What is the Role of Government?

The role of government in America has always been to be that of servant to the people, not the master.
Our Declaration of Independence asserts...
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
Our rights are NOT granted by the government, they are unalienable rights endowed by our Creator. The role of government is to "secure these rights" on behalf or "consent of the governed." These brave patriots went on to fight a bloody war to secure these rights and consummated their revolution with a document called the Constitution of the United States and Bill of Rights that's sole purpose was to safeguard our God-given rights by limiting government power.