For the citizen to be the rulers of the American repubic, we must understand the nature of power.
Governments are essential. We create them to monopolize violence to coerce compliance with law. How much coercion do you want? We write Constitutions to constrain coercion. But Constitutions are paper barriors unless enforced. Citizens must understand and demand to be a key.
The Rules for Rulers are:
No man rules alone. Get and keep the keys to power by buying loyalty.
Control the treasury to reward your keys to power at the expense of those not in your winning coalition.