In American government, what is incorporation?

Answer 1

The Constitution is a document that deals primarily with federal power. The 14th amendment deals with state power. Incorporation is the process whereby the bill of rights (originally only for federal) were applied to the states through the 14th amendment's Due Process Clause. Incorporation was done through Supreme Court case law, and the only amendments not incorporated are (1) the Fifth Amendment's right to indictment by a grand jury (most states don't use grand juries to indict a criminal) and (2) the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against excessive bail (since all states already had/have their own laws granting right to bail and prohibiting excessive bail). All other rights in the bill of rights have been incorporated.