used these opportunities, and what we earned in doing so should not be given back to the collective community so that the lazy, who didn't use their opportunities, can prosper. Congressmen, constantly seeking re-election from tax-hating constituents, are thus rewarded for keeping government public policy to a minimum. The American ideologies of individualism and equality of opportunity, producing an overall desire for limited government, keep the scope of government public policy very small.There are many theories as to the origins of the American ideology of limited government, but a few key factors such as migration and diversity, which essentially set America down its initial path of government suspicion, seem to have had the greatest effect (Kingdon: 80). Other, possibly less influencial, factors include social structure, opportunity, and isolation from other countries (Kingdon: 57). To better understand the present state of American idealogy, we need to understand why America started down the path of government suspicion in the first place. To do this, we need to examine the reasons people first came to America. Most immigrants came here to escape unacceptable religious or political status in their homelands, while others came for economic reasons, or possibly against their will, as with the slaves. Those immigrants that came to dominate American society were those who came here of their own will, searching for a better life in the land of opportunity. It is fairly obvious that immigrants fleeing tyrannic rule or religious persecution would be very untrusting of any type of authority, especially government, and that many immigrants probably passed this suspicion of power to subsequent generations (Kingdon: 60). For example, Methodist in England left for America because they found adhorrent the power of the established Church of England, the taxes they had to pay for its maintenance, and the close alliance between religious...
