A Role for Government

The Role of Government

The proper role of government versus what those other guys want. Not so simple, but I can start with attempting to distill the essence of the United States’ constitutional organization, as I understand it, and what I like about it. To be quite economical I’ll say that the high points to me are its providing for citizen authority upon which the federal government’s authority depends, it is designed to preserve natural civil rights and that is what allows for individuals to develop their own agendas and pursue innovation independently of government direction.

Within the architecture of the government itself, and by virtue of it representative democracy in a republican form, it incorporates Montesquieu’s idea of a separation of powers between the branches of government and between the government and the people.

While we commonly see the separation of powers described in terms of three branches of the U.S. government as described by our Constitution, what is often missed is that the Bill of Rights firmly establishes the equitable sharing of that government power with the fourth leg; the citizenry.

And I think that very separation of powers is what the left despises most in our constitutional order.

The command economy, the top down exercise of authority cannot work as its proponents desire with independent activity consuming some of its energies. And it cannot satisfy the needs of the populace because it is plagued by the knowledge problem; i.e., the ruling elite cannot realistically know what’s needed for every situation, nor can they effectively plan for all contingencies. As the flaws in their plans become apparent, the people will spontaneously adapt (every communist country has a black market) and that inspires greater efforts to exert control. In the end the progressive/socialist/communist command economic model tends to bring misery to the masses rather than utopia, with the ruling class becoming evermore exclusive (and priveleged).

But the drive to control persists, and I doubt it’s universally driven by megalomaniacal visions of perfecting society. Some is surely the result of an egomaniacal naked lust for power.