Why Is Government Necessary Essay

Government, in the broadest sense, is a mechanism through which ordered rule is maintained, its central features being the ability to make collective decisions and the capacity to enforce them. It refers to formal and institutional processes by which rule is exercised at community, national, and international levels. It exists whenever and wherever ordered rules occur. People in every part of the world recognized the concept of government. Most people accept without any question that government is necessary, assuming that without it orderly and civilized existence would be impossible. Thus, there is a presence of government to have a harmonious, systematic, and egalitarian society.

In ‘Leviathan’, Thomas Hobbes advanced the view that rational human beings should respect and obey their government because without it society would descend into a civil war ‘of every man against every man’. Social contract theorists develop their argument concerning a hypothetical society without government, a so-called ‘state of nature’. Hobbes described life in the state of nature as being solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, short, and having constant war. Only a strong government with a single ruler can prevent constant war. According to Hobbes, human beings were essentially power-seeking and selfish creatures who would seek to advance their own interests at the expense of fellow humans, if unrestrained by law. Without government to restrain selfish impulses, order, and stability would be impossible. In the absence of government, even the strongest would never be strong enough to live in peace, harmony, security, and buoyancy. The weak would unite against them. Thomas Hobbes suggested that knowing that rational individuals try to escape from chaos and disorder by agreeing with one another, a ‘social contract’, through such process leads to the establishment of government. Government is necessary to have systematic functioning of states. Three main branches of government, i.e. legislative, executive, and judiciary, help to create a welfare state by having functional specialization, and economic and social equality through proper jurisdiction.

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Social contract theorists see government as a necessary defense against deviance, as they view, based on human nature. Not only that but also government is seen as a means of promoting good and not just avoiding harm. Government is seen as the instrument that enables its people to cooperate for mutual benefit. To have the perfect community or state, the proper function of government is imperative with the proper effect of law. If human beings are left to their own, competition and open conflict will be the inexorable result. While they are left to their own, it represses freedom and rights, breeding resentment and promoting inequality. People protect their natural rights - life, liberty, and property - by using their own physical strength and aptitude. Weaker and backward aptitude people will be ruined by the stronger and will have no rights and freedom. The strongest would enjoy high prestige and better facilities, and rank higher in social stratification, whereas the weaker would have no rights and would be ranked low in social stratification as they have no means of production like the stronger. Such things create social inequality based on their economic background. Thus, government is necessary in our society to maintain social equality, develop an egalitarian society, protect the natural rights of individuals, and defend against deviants. Notwithstanding this, government brings planned development in its states which also minimizes social and economic inequality through positive or backward discrimination.

With modernization, government seems to be increasingly necessary. Modern societies are large, complex, and highly differentiated. Such societies consist of sprawling urban communities with high populations and vast use of scientific methods and technologies. Urbanization, modernization, and industrialization in the modern era have made economic life more complex and generated an increasingly fragmented social structure. As a result of the decline of religion, ritual, and tradition in the modern era, modern society lacks a unifying set of common values and cultural beliefs. There will be no development of social harmony as individuals focus more on the selfish interests that divide them, not on the common interests that bind them together. Thus, imposing rules from above by government brings unity and makes our community or states more conducive and tranquil for their citizens. Governments originated with the need to protect people from conflicts and to provide law and order. People recognized that protection was easier if they stayed together in groups and if they all agreed that one (or some) in the group should have more power than another. This recognition is the basis of sovereignty. Not only government need to protect its citizens from one another but it also needs to organize to prevent outside attacks. Therefore, governments provide parameters for every behavior of citizens, protect them from outside interference, and often provide for their well-being and happiness.

To know the value of anything, it is best to imagine its absence. So, if there is no government in states, there would be no justice, social and economic inequality, no natural rights and freedom of citizens, security, and order. And also there would be no stability of states, both internal and external sovereignty. States without government would be full of disorder. Therefore, government is necessary as it helps all states to maintain their sovereignty, promote egalitarianism, defend deviance and justice, protect citizens’ rights and freedom, and be orderly and systematic.