Who Cares

What is government and what does it (could it) do and who should care?

I know how hard it is to wrap one’s mind around the nature of government.  I tried to do it with my students for many years in the classroom. Any broad and effective understanding requires us to think about what might be as well as what is.  And then whether government policies can “take us there.”

The power of government is only limited by practical considerations.  Theoretically, all its decisions are enforceable by its monopoly control of coercive force (police and prisons).

Modern governments in the “developed” (meaning relatively highly industrialized) world exercise “sovereign power.”  That is, they can tax, control the supply of fiat currency (money), take private property for public purpose (right of eminent domain) providing fair compensation (in the fiat currency), and enforce their decisions with their coercive power. 

That’s in theory, but it is also true in practice to a greater or lesser extent in many sovereign nations.  Constitutions limit that power, but “the rules of the game” can be changed. Customs and norms (the guide rails of government) limit that power, but they can be disregarded. Lack of resources can limit that power, but modern technology potentially places much stronger tools at lower cost in the hands of government.

And who gets to use this power? That is what the study of politics is all about. Political scientists call them “interests” and divide them into potential and actual, into more or less organized and into those that rise and fall as specific issues attract the attention of media and potential “leaders.”  They range from specific individuals and their associates to large “interests” like environmentalists and gun owners and specific economic (business) as well as social organizations.   They also include parts of government itself, the many agencies and offices, departments and branches that seek to expand their influence and do “good” as they see it. 

Such power can be dangerous, even when it is counter-balanced. Checks and more checks. It can lead to extreme authoritarian control.

And to whom should this matter? Who should care and pay attention and get involved.

I should.  You should.  If we want to remain a democracy, we all should.  For we too can use the power of government on behalf of our own interests and the common good as we understand it.

Will that be enough? Will free elections, the counterweight of numbers against the influence of wealth, provide practical limits on government? Will democracy enable the economic and social reforms that will liberate the talents and the hopes of millions citizens? These questions remain unanswered. But surely we should care.