Americanism:

If you think about the founders, they looked at the government as the enemy of rights; that we secure our rights by limiting the government. And even where you have government, it has to be checked. And so you have separation of power, checks and balances — all techniques to put a rein, a leash on the government. And that’s why when you look at the Bill of Rights, a lot of the phrases begin, “Congress shall make no law.” So how do we protect free speech, Congress shall make no law restricting free speech; how do we protect religion, Congress can’t pass laws about it. So restricting the government is seen as the mechanism to protect rights.

— Dinesh D’Souza, The Dennis Prager Show, January 22, 2013, Hour 2

Leftism:

Government is not inherently bad; government is inherently good. That is why we have a Constitution.

— Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), U.S. Senate Floor, April 23, 2013