There is an old proverb: “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This means that when people get too much power, they have a tendency to abuse it, using it for their own gain instead of for the good of everybody.  The Founding Fathers deeply believed in this. When they wrote the Constitution, they wanted to build a system that did not give any one person—even the president— too much power.

The U.S. Constitution is an anti-tyranny document. Its purpose is to limit government in such a way that it will be very difficult for it to abuse the rights of the people. If the central argument of the Declaration of Independence was "King George is a tyrant," the U.S. Constitution is the Framers saying, “We can do better.”

Here are three major ways the Constitution keeps the government from abusing power.
Click on each image to learn more.

Activity

Anti-Tyranny in Action

 In the following activity, you will apply the three different ways the Constitution prevents tyranny through a series of video case studies. Watch the brief clips and then decide if the U.S. system of government prevents this through majority rule, with minority rights; enumerated powers; or separation of powers, with checks and balances.