What is the relationship between citizens and their government?

The relationship between citizens and their government in the American constitutional tradition is one in which citizens grant the government limited authority specifically to protect their rights, and government remains accountable to them through ongoing consent. The Declaration of Independence in 1776 set out the basic terms: governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, in order to secure the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Constitution's Preamble in 1787 expressed the same idea. We the People do ordain and establish this Constitution, signaling that citizens are the source of political authority and the federal government is their creation.

The relationship is reciprocal. Citizens delegate certain powers to government, including the powers to tax, regulate commerce, defend the nation, enforce the law, and provide public services. In return, government protects citizens' lives, liberty, and property, runs the institutions that make modern life possible, and serves the common good.

Citizens hold corresponding responsibilities. They obey the law, pay taxes, serve on juries when called, register for the Selective Service if they are men aged 18 to 25, and support and defend the Constitution. Citizens hold the power to alter or replace government through legitimate means. They vote in elections at federal, state, and local levels. They can run for office, attend public meetings, contact representatives, peacefully protest, and challenge unconstitutional government action in court. They can ratify constitutional amendments through their elected legislatures.

The Declaration recognized an extreme case: when government becomes destructive of its core purposes and a long train of abuses demonstrates a design to reduce people under absolute despotism, the people have the right to alter or abolish it. In the constitutional system that followed, the ordinary mechanisms of elections, lawmaking, and amendment supply the legitimate channels for change.

Officials, in turn, swear oaths to the Constitution, not to a king, party, or person. They serve fixed terms and stand for election or reappointment. Even the president, the most powerful single official, cannot inherit office and must respect the rights and authorities of other branches and the states. The relationship is built into every level of American government and is renewed every time a citizen votes, takes the oath, serves on a jury, or participates in public life.