What were the new concepts concerning rights and powers of the government?

• A. Religious authorities should govern rights.
• B. Governments should have no power at all.
• C. People through the government had too much power and were limiting people's rights.
• D. Old monarchies retained absolute control.

Answer: (C)

Power must be checked to protect rights. Throughout the age of revolutions and Enlightenment thinking, thinkers argued that governments derive authority from the people but lose legitimacy if their power becomes unlimited. When a government can act without constraint, it can infringe on individual freedoms. The remedy proposed was to limit government power with constitutional rules, establish separation of powers and checks and balances, and enshrine natural rights in law. The option reflects this idea by pointing to a situation where centralized power in the government ends up curtailing people’s rights, underscoring why new concepts favored restricting government authority to safeguard liberty.