Limited government is a government where anymore than minimal governmental intervention in personal liberties and the economy is not usually allowed by
law, usually in a written
Constitution. It is closely related to
free market libertarianism and
classical liberalism and some tendencies of
liberalism and
conservatism in the United States. The theory of limited government contrasts with the idea that government should intervene to promote equality and opportunity through regulation of property and wealth redistribution.Lansford, Tom. Political Systems of the World.Marvell Cavendish. 2007. 31-32
In
Western Civilization, the
Magna Carta and the
United States Constitution are examples of the limiting of government powers while establishing a central government.
In the United States
In 1789, James Madison presented to the
First United States Congress a series of ten
amendments to the
United States Constitution which are today known as the
Bill Of Rights. After enumerating specific rights retained by the people in the first eight amendments, the
Ninth Amendment and the
Tenth Amendment summarily spelled out the principle of limited government. Together, these two last Amendments clarify the differences between the unenumerated (as well as enumerated) rights of the people versus the expressly codified delegated powers of the
federal government. The
Ninth Amendment codified that the rights of the people do not have to be expressly written in the Constitution (i.e., do not have to be enumerated) to still be retained by the people. In the reverse, though, the
Tenth Amendment codified that any delegated powers of the federal government are only authorized to be performed so long as such delegated powers are expressly delegated to the federal government specifically by the
U.S. Constitution.
The
U.S. Constitution limits the power of the government in several ways. It prohibits the government from directly interfering with certain key areas: conscience, expression and association. Other actions are forbidden to the federal government and are reserved to
state or local governments.
See also
Contrast:
References
External links