The people who run a country tend to be insecure narcissists. They sought power to fight off their insecurity.

This is why you see so many public half proclamations that they take no action on. They say the thing to see how many will obey in advance. If people jump to comply before it is a law they move forward. If no one complies that thing gets forgotten.

They do not actually push forward until they know they'll win because a public revolt hurts their ego and feeds their insecurity. If you comply in advance they know they'll win.

Want to stop the advances of government power? The answer to every proposed new advance of power should be a loud and public "fuck you, no"