What is the principle of limited government?

The principle of limited government holds that the powers of government are restricted by law, by the Constitution, and by the rights of the people, so that no official, branch, or majority can do whatever it wishes. The principle has deep roots. The Magna Carta of 1215 forced King John to acknowledge that even monarchs were subject to law. The English Bill of Rights of 1689 imposed similar limits on the crown. John Locke argued in his Second Treatise of Government in 1689 that government holds power only as a trust from the people, who may revoke that trust if government violates its terms. Enlightenment thinkers like Montesquieu and Voltaire developed the idea further, and it became foundational to the American Founding.

The Constitution implements limited government in three main ways. First, by enumerating powers. Article I, Section 8 lists the specific powers of Congress; the Tenth Amendment reserves any unenumerated powers to the states or the people. Article II lists presidential powers, and Article III defines the federal courts' jurisdiction. Anything not listed is generally beyond federal authority.

Second, by structural design. Separation of powers among the three branches, plus checks and balances among them, plus federalism between national and state governments, all prevent concentration of power. Third, by guarantees of individual rights. The Bill of Rights, ratified in 1791, places freedoms of speech, religion, press, assembly, search and seizure protections, due process, equal protection, and other liberties beyond the reach of ordinary legislation. The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, extends most of these protections against state governments as well.

The amendment process under Article V is itself deliberately difficult, requiring two-thirds of both chambers of Congress and three-fourths of the states to change the basic rules. Federal courts since Marbury v. Madison in 1803 enforce these limits through judicial review, striking down laws and executive actions that exceed constitutional authority.

Limited government does not mean weak government. The federal government exercises substantial power within its constitutional sphere, including raising armies, regulating interstate commerce, taxing income, prosecuting federal crimes, conducting foreign relations, and operating massive social insurance programs. The point is that those powers come with boundaries.