The terms limited government and small government are two terms which cover two related meanings. They are often used interchangeably, though each has a more common usage.

"Limited government" is most commonly government where its functions and powers are prescribed, limited, and restricted by law, usually in a written constitution. This is the concept covered in detail by this entry.

"Small government" is most commonly government that choses to vest most power in others, usually private enterprise and citizens. Another term used to describe this meaning is minarchism. Capitalism generally refers to a combination of economic practices that became institutionalized in Europe between the 16th and 19th centuries, especially involving the right of individuals and groups of individuals acting as legal persons (or corporations) to buy and sell capital goods such as land, labor, and money (see finance... Citizenship is membership in a political community (originally a city but now a state), and carries with it rights to political participation; a person having such membership is a citizen. ... In civics, minarchism, sometimes called minimal statism or small government, is the view that the size, role and influence of government in a free society should be minimal - only large enough to protect the liberty of each and every individual, without violating the liberty of any individuals itself, thus maximizing...

These terms have no legal status anywhere at this time, and were coined for political and ideological reasons in response to "big government" - government involving excessive bureaucracy. Big government is a pejorative term generally used by political conservatives or laissez-faire advocates to describe a government which is excessively large or inefficient, or which is inappropriately involved in certain areas of public policy. ...

Limited government in the United States

Probably the clearest example of limited government is in the United States, where the constitution both creates a structure of national government and enumerates the powers to which that government is entitled. The Constitution reserves certain powers for the Federal Government and precludes certain powers from the same; it also reserves certain powers for the State governments, and precludes other powers from them. Lastly, the 10th Amendment specifically states that The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. (Redirected from 10th Amendment) The Tenth Amendment may refer to the: Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, part of the Bill of Rights. ...

The requirement of concurrent majorities in the bicameral legislature also served to limit American government. Concurrent majority refers in general to the concept of balancing majority and minority interests through limited government. ... The bicameral legislature of the United States is housed in a capitol building with two wings. ...

The Australian constitution, modelled on that of the US, is similar.

Contrast of US and UK sovereignty

This contrasts strongly (and probably causally) with government in Britain, certainly at the time and arguably even in modern times, where government is limited by nothing more than convention.

The difference may be attributed to different conceptualizations of sovereignty. In the United States, sovereignty is thought to rest with the people; although one could argue that the Constitution is sovereign in its own right, the Constitution has legal force primarily because of its ratification by the people; consequentially, the power to design the form of government - and thus sovereignty - must rest with the people, being the ultimate arbiter of the method of government, rather than the document that they approve); through the constitution, the people loan to the government certain powers.

In Britain, by contrast, sovereignty rests with the Crown and Parliament; power is delegated from these bodies as they see fit (q.v. the recent enthusiasm for devolution in Scotland, Wales and England's regions). Although there is a huge body of law and tradition in the UK that effectively creates an unwritten constitution, these laws are subject to arbitrary changes by the government at any time (q.v. the 2003 decision of the Blair government to abolish the office of the Lord Chancellor). This article describes the British monarchy from the perspective of the United Kingdom. ... States currently utilizing parliamentary systems are denoted in orange and red—the former being constitutional monarchies where authority is vested in a parliament, and the latter being parliamentary republics whose parliaments are effectively supreme over a separate head of state. ... For the heavy metal band, see Devolved (band) Devolution or home rule is the granting of powers from central government to government at regional or local level. ... Motto: (Latin for No one provokes me with impunity)1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots2 Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen of the UK Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by... Motto: (Welsh for Wales for ever) Anthem: Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau Capital Cardiff Largest city Cardiff Official language(s) English, Welsh Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Rhodri Morgan AM Unification    - by Gruffudd ap Llywelyn 1056  Area    - Total 20,779 km² (3rd... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq... For the entry on the naval ship U.S.S. Constitution, see: USS Constitution. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953)[1], known as Tony Blair, is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Leader of the UK Labour Party, and Member of the UK Parliament for the constituency of Sedgefield in North... This article or section needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ...

In America, the concept of limited government flows naturally from the assumption of popular sovereignty: If the people are sovereign, then any powers had by government are "given on loan", and detract from the people's innate sovereignty. Therefore such powers are inherently limited. In Britain, the concept of limited government requires more convoluted reasoning: When the government is sovereign, then any powers they lend other sub-governments detract from their own freedom of action. As a consequence, even if British politicians expouse devolution as having the primary aim of bringing government closer to the people (a key concept of limited government, as discussed in Tocqueville's Democracy in America), and even if they succeed in that endeavour, their conceptualizaton of the flow of that power is very different to the thought process that lead to the hierarchical model of government in the US. Devolution involves giving power to sub-entities closer to the people; this implies that the power is government's to give to people in the first place; in America, power is given to the government by the people. See also Lakoff's Moral Politics for more discussion on how conceptual systems can determine (or at least strongly affect) perception. In modern times, Libertarians identify strongly with the concept of limited government. In the past, Republicans identified with the concept of limited government. For otheruses, see Tocqueville (disambiguation) Alexis de Tocqueville (July 29, 1805 - April 16, 1859) was a French political thinker and historian. ... De la démocratie en Amérique (published in two volumes, the first in 1835 and the second in 1840) is a classic French text by Alexis de Tocqueville on the United States in the 1830s and its strengths and weaknesses. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think is a book by cognitive linguist George Lakoff. ... See also Libertarianism and Libertarian Party Libertarian,is a term for person who has made a conscious and principled commitment, evidenced by a statement or Pledge, to forswear violating others rights and usually living in voluntary communities: thus in law no longer subject to government supervision. ... This article is about the modern United States Republican Party. ...