The Federal Government is exploiting public fear to redefine the relationship between the rulers and the American people.

Bovard’s line distills a recurring theme in his civil-liberties writing: crises and perceived threats can be leveraged by centralized power to expand authority and narrow the sphere of individual rights. The key claim is not merely that officials respond to fear, but that they actively “exploit” it—using public anxiety to justify new surveillance, policing, secrecy, or emergency powers. The phrase “redefine the relationship” suggests a constitutional and cultural shift: citizens are recast less as rights-bearing individuals and more as subjects to be managed for security. The quote functions as a warning about the political incentives of fear and the long-term ratchet effect of temporary measures becoming permanent.