Althusius and others spoke of the power of the state as limited and qualified by some objective standards outside itself. The state, if it failed to heed these, forfeited its legitimacy. State legitimacy was always contingent upon conformity to an objective, supra-national, and unchanging standard . Far from being totalitarian, the power of a ruler is, at best, relative to other absolutes. No power is absolute, infinite, unbridled, arbitrary, and lawless.
Every power is bound to laws, right, and equity.
Likewise, every civil power that is constituted by legitimate means can be terminated and abolished. Althusius argued that the people could exist without a magistrate but not vice versa. Upon the election of rulers, the people do not so much surrender the liberties and rights as delegate the authority to govern to the governor. Rutherford also recognized that people may resume their power at times, particularly if the king has become tyrannical. Rutherford viewed civil governors not so much as dominating lords but as ministerial fiduciaries analogous to tutors, husbands, patrons, ministers, or fathers.