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Encyclopedia > Limited government

Limited government is a government structure where any more than minimal governmental intervention in personal liberties and the economy is prohibited by law, usually in a written constitution. It is closely related to libertarianism, classical liberalism, and some tendencies of conservatism in the United States. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... For other uses, see Law (disambiguation). ... This article is about the political philosophy based on private property rights. ... Classical liberalism (also known as traditional liberalism[1] and laissez-faire liberalism[2]) is a doctrine stressing the importance of human rationality, individual property rights, natural rights, the protection of civil liberties, constitutional limitations of government, free markets, and individual freedom from restraint as exemplified in the writings of Adam... Conservatism in the United States comprises a constellation of political ideologies including fiscal conservatism, free market or economic liberalism, social conservatism,[1] bioconservatism and religious conservatism,[2][3] as well as support for a strong military,[4] small government and promotion of states rights. ...


History

Limited government is a common practice through Western culture. It has roots in Hebraic Law. In Western Civilization, the Magna Carta and the United States Constitution are examples of the limiting of government powers. The term Hebraic law refers to a set of ancient Hebrew law as found in several verses in the Old Testament. ... This article is about the English charter issued in 1215. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: The United States Constitution The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. ...


Constitution of the United States of America

A key concept of limited government is the written Bill of Rights which forms its fundamental law, and which is the clearest statement of the limits of the government's powers. If a Constitution is to function, the restraints imposed on the government must by implemented by men as detached as possible both from political pressures and popular passions. It is for this reason that the American Founding Fathers distrusted democracy. So, in the mermatical system, this restraint on the power of the central government was assigned to several different players; the individual States, and a judicial system headed by a life-appointed Supreme Court. This was not deemed sufficient and a written Bill of Rights was later added. “Founders” redirects here. ... A bill of rights is a list or summary of rights that are considered important and essential by a group of people. ...


Added as an afterthought but today very much a key part of the American Constitution is the Bill of Rights. This document is supposed to limit the power of the federal government in five ways. First, it prohibits the government from interfering with certain key areas, such as conscience, expression and association. Secondly, certain forms are established for the dealing of governments with their own citizens: specific actions are forbidden to the government. Unfortunately, it was assumed that the Bill of Rights would be largely self-enforcing, and this solution proved to be inadequate to do more than slow the growth of government. Government powers were expanded, even while following the letter of the Bill of Rights, and increasingly, key elements were virtually ignored.


In the 21st Century global society, all but the most totalitarian regimes claim to be limited governments, often with little to justify the claim.


External links


  Results from FactBites:
 
The Roots of Limited Government (1026 words)
The government of the United States, for all its majesty, is a government of limited powers.
The reasons why the authors of the Constitution saw fit to limit the powers of government are set forth candidly and clearly in that extraordinary document, the Declaration of Independence, in which they explained why they were severing their political connections with the English crown.
The Constitution is a limitation not alone upon the government.
The Theory of Limited Government by Per Bylund (1872 words)
The theories of limited government usually revolve around the idea of a constitution or contract between the people and the government, or rather: the ruled and the rulers.
Government is the creation of men to protect people from abusive actions of men, and its powers are and necessarily have to be defined, enforced, and limited by men.
Since government is the ultimate power in society (which, in a sense, is the purpose of government to begin with), there will be no one having the power to object to such development.
  More results at FactBites »

 

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