question for the courts, and a later lesson takes it up.注意那個條件：聯邦法律要「依本憲法」制定，才是最高法律。超出憲法授權的聯邦法律，不在此列。某一項法律是不是超出了授權，則由法院判斷——後面的課會談。
Article V (first part)第五條（前半）
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress;國會在兩院各有三分之二認為必要時，應提出本憲法的修正案；或者，經各州三分之二的州議會申請，應召開會議以提出修正案。不論哪一種情形，修正案經各州四分之三的州議會批准，或經四分之三的州的會議批准，即成為本憲法的一部分而完全有效；採用哪一種批准方式，由國會提出。
One sentence holds the whole procedure. The article goes on to two provisos: before 1808 no amendment could touch the clause on importing enslaved people or the rule on direct taxes, and no state may lose its equal vote in the Senate without its consent.整套程序就在這一句裡。條文後面還有兩個但書：1808 年以前，任何修正案都不得更動有關輸入被奴役者的條款與直接稅的規定；未經該州同意，不得剝奪任何一州在參議院的平等表決權。
Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 (the three-fifths clause)第一條第二項第三款（五分之三條款）
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.眾議員名額與直接稅，應按本聯邦所轄各州的人口分配；各州人口的計算方法是：自由人的總數（包括必須服一定年限勞役的人，但不包括未被課稅的印第安人），加上所有其他人口的五分之三。
“All other Persons” meant people held in slavery. They could not vote, yet three fifths of their number added to the seats, and so to the presidential electors, of the states that enslaved them. “Indians not taxed” were left out of the count entirely. Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment (1868) replaced this rule.「所有其他人口」指的就是被奴役的人。他們不能投票，他們人數的五分之三卻替奴役他們的州換來更多的眾議院席次，連帶也有更多的總統選舉人。「未被課稅的印第安人」則完全不計入。第十四條修正案第二項（1868）取代了這條規則。
National Archives: The Constitution, a transcription ↗National Archives: Amendments 11–27 ↗
Read the Source · 讀原典
Two short texts from 1787 and 1788, as transcribed by the National Archives and the Library of Congress. Read each one slowly, aloud if you can, before you open the translation. The Preamble keeps its original spelling (“defence”), and the sentences are long; the notes on hard words are underneath.
1787 與 1788 年的兩段短文，依美國國家檔案館與國會圖書館的謄本。先慢慢讀一遍——能唸出聲更好——再打開中譯。序言保留原來的拼法（例如 defence），句子很長；難字的註解在下面。
Constitutional text · 憲法條文
Signed at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, September 17, 1787.1787 年 9 月 17 日在費城的制憲會議簽署。
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
我們合眾國的人民，為了組成一個更完善的聯邦，樹立正義，確保國內安寧，籌設共同防衛，增進全民福利，並使我們自己和後代子孫永享自由的幸福，特制定並確立這部美利堅合眾國憲法。
Text from the National Archives transcription, which keeps the original spelling and punctuation. A work of the U.S. government, in the public domain. The Chinese translation is ours.原文依美國國家檔案館的謄本，保留原來的拼法與標點；屬美國政府文件，公有領域。中譯為本站所譯。 National Archives: The Constitution, a transcription ↗
Hard words · 難字
Three questions for a close reading · 三個導讀問題
Essay, 1788 · 1788 年的文章
Signed “Publius.” First printed in a New York newspaper, the Independent Journal, on February 6, 1788. Scholars generally attribute it to James Madison, although Alexander Hamilton also claimed it.署名「普布利烏斯」（Publius）。1788 年 2 月 6 日首次刊登於紐約的報紙 Independent Journal。學界一般認為作者是麥迪遜，不過漢彌爾頓也曾說這一篇是他寫的。
Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?
If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.
必須用野心來對抗野心。一個人的私利，必須和他所在職位的憲法權利連結在一起。要靠這樣的設計才能控制政府的濫權，這或許是對人性的一種嘲諷。但是政府本身，不正是對人性最大的嘲諷嗎？
如果人都是天使，就不需要政府了。如果是天使來統治人，對政府就不需要任何外在或內在的控制了。要設計一個由人來管理人的政府，最大的困難就在這裡：你必須先讓政府有能力管住被治理的人；然後，還要迫使政府管住它自己。依靠人民，無疑是對政府最主要的控制；但是經驗教導人類，輔助性的預防措施仍然是必要的。
Text as given by the Library of Congress, which heads the essay “From the New York Packet. Friday, February 8, 1788” (a reprint two days after the first printing) and lists the author as “Alexander Hamilton or James Madison.” We divided the passage into two paragraphs for reading; in the original it is one. Public domain. The Chinese translation is ours.原文依美國國會圖書館的版本；該版本標示「出自 New York Packet，1788 年 2 月 8 日星期五」（首刊兩天後的轉載），作者列為「漢彌爾頓或麥迪遜」。為了方便閱讀，我們把這一段分成兩段，原文是連在一起的。公有領域。中譯為本站所譯。 Library of Congress: Federalist Nos. 51–60 ↗Founders Online (National Archives): The Federalist Number 51 ↗
Hard words · 難字
Three questions for a close reading · 三個導讀問題
The Design Debate · 制度的爭論
A written constitution that is very hard to amend raises a question the text does not answer: how should later generations read it? Two broad approaches have competed for a long time. Each is stated here in its strongest form, and the card does not choose between them.
一部成文而且很難修改的憲法，帶來一個條文自己沒有回答的問題：後來的世代該怎麼讀它？長久以來有兩種大方向在競爭。這裡把兩邊各用最強的版本寫出來，不替它們分高下。
Should the words of the Constitution be read with the meaning they had when they were adopted, until the people amend them? Or should their meaning develop as the country changes?憲法的文字，應該照它被採納當時的意思來讀，直到人民把它修改為止？還是應該隨著國家的改變，讓它的意思跟著發展？
One approach · 一種取向
I entirely concur in the propriety of resorting to the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation. In that sense alone it is the legitimate Constitution. And if that be not the guide in expounding it, there can be no security for a consistent and stable, more than for a faithful exercise of its powers.James Madison, letter to Henry Lee, June 25, 1824我完全贊同這樣的做法：回到全國接受並批准這部憲法時所理解的意思。只有照那個意思，它才是正當的憲法。如果解釋憲法時不以此為準，憲法所授予的權力就既不能保證被忠實地行使，也不能保證被前後一致而穩定地行使。——麥迪遜，1824 年
Founders Online: Madison to Henry Lee, 1824 ↗Cornell LII: Originalism ↗Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Constitutionalism ↗
Another approach · 另一種取向
… when we are dealing with words that also are a constituent act, like the Constitution of the United States, we must realize that they have called into life a being the development of which could not have been foreseen completely by the most gifted of its begetters.Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., opinion of the Court in Missouri v. Holland, 252 U.S. 416 (1920)……當我們面對的文字同時也是一項制憲行為——例如美國憲法——我們必須明白：這些文字催生了一個生命，它日後的發展，連最有天分的創造者也不可能完全預見。——霍姆斯大法官，1920 年
Cornell LII: Missouri v. Holland (1920) ↗Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Constitutionalism ↗
Both approaches start from the text, and both accept that an amendment changes it. Each also comes in several versions. The disagreement is over what should settle a hard case when the words alone do not, and this card does not settle it. Which of the arguments above do you find strongest, and what evidence would change your mind?這兩種取向都從條文出發，也都承認修正案可以改變條文；各自底下還有好幾種不同的版本。真正的分歧在於：當文字本身不足以決定一個困難的案子時，該由什麼來決定——這張卡不替這個問題下結論。上面的論點裡，你覺得哪幾個最有力？什麼樣的證據會讓你改變想法？
Compare with Taiwan · 和台灣比一比
This card compares designs only. It quotes the Constitution of the Republic of China and its Additional Articles from the official Laws and Regulations Database, and it does not say which arrangement is better.
這張卡只比制度的設計，條文引自全國法規資料庫的《中華民國憲法》與《中華民國憲法增修條文》；不評價哪一種安排比較好。
| Topic · 項目 | United States美國 | Republic of China (Taiwan)中華民國（台灣） |
|---|---|---|
| The document文件本身 | A written constitution: a preamble and seven articles, signed in 1787 and in operation since 1789, followed by twenty-seven amendments.成文憲法：序言加七條，1787 年簽署、1789 年起施行；後面附二十七條修正案。 | A written constitution: 175 articles in fourteen chapters, adopted on December 25, 1946, promulgated on January 1, 1947, and in force from December 25, 1947, followed by twelve Additional Articles.成文憲法：共十四章、175 條，民國 35 年（1946）12 月 25 日制定、36 年（1947）1 月 1 日公布、同年 12 月 25 日施行；後面附十二條增修條文。 |
| How changes are written down修改怎麼寫進去 | Amendments are added at the end, one after another. The original articles are not rewritten, even where an amendment has replaced them.修正案一條一條附在最後面。原來的條文不改寫，即使已經被修正案取代。 | Additional Articles are placed after the main text. The original articles are not rewritten; the Additional Articles state which of them no longer apply.增修條文放在本文之後。原來的條文不改寫，由增修條文寫明哪些條文「不適用」或「停止適用」。 |
| Who proposes a change誰提出修改 | Congress, by a two-thirds vote of both houses; or a convention called when two thirds of the state legislatures apply (never yet used).國會兩院各三分之二；或經三分之二的州議會申請而召開的會議（至今沒有用過）。 | The Legislative Yuan: on the proposal of one fourth of its members, with three fourths attending and three fourths of those attending voting in favor.立法院：立法委員四分之一提議，四分之三出席，出席委員四分之三決議。 |
| Who gives final approval誰做最後的同意 | The states: the legislatures of three fourths of them (38 of 50 today), or conventions in three fourths. There is no national popular vote.各州：四分之三的州議會（現在是 50 州裡的 38 州），或四分之三的州的批准會議。沒有全國性的公民投票。 | The voters: after six months of public notice, a referendum of the electors. It passes when the valid votes in favor exceed one half of the total number of electors.選舉人：公告半年後，由選舉人投票複決；有效同意票超過選舉人總額的半數才通過。 |
| How often it has been changed修改過幾次 | Twenty-seven amendments, the first ten in 1791 and the latest in 1992.二十七條修正案；前十條在 1791 年，最近的一條在 1992 年。 | The Additional Articles were enacted in 1991 and revised six more times through 2005. The 1999 revision was declared void by Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 499.增修條文在民國 80 年（1991）制定，之後到 94 年（2005）又修正了六次；其中 88 年（1999）那一次經司法院釋字第 499 號解釋宣告失效。 |
中華民國憲法 第 1 條、第 2 條Constitution of the Republic of China, Articles 1 and 2
中華民國基於三民主義，為民有民治民享之民主共和國。 中華民國之主權屬於國民全體。Official English translation: “The Republic of China, founded on the Three Principles of the People, shall be a democratic republic of the people, to be governed by the people and for the people.” “The sovereignty of the Republic of China shall reside in the whole body of citizens.”
全國法規資料庫：中華民國憲法 ↗Laws & Regulations Database: Constitution (English) ↗
中華民國憲法增修條文 第 12 條Additional Articles of the Constitution, Article 12
憲法之修改，須經立法院立法委員四分之一之提議，四分之三之出席，及出席委員四分之三之決議，提出憲法修正案，並於公告半年後，經中華民國自由地區選舉人投票複決，有效同意票過選舉人總額之半數，即通過之，不適用憲法第一百七十四條之規定。Official English translation: “Amendment of the Constitution shall be initiated upon the proposal of one-fourth of the total members of the Legislative Yuan, passed by at least three-fourths of the members present at a meeting attended by at least three-fourths of the total members of the Legislative Yuan, and sanctioned by electors in the free area of the Republic of China at a referendum held upon expiration of a six-month period of public announcement of the proposal, wherein the number of valid votes in favor exceeds one-half of the total number of electors. The provisions of Article 174 of the Constitution shall not apply.”
全國法規資料庫：中華民國憲法增修條文 ↗Laws & Regulations Database: Additional Articles (English) ↗
One thing to notice: both systems make the constitution harder to change than an ordinary law, but they place the final gate differently. The United States asks for agreement spread across the states; Taiwan asks the voters directly. One example of the threshold at work: on November 26, 2022, an amendment proposed by the Legislative Yuan went to a referendum. It received 5,647,102 valid votes in favor and 5,016,427 against; the votes in favor were 29.35 percent of the 19,239,392 electors, short of one half, so it did not pass (Central Election Commission). “Free area” in Article 12 is the wording of the Additional Articles themselves. Dates and counts were checked against the Laws and Regulations Database and the Central Election Commission in October 2026.可以注意的一點：兩套制度都讓憲法比一般法律難改，但把最後一道關放在不同的地方——美國要的是分散在各州的同意，台灣是直接問選舉人。這個門檻實際運作的一個例子：民國 111 年（2022）11 月 26 日，立法院提出的一項憲法修正案交付複決，有效同意票 5,647,102、不同意票 5,016,427；同意票占選舉人總數 19,239,392 人的 29.35%，沒有過半數，結果是不通過（中央選舉委員會）。第 12 條裡的「自由地區」是增修條文自己的用語。日期與次數於 2026 年 10 月對過全國法規資料庫與中央選舉委員會的選舉資料庫。
News English · 新聞英語
Every lesson in this series has a News English card: eight words or phrases that turn up in reports about American government. Listen to each term and its example sentence, then try making a sentence of your own.
這個系列每一課都有一張「新聞英語」卡：八個在美國政府新聞裡常出現的詞或片語。先聽每個詞和例句，再試著自己造一句。
unconstitutional違憲的
not allowed by the Constitution憲法所不允許的
In 1954 the Supreme Court ruled that segregated public schools were unconstitutional.1954 年，最高法院判決公立學校實施種族隔離違憲。
to amend the Constitution修憲
to change its text formally, through Article V依第五條的程序正式修改條文
It takes two thirds of Congress and three fourths of the states to amend the Constitution.修憲需要國會三分之二，以及四分之三的州同意。
to ratify批准
to give the formal approval that makes an amendment or a treaty valid作出讓修正案或條約生效的正式同意
Tennessee became the thirty-sixth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.1920 年，田納西成為第三十六個批准第十九條修正案的州。
the Framers制憲者
the delegates who wrote the Constitution in 17871787 年起草憲法的那些代表
The Framers met in Philadelphia for almost four months.制憲者在費城開了將近四個月的會。
the Bill of Rights權利法案
the first ten amendments, ratified in 17911791 年批准的前十條修正案
Freedom of speech is protected by the First Amendment, part of the Bill of Rights.言論自由受第一條修正案保護，那是權利法案的一部分。
enshrined in the Constitution明文載入憲法
written into the Constitution, and so very hard to remove寫進了憲法，因此很難拿掉
The right to a jury trial is enshrined in the Constitution.受陪審團審判的權利明文載於憲法。
the supreme law of the land全國的最高法律
a phrase from Article VI: the law that every other law must follow出自第六條：其他法律都必須遵循的法
Under Article VI, the Constitution is the supreme law of the land.依第六條，憲法是全國的最高法律。
to strike down a law宣告一項法律無效
(of a court) to rule that a law is invalid because it conflicts with the Constitution（法院）以牴觸憲法為由，判定某項法律無效
A court may strike down a law that conflicts with the Constitution.法院可以宣告牴觸憲法的法律無效。
Myth vs. Fact · 常見迷思
✗ Myth · 迷思The Constitution gives Americans their rights.美國人的權利是憲法給的。
✓ Fact · 事實Most of its rights clauses are written as limits on government: “Congress shall make no law …” The Ninth Amendment adds that listing certain rights “shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” How far that sentence reaches is still argued.憲法裡談權利的條文，大多是寫成對政府的限制：「國會不得制定法律……」第九條修正案還補上一句：列舉某些權利，「不得解釋為否定或貶低人民所保有的其他權利」。這句話的效力到底有多大，到現在還有爭論。
✗ Myth · 迷思“All men are created equal” is in the Constitution.「人人生而平等」寫在憲法裡。
✓ Fact · 事實That sentence is in the Declaration of Independence (1776). The Constitution of 1787 gave no guarantee of equality among persons. The guarantee of “the equal protection of the laws” was added by the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868.那句話出自 1776 年的《獨立宣言》。1787 年的憲法沒有保障人與人之間的平等；「法律的平等保護」是 1868 年第十四條修正案才加進去的。
✗ Myth · 迷思The Constitution created a democracy in which the people elected their leaders directly.憲法建立了一個由人民直接選出領導人的民主國家。
✓ Fact · 事實In the original design, voters chose only the House of Representatives directly. State legislatures chose senators until the Seventeenth Amendment (1913), electors chose the President, and judges were appointed. Who could vote at all was left to each state.照原來的設計，選民直接選的只有眾議院。參議員由州議會選出，直到 1913 年第十七條修正案才改為直選；總統由選舉人選出；法官是任命的。至於誰有資格投票，則交給各州決定。
✗ Myth · 迷思The U.S. Constitution is the oldest constitution in the world.美國憲法是全世界最古老的憲法。
✓ Fact · 事實The U.S. Senate describes it as “the world’s longest surviving written charter of government,” and that is a claim about national governments. The constitution of the state of Massachusetts was adopted in 1780, seven years before the U.S. Constitution was written, and it is still in use.美國參議院的說法是：它是「全世界存續最久的成文政府憲章」——這講的是國家層級。麻薩諸塞「州」的憲法在 1780 年通過，比美國憲法的起草早七年，而且到現在還在使用。
Activity 1 · 課堂或自學活動一
You need · 準備材料
Steps · 步驟
For self-study, do steps 1 to 3 alone and write three sentences for step 4. There is no single correct sorting; what matters is the reason you give for each choice.
自學的人可以自己做前三步，第四步寫三句話。分類沒有唯一的正確答案，重要的是你替每個選擇說出的理由。
Activity 2 · 課堂或自學活動二
You need · 準備材料
Steps · 步驟
Keep to description. The task is to see how two documents are organized, not to decide which one is better.
只做描述。這個活動是要看清楚兩份文件各自怎麼編排，不是要判斷哪一部比較好。
Go Further · 延伸閱讀
Sources · 資料出處
Quotations, dates, and numbers on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. Quotations keep the spelling of the originals · 本頁的引文、日期與數字於 2026 年 10 月依下列資料查證；引文保留原文的拼法