Impeachment is analogous to indictment in regular court proceedings; trial by the other house is analogous to the trial before judge and jury in regular courts. Typically, the lower house of the legislature impeaches the official and the upper house conducts the trial.
At the federal level of government, agencies such as the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigate claims of civil rights violations and discrimination.
In a republican form of government, there is rule of law. All citizens, including government officials, are accountable to the same laws. Government power is limited and decentralized through a system of checks and balances. Government intervenes in civil society to protect its citizens against force and fraud but does not intervene in the cases of peaceable, voluntary exchange. Contrast the framers' vision of a republic with that of a democracy. According to Webster's Dictionary, a democracy is defined as government by the people; especially: rule of the majority.. In a democracy, the majority rules either directly or through its elected representatives.