The Role of Government

As the summer has passed and none of the research projects I hoped to accomplish have come to fruition, one thing I have sought to understand is the role of government. There have been many great minds who have attempted to justify government through the idea of a social contract, justice, or a basic remedy to anarchy.

James M. Buchanan's The Limits of Liberty takes an economic theory approach to the question and shows how, under widely accepted theoretical assumptions, individuals would choose to form a government to further their own interests. Most economists and classical liberals would suggest that the original role of government is to protect rights, or in other words, to promote liberty.

Throughout America's short history, we can see an evolution to the role of government that began as a protector and promoter of liberty to an institution to improve the economic well being of its citizens. We currently see further expansion into the role as an institution to improve the physical well being of its citizens in general (see previous post on fast food and the poor). Is the spiritual well being of citizens the next stop on this runaway train called government?

I suggest an interesting read by Dr. Randall G. Holcombe of FSU, From Liberty to Democracy, which attempts to explain the evolution of government's purpose from promoting liberty to supporting democracy. Looking closely one realizes these are actually two different things.

There is a nice quote there from President Grover Cleveland who said, "A prevalent tendency to disregard the limited mission of [the government's] power and duty should be steadfastly resisted, to the end that the lesson should be constantly enforced that, though the people support the Government, the Government should not support the people."