PUBLIC GOOD 1

Socialism and Public Goods

Student Name

School
PUBLIC GOOD

Socialism and Public Goods

The textbook discusses a brief ideology on how the government aims to provide those goods

to the public that are completely necessary. The significance of these goods is unmatchable,

and hence, private entities working together cannot provide these goods. These goods are

solely for the use of public, as the term implies. National defense is also classified into the

category of public goods since it is necessary. The government cannot provide public goods

to people unless it has sufficient resources to manufacture these goods. For the purpose of

producing public goods to benefit people, the government strives to gather resources.

Magstadt discusses “socialism” in his book, forming a significant component of ideologies

on the left (2017). Socialism is an ideology that confronts capitalism, and denies the idea of

private ownership and profits. In addition, this ideology also abandons individualism.

Socialism promotes a framework that is based on economic collectivism. In simple words,

this ideology suggests that the means of production must be owned by the state. Socialism

seeks justice for all and suggests that power should be equally distributed amongst members

of the state.

It is through power and order that the government makes the utmost use of its authority to

levy taxes on private goods owned by the individuals [ CITATION Bar07 \l 1033 ]. Taxes

paid by the individuals upon acquiring private goods add to the revenue of the government.

This revenue is invested in the production of public goods. Public goods are closely

associated with the resources indispensable for their production. People’s lives are

pragmatically influenced by the government. The practical view of the government’s role in

public lives can be judged well be the end results of the activities a government partakes in.

One end result of the government’s role in public lives revolves around its ability of

producing public goods. These public goods range from law and order to national defense.
PUBLIC GOOD

When the citizens of a country distance themselves from their social responsibilities, the

production of public goods rank low in the list of government’s priorities. This happens

through tax evasion. However, when the power, order and justice are in place, more public

goods can be produced by the government for collective use by the public. In many other

cases, a government allots less priority to the production of public goods when an individual

spends a significant proportion of his/her income on private goods. In such an event, the

government invests more in the production of private goods.

Since the reign of Adam Smith, the classical liberals took the concept of public goods for

granted. The entire law and order framework, justice system, national defense, law

enforcement agencies and the entire police force are all examples of public goods. These

public goods provided by the government require the availability of certain resources for the

purpose of production. Hence, the citizens of a country are obliged to participate in supplying

funds to the government. The primary way a government collects funds to produce public

goods for people is through levying taxes. Therefore, a compulsory framework of taxation is

vital for the production of public goods.

To ensure that a taxation system is in place, the government needs to maintain strong power

and order. Since the government supplies public goods to the citizens that no other private

entity can, there arises a problem of “free riding.” People who evade taxes and do not fund

the government in any of the ways for the production of public goods, and use these goods

despite offering any form of contribution, are known as “free riders.” It is through the

problem of free riding that the government inadequately supplies the public goods to citizens.

Hence, public goods such as police, national defense, and justice are not produced in optimal

quantities.
PUBLIC GOOD

Bibliography

Barrett, S. (2007). Why Cooperate? The Incentive to Provide Global Public Goods. Oxford

University Press.

Magstadt, T. M. (2017). Understanding politics: Ideas, institutions, and issues. Australia:

Cengage Learning.