In history, there have been many times where nations has stumbled upon situations in deciding its type of control. One is monarchy, another is dictatorship and so on. The purpose of government is to protect equality and individual rights. The means of a government is in order to protect the individual rights of its citizens; This includes establishing power and deciding what must be done for the cause of its people.
According to philosopher, John Locke, without a government the world would live in fear and hostility toward each other. Another philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, says without a government, the world would be chaos or in other terms a “state of nature”. State of nature is a wild state that has been untouched by civilization. They both believed that society could not survive in a world without authority.
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Social contract is when authority listens to society and society listens to authority. Say, the King promises to protect his people only if his people promise to provide him with food. Today, this works where the government provide protection and equality to the public . In return, the people shall allow the government and representatives to be in control.
The government's responsibilities to its citizens is protection, in return the citizens voice what they feel should be done. The government then debate and reconstruct the idea to something that would benefit both the citizens and the government. This is an example of social contract, the two sides benefit.
In conclusion, if there wasn’t a government there would be a “state of nature” according to Thomas Hobbes. The government's purpose is to avoid this “state of nature.” The government's responsibilities is to protect the citizens, and the citizens responsibility is to voice opinions on what is wrong to make society a happy
We often wonder about the importance of government. Is it necessary? Does it really benefit society? The answer is yes. Many countries have diverse forms of government such as totalitarian, monarchy, theocracy, and much more. The United States of America specifically runs a democratic type of government. A democratic government gives power to the people. Citizens over the age of eighteen are allowed to elect leaders based on their individual opinions through voting rights. The main purpose of the American government is, to protect people’s inalienable rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness as our Founding Fathers intended.
In Second Treatise of Government John Locke characterizes the state of nature as one’s ability to live freely and abide solely to the laws of nature. Therefore, there is no such thing as private property, manmade laws, or a monarch. Locke continues to say that property is a communal commodity; where all humans have the right to own and work considering they consume in moderation without being wasteful. Civil and Political Societies are non-existent until one consents to the notion that they will adhere to the laws made by man, abide by the rules within the community, allow the ability to appoint men of power, and interact in the commerce circle for the sake of the populace. Locke goes further to state that this could be null in void if the governing body over extends their power for the gain of absolute rule. Here, Locke opens the conversation to one’s natural right to rebel against the governing body. I personally and whole heartily agree with Locke’s principles, his notion that all human beings have the natural right to freedoms and the authority to question their government on the basis that there civil liberties are being jeopardized.
Locke believed that the government existed to promote public good, and to protect the life, liberty, and property of its people. For this reason, those who govern must be elected by the society, and the society must hold the power to establish a new government when deemed necessary. In his essay, Second Treatise on Government, Locke argues that if society is dissolved, the government will also dissolve. What makes a society (or community) is the agreement of many individuals to act as one body. If this agreement is broken, and the individual decides to separate “as he thinks fit, in some other society” then the community will dissolve.
...n a government is the group that states what is to be socially acceptable and what is not, it greatly hinders a person ability to act as an individual. Whether it is the fear of being classified as abnormal, false or unjust imprisonment, or making a show out of large groups of the abnormal people, it is all in order for the government to maintain control. Within both of these contexts it is more important for there to be a strong central government than to allow a person to truly be an unique, which in return takes away what is considered to be a persons right.
This is because Hobbes travels a lot, and realize people are born evil. He said people act impulsively without government. Today our government is limited. The trail of tears illustrates a belief in limited government. In the 1820-1840s the United States government forced several tribes of Native Americans to migrate to reservations west of the Mississippi River. Justice was not being equally administered to all degrees of people as Hobbes thought a unlimited government would be. I believe that without government, human would naturally be in a state of war. This is because it is the human nature to desire power. It is shown in everyday lifestyle that we fight to obtain control. For example, people fight over money to gain control. People commit crimes to show that they have some sort of power. Without government, the world would be a chaotic place. Therefore I believe that a government is a necessary element for society to control people’s greed over control. On the other hand, in contrast to Hobbes, Locke believes human are born good. I personally agree with Locke that humans are born good but society blinds our innocence and creates a second human nature to desire
Our government wasn’t created by accident. Many ideas were used when it was made to prevent the rise of a king or dictator in the United States. While learning about the Constitution, there are many questions you could ask, but the one I decided on was: How did the constitution guard us against tyranny? I believe explaining Federalism, Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, and the issue of big states versus little states can answer this question best nevertheless will prove it with documented evidence in this essay.
- the main function of the state is to protect the rights of the citizens
The government obtained power by enforcing their rules in small doses over time, some rules the government enforced included taking away each person’s right to their own thoughts and opinions. An example of this was when Beatty and Montag were discussing why the government burns all books, “ Burn all, burn everything. Fire is bright and fire is clean.” ( Bradbury 57). In other words, Beatty is convincing Montag that without burning books the populous wouldn’t be able to enjoy life and that books bring sadness and anger into the world. This is an example of how the government takes away the populous's right to their own thoughts and opinions because it shows that the populous never had the chance to form their own opinions on the purpose
It is believed that human beings reach their highest levels of morality and virtue by participating in government. 6) It would only make sense to create a government for the people, by the people. But in order to limit the government and protect the rights of citizens, the new government would have to consist of a checks and balances type of system. This is the reason for the three separate branches of government: executive, judiciary and legislative.
government should involve itself in the lives of its citizens (the “importance” of the role of
Sovereignty means that the state has control over it is itself (“Sovereign”). America became sovereign whenever it broke free from British control during the late 18th century. This is because their laws were no longer determined by the British empire but instead themselves. The purpose of government depends on those implementing the system. In dictatorial regimes, the purpose of government is vastly different than that of a republic. In the United States, according to the Constitution, the purpose of government is defined to be “Establish Justice, Insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty” (U.S. Const. preamble). All the powers outlined in the Constitution are
In any type of society, the duty of the government is to protect the civilians. Citizens follow the laws allowing the government to protect the public. Individuals in the book
Hobbes and Rousseau created a revolutionary idea of the state of nature. They did not believe government should be organized through the church, therefore abandoning the idea of the divine right theory, where power of the king came directly from God. Starting from a clean slate, with no organized church, Hobbes and Rousseau needed a construct on what to build society on. The foundation of society began with the original state of nature. Hobbes’ perception of the original state of nature is what would exist if there were no common power to execute and enforce the laws to restrain individuals. In this case, the laws of the jungle would prevail: only the fittest survive. Man’s desires are insatiable. Since resources are scarce, humankind is naturally competitive, inevitably creating jealousy and hatred, which eventually leads to war.
It is a sort of wooden gun to the people themselves. But it is not the least necessary for this; for the people must have some complicated machinery or other, and hear its din, to satisfy that idea of government which they have. Governments show thus how successfully men can be imposed upon, even imposed upon themselves, for their own advantage. It is excellent, we must all agree. Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way.
The Social Contract is an attempt to explain the reason why individuals agree to form organized governments. The idea that a person is willing to abandon the freedoms previously enjoyed under the State of Nature in which no government interfered with their pursuits, are believed to correspond to the individual’s attempt to protect what is on their best interest.