What Does the Constitution Party Believe In?

The Constitution Party is a United States political party dedicated to limiting the federal government to its expressed constitutional boundaries. It is an explicitly Christian party that believes the political rights of Americans ultimately derive from God. It believes in a smaller federal government that is closer to the one that existed in the late 18th century when the founders governed the country.

A smaller federal government is one of the main tenets of the Constitution Party. The advocate for limiting the federal government to strictly-expressed constitutional boundaries. The Constitution Party's version of a smaller federal government refers not only only to a smaller number of government-employed people but also to the government itself having less roles and responsibilities in the nation.

The Constitution Party said in its 2012-2016 platform that its ideas are based on the founding documents of the United States including the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. The party declared that contemporary issues can best be solved by referring back to the original intent of the founders who wrote the founding documents of government. Thus, it called for a “renewed allegiance” to these documents.

In its party preamble, the Constitution Party makes it clear that it is a Christian party. It names Jesus Christ as the “Creator, Preserver and Ruler of the Universe and of these United States.” It cites the Bible as the founding source of the inherent rights of the American people. The preamble states that the United States is a Republic “rooted in Biblical law.” which translates to jurisprudence being restored to to Biblical foundations. Based on their Biblical roots, the Constitution Party opposes homosexual unions and abortion in any form. However, within that Biblical framework, the Party also supports the death penalty.

The 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states that any powers not specifically delegated to the national government are reserved for the states or to the citizens. According to the Constitution Party’s interpretation of the 10th Amendment, the federal government is not authorized to mandate policies in education, health care, housing and many other categories. The party advocates that the federal government stay out of the domestic affairs of the various states to return them to a sovereign political status. The Constitution Party opposes raising minimum wage and a federal income tax in part because these concepts involve their perception of federal government overreach.

The Constitution Party believes in a non-interventionist foreign policy, arguing against foreign alliances and treaties that would commit the United States to foreign wars. It opposes the United States’ membership in the United Nations and other world government organizations because it believes they undermine the national sovereignty of the United States. The Constitution Party makes the demand that all U.S. wars should receive an official declaration of war by the U.S. Congress before the fighting begins.