Fundamental Characteristics of Good Government

Attempting to change government is fruitless if one does not understand why a government needs changing in the first place. As outlined in my last essay, The Wrongdoings of Government, there are many grievances in regards to government, which some may call reasons for attempting to change government. However, what I speak of are not grievances, but the very purposes of government. While my colleagues all have varying ideas on the origins of government, we share the same basic ideas on what a government is supposed to do. It is supposed to protect people in whatever those people say they need protection in. This is very broad, but if we apply what people have asked to be protected over the centuries, a clear purpose is formed. The purpose of government is three-fold; to protect our rights to life, liberty, and estate, to ensure that any privileges we have gained are not unduly taken away, and to provide welfare. The rights to life, liberty, and estate are, in order, the right to live once we have been created, the right to do whatever we want to do, and the right to own all we create or gain through gift or trade, so long as we do nothing to infringe upon any of these rights, either in regards to ourselves or our neighbors. However, I do not wish to impart the idea that these rights are dependent upon government's protection. Rights cannot be granted by any government, because this would imply they can also be revoked, and under such circumstances they would be reduced to privileges. Rights are not dependent on any institution, but are undeniably, unwaveringly there forever, whether they are acknowledged or not.

Now, as those rights stand, they are subject to the volatile whims of fickle men. To ensure that our rights are not infringed upon by others, or are not carried out in disagreeable manners, laws are created by the rulers. These laws are agreed upon by the people, and they must follow them. If the people do not follow these laws, then they may be prosecuted and punished. Rulers must also follow these laws, and if they do not, the people may overthrow them and punish them. This is the basic concept of the origin and purpose of government: that people form societies to protect their lives, liberty, and estates, and in turn, elect governments to ensure that those rights are not infringed upon, and to provide welfare, the most basic being defense in terms of an army.

By this explanation, the people are sovereign. What has happened over the decades is that people no longer know that they are the sovereign power, not the government. The people do not know that, at any time, for any reason, they can dissolve government and choose to recreate it, or to live in anarchy. Their choice to recreate government or live in anarchy, or to dissolve government in the first place, is to be guided by the benefits of government.

In a good government, there are three elementary benefits. Whereas in anarchy, each man is given no say in what other men do, in a good government, man is represented by a person of their choosing in a fair election. These representatives work for the people, and at the will of the people, that elected them. If the people lose confidence, they may remove their representatives and elect new ones. This I consider to be the greatest benefit of all of them.

The creation and sustaining of an organized society is one of the most important benefits of government, for it leads to the other two elementary benefits. Even in a government that does not represent every man, a civil society ensures that every man is granted the fundamental rights of life, liberty, and estate, and provides welfare. Without organization, a government cannot ensure or do anything at all.

To protect society from foreign and domestic enemies, a standing army and a civil police must be formed. There is, however, a disturbing tendency, seen through many of the nations over time, of these defenses being used not to defend people, but to defend rulers from the people. Any standing army or civil police must not be under the absolute control a single ruler or ruling body, less those forces become contrary to their initial purpose. To ensure this, a body must be created to counteract these rulers, and a second body created to counteract both other bodies, while at the same time being under the scrutiny of the other bodies. For our terms, in what I conceive to be a good plan of government, there is an Emperor, a parliament, and a supreme judiciary, or high court. The Emperor is afforded the authority over the standing army, but can only declare war or mobilize them at the approval of the parliament, to make appointments where permissible, and to suggest policy. The parliament is afforded the authority to tax and to legislate, and is the only body afforded such authority. The high court is afforded the authority to overrule legislation contrary to any charters or permanent laws, oversee cases of criminal and civil justice, and to determine punishments for breaking laws. With three tiers of government, no one tier has absolute power, therefor no one tier can become sovereign over the people. It is a unique system where for every power, there is an equal resistance, and for ever resistance, there is an equal power, but above all, there is the people, sovereign and guided by justice.

It is these six purposes and benefits that government should exist under. Any other existence is dictatorial, regardless of whether that dictatorship is beneficial or harmful. While I do not doubt the possibility that the Consuls have done good, even Eian Smarth, I also do not doubt that the supreme power afforded to them is only describable as despotism, and the Triumvirate as a collective Despot. There is no protection of people against the whims of government, as evident in Greendale, where an entire army besieged an establishment of much less stature, and no defense was permitted. While government may do excellent jobs at providing for the people's defense, as seen in the numerous victories of war, it doesn't quite have a grasp on the civil aspect of society or government at all. One can not place too much blame on the current government for these characteristics, however, as governments before them have focused much on military, war, and conquest, rather than welfare, rights, and liberties. Or, the governments before them were aristocratic, focusing not on military, war, and conquest, or welfare, rights, and liberties, but on land, personal wealth, nobility, and all other things inconsequential. This is not to pardon the current government, but to state that a series of equal governments have preceded them, influenced them, and have given the most accurate prediction of their actions. There is no government that has, in so broad a manner, ensured the welfare, rights, and liberties of all its men, who are fundamentally equal, but separated by class or dignity. There is no government, as of yet, that has been supremely a good government.