Government – Purpose: Do They Have One?


We think of ourselves as living in a time when people are questioning the purpose of government; and we are right, we do live in such a time. The reason is that if you are alive, you live in a time when people are questioning the purpose and the role of government.

Now there are many answers to this question which explains why it never goes away. But more importantly, you can’t answer it with any useful value until you recognize that this is a question that cannot stand alone. When you answer the purpose question as the starting point, you have left the starting line before the pistol went off and without realizing what distance race your about to run. In other words, it’s an incomplete question.

So let’s answer it anyway. What is the purpose of government?

The purpose of some governments is to maintain the social order and maintains the power structure of those that are entitled, deserving and anointed to guide their society. Other governments are intended to maximize the equitable socio-economic condition of their citizens. And some governments have defined their purpose as systems of laws to ensure and guarantee their citizens a set of rights that are universal. The purpose of government then is dependent upon how the government is established, organized and controlled.

I am going to go out on a limb and assume that when an American asks: “what is the purpose of government”, that they mean “what is the purpose of our American government?”

Now, even here this is probably too simple a statement of the question and of the potential contextual space that should be considered when trying to answer it; but I suspect it will be unlikely that most people will have the patience to explore the question of the question. So I will go farther out on the limb.

Side One of the purpose of American government is simple. It is a system which is structured to organize our social life around a public space and a private space, between a commercial arena and a civic arena, and between the interests of the majority and that of the minority. And the purpose of this system is to deliver the opportunity for each citizen to live their lives according to their own design, direction and desires without intruding upon the same rights of every other citizen. That is a terse statement of our government’s fundamental purpose. It is also completely inadequate to insure that Americans would agree on what this purpose means in almost any area or on any issue that confounds, angers, frightens, inspires, or unites Americans today.

Personally I consider the purpose of our government to be the agent that is responsible for enforcing the principle: Everything that you believe you have the right to expect and demand of everyone one else in our society, you agree that they have the right to require of you.

You may think you like that principle, but I should warn you that you haven’t thought it through. I can guarantee that you will not like what it requires of you, even though it is a basic tenet of our democratic system.

I guess this will have to continue in future entries.