Government concepts and institutions

Government and its role and power to rule people within a specific territory are core aspect of all political philosophy. This is largely because people generally accept legitimacy claims made by the government and states that govern the territories where they live. However, in analyzing the role of the government in relation to its rule over people, it's important to explore the concept of human nature, social contract, and several aspects that impact democracy. These aspects are critical elements with which the role of government can be determined and understood given that almost every society has a system of governance in the form of government or state's rule.

Concept of Human Nature:

One of the most remarkable features about human nature is that human beings are prone to accept authority claims made by states or governments that rule their respective territories. The general acceptance is usually without efforts to try and determine whether the government's or state's claim to authority is legal. Since human beings have an enormous ability to adapt, the general acceptance of legitimacy claims allows them to have a moral obligation to obey the commands provided by the government or state. Consequently, governments continue to exercise their power to rule and issue commands or laws that citizens are required to obey. The concept of human nature can be further understood through the term general will, which is people's decision to reserve their personal concerns for the joint aim toward common good.

Meaning of Social Contract:

Social contract can be described as a deliberate, common agreement among all members of the society to create themselves into an integrated political community and abide by the laws established by government that they jointly choose. According to the political theory of the 17th and 18th centuries, the state's legitimacy claims are based on either a real or hypothetical social contract.

Social contract can be further understood through a society's general will, which is the collective aim by its members towards general good in all political discussions and actions. While achieving a general will is difficult, this term an important aspect of social contract because of the collective aims towards general or common good.

One of the major components of the theory of social contract is that it disregards the notion that the political world consists of only individuals and the state. According to liberal social contract theorists, an individual comes first and together with others, their actions create the state through their social contract. However, the pluralist social theorists state that a society consists of various groups rather than individuals.

Privileges under Social Contract:

Since social contract is founded on the basis of collective actions, social contract contains powers and privileges that societal members are entitled to. Some of these privileges include:

Self-awareness:

Unlike capitalism, social contract offers people the power and privilege of self-awareness in both economic and political organization. Some of the evident disadvantages of capitalism are the fact that it's internally unstable and subject to degenerate into economic crises. As capitalism is destroyed, a socialist and democratic society emerges through social contract with which people become aware of their rights to private life without government interference.

Satisfaction of Human Need:

As one of the major teachings of socialism, social contract provides the privilege of satisfaction of human need to members of the society. This is because it revolves around a social and economic system of joint social rights of means of production, equal distribution of resources, and production for satisfying human need. In this case, individuals are entitled to produce goods and services to meet their human need instead of private profit (Wolff, 2012).

Prevention for Power and Privileges under Social Contract:

While social contract provides power and privileges to all members of the society, ordinary people are usually prevented from executing the power and privilege that they are entitled to through various ways. Some of these ways include the state's legitimacy claims and excess governmental control that interfere with certain rights of ordinary people. Through its claims of legitimate authority, a state enacts regulations that citizens must obey despite of their danger of disobeying.

The claims to legitimate authority are mainly based on the fact that governments are elected by the people they rule and act as people's voice. The claims to legitimate authority by states result in governmental control, which is the other way with which ordinary people are prevented from executing the power and privilege they are entitled to under social contract. The enacted laws form the basis of governmental control that is used to prevent ordinary people from the power and privileges under social contract.

Role of Government:

Since governments are established by people they rule, they play a critical role in the well-being of individuals and members. The major role of government is to provide governance structures and system that enable its citizens to live in a free and secure environment. The government achieves this role through enacting laws that protect its citizens and the entire society. As an institution established by people and acting as the voice of the people, the government has the right to enact legislations and give commands that people have a moral obligation to obey.

The governance systems and structures are also established by the government through the legitimate authority it receives from its citizens through elections. As the government seeks to provide a free and secure environment to all its citizens, it does not have the right to interfere in the private life of individuals. Moreover, the role of government also involves the establishment of an institutionalized liberal democracy as well as providing access to free markets, private property, and economic development.