The US has a limited goverment in the sense that its actions are binded by the provisions of the US Constitution. Some of those provisions are drafted to protect the citizens in the case that a certain goverment arrives to power and, for example, undertakes actions which violate fundamental rights such as the freedom of speech.
The Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution provides the right to a public trial to criminal defendants, which would take place in front of an impartial jury. <u>In this sense, citizens are protected from the overreaching by the goverment in the sense that no one can be incarcerated or legally sanctioned without a previous fair trial .</u>
