The functions and forms of

government

GOVERNMENT
At the end of this unit you should be able to…

 List 5 primary functions of government & explain

them
 Identify 3 contrasting views of government
 Know the difference between a democracy & an
autocracy
 List some distinguishing characteristics of a
democracy
 Explain the democratic concept of the individual
 List 4 characteristics of an autocracy
 List the common justifications for an autocracy
 Of all the social institutions, the
government alone sets the laws and has
the authority to kill.

 Of all the social institutions, government

is the one that has the power to do the
most good and the most harm.
 GOVERNMENT TOUCHES OUR
LIVES IN A MILLION WAYS

Why do we let it?

Why do we need it?

What is government anyway and what is the

purpose of government?
Government?
 Government is a basic or universal social
institution which revolve around basic human
needs
 Government: the group of people who control and
make decisions for a country, state, etc.
 ‘a particular system used for controlling a country,
state, etc’
 The process or manner of controlling a country,
state, etc
 Government is ‘responsible primarily for
making public policy for an entire society’
 ‘the steering mechanism for a given society’

 Black’s Law Dictionary; ‘government’s

regulate the relationships among members of a
society and between the society and outsiders’

 ‘have the authority to make decisions for the

society
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT?

 When societies become large, they need direction

and control, provided by the institution of the
government.

 In all societies of any size some form of organized

government develops because there is a need for an
agency capable of exercising overall social control.
THE FUNCTIONS OF
GOVERNMENT
1. Maintaining Internal Order
and External Security

2. Ensuring Justice

3. Safeguarding Individual
Freedoms

4. Regulating Individuals’
Actions

5. Promoting the general

welfare
 THE FUNCTIONS OF
GOVERNMENT
1. Maintaining Internal Order
and External Security

 The basic job of a government

is to protect its citizens against
internal and external enemies.

 Government is the one agency

that is equipped to protect a
nation
 THE FUNCTIONS OF
GOVERNMENT
2. Ensuring Justice
Every modern government
claims commitment to justice

judgesand courts exist in

some form almost everywhere

when government fails to

perform this function,
lawlessness begins to spread
THE FUNCTIONS OF
GOVERNMENT
3. Safeguarding Individual Freedoms
 Without government there cannot be organized,
stable society; without a stable society, there
can be little real freedom for individuals

 All governments claim to protect certain

freedoms by maintaining law and order
 THE FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT
4. Regulating Individuals’
Actions
Government has
established procedures for
regulating groups and
institutions to protect the
public because many have
selfish interests that go
against the general
welfare
e.g. banks, utility service,
private hospital/clinics


 THE FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT
5. Promoting the general welfare
 The government :
 Regulates the economy, levies
taxes, provides and protects
services to benefit individuals,
groups & society generally
 Prohibits certain services too

 Welfare activities of government

include:
 Health services, education, Health services
pensions & benefits, public
housing projects
public housing projects
 People are more likely to support a
government that shows concern for
their welfare
Three contrasting views on the nature of government

 Government as a necessary evil

 Government as a positive good

 Government as an unnecessary evil

 There are elements of truth in all these views

VIEWS OF THE NATURE OF GOVERNMENT

 Another way to classify people’s views

about government is by how strong a
role they think the government should
have;
i.e. How much control should government
have over our lives and personal freedoms?
FORMS OF GOVERNMENT
 Two primary forms are democracy and autocracy

 Democracy: from the Greek words…

 Demos = people ; Kratos = rule
 Democracy means rule of the people (the people rule)

 Autocracy: from the Greek words…

 Auto = self ; kratos = rule (I rule)

 Autocracy means rule by one person (or select group) who has uncontrolled
or unlimited authority over others
Democracies
 Democracies are governments based on a popular
vote; elections decide who will be in power

 Democracy means different things to different

people. Many people see their own system as
democratic and other systems as non-democratic.

 “Democracy is the worst form of government

except for all others”
 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A DEMOCRACY

A. Popular sovereignty - the right of individuals to

select their leaders by voting for them
 The essential requirement for political democracy is
that the people are sovereign – not a king, or a class, or
an elite.
 in order for the people to control the government there
must be
 Freedom of speech
 Effective representation of the people
 Free elections
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A DEMOCRACY

B. THE LIBERAL TRADITION - liberal

government guarantees basic rights and freedoms
such as …
 theright to a trial, freedom of speech and religion and
assembly, freedom to form a political opposition.

 The
liberal tradition is considered an essential part of
Western democracy
 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A DEMOCRACY

C. LIMITED GOVERNMENT – this means that

individuals, groups & associations are considered to
have freedoms that in theory may not be taken
away, such as …
 The right to have periodically have the right to elect or reject the
government
 the right to mobilize public opinion
 the right to demand that the government operate within the law;
e.g. the police cannot search your house without having a good
reason to do so, they need a search warrant etc.
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A DEMOCRACY

 Key words that indicate important aspects of the democratic

method of doing something (eg. governing) are:
 Free discussion
 Accommodation or compromise
 Moderation
 Tolerance
 Reconciliation

 It means that the majority will guarantee and respect the rights of the minorities
and that it will allow the minorities the right to become the majority

 It means that no goal is worth the price of sacrificing democratic methods

THE OF THE INDIVIDUAL
DEMOCRATIC CONCEPT

 Every social, philosophical and political system is

based on certain assumptions about the nature of
human beings.

 Democracy makes the following assumptions about

people
THE DEMOCRATIC CONCEPT OF THE INDIVIDUAL

A. RATIONALITY (people are rational beings)

 Democracy assumes that people are capable of developing a

culture in which individuals have learned to listen to
discussions and arguments, and in which they will try to
discover the truth by a rational weighing up of the evidence.

 They assume the people will realize they cannot get all that
they want from government and that it is in everyone’s interest
(individuals and groups) to make compromises when
necessary
THE DEMOCRATIC CONCEPT OF THE INDIVIDUAL

B. EQUALITY
 Democracy holds that all human beings should be regarded
as equal – not in their abilities, or strength etc, but in the
sight of God and before the law.

 Equality means that everyone should be given equal opportunity

to take part in the political process, to vote, to hold a position, to
have opinions

 Equality assumes that public laws apply equally to everyone and

that there will be no favouritism
THE DEMOCRATIC CONCEPT OF THE INDIVIDUAL

C. PRIMACY OF THE INDIVIDUAL

 Democracy as a concept, and democratic governments,

emphasize the dignity and worth of the individual.

 The government exists for the individual, to enhance the dignity

of the individual and provide for the richest and fullest
development of individuals

 Freedom and equality are permitted but not if they interfere

with the freedom of others, or disrupt the social order.
DEMOCRACY EXISTS IN MANY FORMS

 It may be direct, representative (psephocracy),

presidential, parliamentary.

 It can exist in a republic or a constitutional monarchy.

AUTOCRACIES

 An autocracy is a government where a single

person or a small group of people has unlimited
power

 In the 21st century, 2 types of autocracies remain.

AUTOCRACIES

 AUTHORITARIAN AUTOCRACY
 An authoritarian autocracy is one in which the society is ruled by
a dictator or clique (small privileged group) which forbids all
activities that threaten its position.

 TOTALITARIAN AUTOCRACY
 a modern totalitarian autocracy wants to control all aspects of an
individual’s life, not only all economic and political matters but
the attitudes, values, and beliefs of its population. Most
totalitarian governments are based on an ideology that allows
them to justify their actions in the interest creating a better world.
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN AUTOCRACY

1. LOYALTY TO THE PARTY AND THE STATE.

 totalitarian autocracies demand complete loyalty and obedience to the party
and the state. If there is any conflict of interest, people must subordinate their
own wishes to those of the party and the state.
2. RULE BY LEADERS
3. ONE PARTY MONOPOLY
 Autocracy desires control – it generally tolerates no organized opposition,
but it sometimes makes use of a political party
4. A CONTROLLED PRESS
 To maintain control and ensure support, a leader often has to control the
media & press.

 Propaganda is the product of the state controlling the press and

structuring the flow of information to the people in such a way that it
makes the state look good. The people are denied the chance to hear the
other side of an issue
HOW DO AUTOCRACIES JUSTIFY THEIR
FORMS OF GOVERNMENT?

 We need to keep control to stop the repressive effects of the

market
 If we were not in charge, some other group that is much less
caring about the country would take over.
 We are caretakers until democracy can be properly
established.
 The country is not yet ready for democracy – the people are
not educated or experienced enough for democracy to work.
There is some truth in these arguments

 Modern democracies were developed to reflect western

cultural values and institutions and these don’t always
transplant well into another cultural context

 It’s also difficult to make democracy work well in countries

with two or more separate and opposing cultures.

 Classifying a country as an autocracy does not mean it is bad.

It simply means it is not responsive to the will of the people
the way democracies are. (Autocrats do not expect people to
know what is good for them – they tell them). But they can
also listen to the people and carry out popular wishes.
 Governments are far from simple. There is an
art to government. The goals of a government
may remain the same but the way those goals
are achieved varies with changing times.