Limited government
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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.
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.
[edit] 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.
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.
