Before the Great Depression, the United States adhered to a social model that could be summarized by the term "rugged individualism": the understanding that because most people are capable of taking care of themselves, each person should be left to succeed or fail on their own, only fettered by the bounds of the law, and the government should be limited to protection of civil liberties. The United States had very little in the way of a social safety net for its citizens, with most people depending on their families and private social organizations if they were unable to provide for themselves; this partially explains the enduring greater emphasis on family and religion in American society and politics today than in other comparably developed countries in Western Europe.