READINGS IN SS08 (Political Science)
Major Functions of Modern Governments
MAJOR FUNCTIONS OF MODERN GOVERNMENTS:
A. FOREIGN DIPLOMACY (or Foreign Relations):
Foreign diplomacy is the process of by which a sovereign state conducts formally peaceful relations
with another sovereign state -i.e., all formal relationships and interactions short of war. Through
foreign diplomacy, a sovereign state, interacting with other sovereign states in the international
arena, seeks to protect and further its own national interests by all means other than waging a war.
Foreign diplomacy is one of the most important functions performed by the national, or central,
government of a sovereign state - i.e., the central government of a completely independent political
society that maintains formal diplomatic relations with a significant number of other sovereign
states in the world.
The central governments of these sovereign states:
1. officially recognize the independence, or sovereignty, of the particular political society; and
2. are willing to maintain diplomatic relations with its established, existing central government.
B. MILITARY DEFENSE (or National Defense):
A political society's national or central government is responsible for preserving the security of that
society from foreign aggression. The government maintains armed forces and, when necessary,
utilizes them to protect the territory and people it governs from attack and invasion by foreign
powers. Military defense is one of the oldest and most important functions of government.
C. MAINTENANCE OF DOMESTIC ORDER
A government must control the people it seeks to govern and protect. The government must
maintain internal peace - i.e., peace among individuals and groups within the society.
Ensuring domestic order means maintaining law and order - establishing and enforcing the "rule of
law" to insure preservation and protection, under orderly conditions, of the citizen's right to life,
liberty, and honestly acquired property.
"Law and order" is sometimes referred to as "ordered liberty and "liberty under law," the two latter
expressions strongly implying that, without domestic order, there can be no liberty, that the
government's success in suppressing domestic disorder and enforcing the law is essential to the
citizen's enjoyment of the right to life, liberty, and property.
Domestic order, like foreign diplomacy and military defense, is one of the oldest and most important
functions of government.
D. ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
To enforce the "rule of law," a government must operate a system of laws and courts that:
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READINGS IN SS08 (Political Science)
Major Functions of Modern Governments
1. makes all adult citizens equal under the law; and
2. provides them equal opportunities to obtain just settlement of their civil disputes and receive
fair treatment if suspected or accused of engaging in criminal activity.
The government must operate a system of administering justice which gives to every person what is
his due.
E. PROTECTION OF CIVIL LIBERTIES
A most important function of government in a constitutional democratic society is to protect civil
liberties - i.e., preserve and safeguard the basic rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution
to the individual members of the society.
Basic, constitutionally guaranteed rights and liberties which government must preserve and protect
include:
1. the right to free exercise of religion;
2. freedom of speech and press;
3. the right to hold peaceful meetings and to organize, or associate, for peaceful purposes;
4. the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances;
5. the right to equal protection of the laws;
6. immunity from deprivation of life, liberty, or property without due process of law;
7. the right to just compensation for private property taken for a public purpose;
8. immunity from bills of attainder and ex post facto laws;
9. the right to a writ of habeas corpus, if taken into custody;
10. security of person and property from unreasonable searches and seizures;
11. immunity from forced self-incrimination in criminal investigations and prosecutions;
12. immunity from double jeopardy in criminal prosecutions;
13. the right of the accused, in any criminal prosecution, to a speedy and public trial by an impartial
jury, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with witnesses
in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense; and
14. immunity from excessive bail, from excessive fines, and from cruel and unusual punishments.
F. PROVISION FOR AND REGULATION OF THE CONDUCT OF PERIODIC ELECTIONS
In a constitutional democratic society, a vitally important constitutional duty of government is to:
1. provide for free and meaningful elections, held at frequent intervals to fill major public-policy
decision-making offices in the government; and
2. regulate the conduct of these elections so as to ensure that they are carried on fairly, honestly,
and peacefully.
G. PROVISION FOR PUBLIC GOODS AND SERVICES
Public goods and services are goods and services provided by government. They are goods and
services provided by public institutions, rather than by private institutions.
Governments can and do tax citizens to raise money to spend on goods and services which will or
are expected to benefit all or virtually all citizens but which, according to widespread perceptions
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READINGS IN SS08 (Political Science)
Major Functions of Modern Governments
within the society, are not likely to be supplied through voluntary, market-induced activities of
private individuals, groups, and firms. The market mechanism and profit motive in the private sector
of the economy, according to widespread perceptions, cannot be relied upon to satisfactorily
provide these goods and services. Governmental decision-making and action are needed.
Examples of public goods and services provided by national and local governments generally
include:
1. public parks;
2. public education (public schools, colleges, and universities);
3. dams and canals;
4. airports;
5. streets and highways;
6. rapid mass transit systems;
7. post offices and mail delivery;
8. sewers and waste disposal plants;
9. water purification and distribution systems;
10. garbage collection and disposal;
11. electrical power, and
12. mental and general hospitals.
Assertion of the need for governmental decision-making and action to insure satisfactory provision
of the goods and services is, of course, an arguable proposition. Persons of Libertarian, or laissezfaire, persuasion disagree with this proposition. Libertarians, believe the proper and legitimate
functions of government are limited to the first six functions. Virtually all other human activities,
including provision of goods and services widely desired by individuals and groups within society,
should be left to the private economic sector and its market mechanism.
Provision of public goods and services is one of the older functions of government.
H. PROMOTION OF ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
The central government of a modern society seeks to facilitate and foster the growth and
development of the nation's overall economy. The government actively pursues public policies-especially in the areas of taxation, foreign trade, and regulation of and subsidies for domestic
economic activities-- designed to promote increased capital formation and industrial production,
higher levels of commercial activity within the society, a more favorable balance of trade with
foreign nations, and hence low levels of unemployment and widespread economic prosperity
among the members of its own society.
The objectives the government expects to achieve through promotion of economic growth and
development include:
1. increasing the industrial and military strength of the society;
2. ensuring the society's unity and stability and the government's legitimacy;
3. enhancing the political support enjoyed by the incumbent officeholders in the government-political support provided by individuals and groups benefiting from the high employment levels
and widespread economic prosperity; and
4. securing a broad tax base that will enable the government to fund its activities and programs.
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READINGS IN SS08 (Political Science)
Major Functions of Modern Governments
As regards the fourth objective, high levels of employment (coupled with low inflation) and
widespread economic prosperity, sustained over a long period of time, result in large amounts of
income being earned by the citizens – large amounts of income which is subject to taxation. This
brings large amounts of revenue into the public treasury on a regular and continuing basis, thus
enabling the government to fund its activities and programs.
Governmental promotion of economic growth and development is by no means a new function of
government. It has been around for approximately 500 years. This governmental function, in the
form of mercantilism, was very much in evidence during the 1500s. In sixteenth-century Europe, the
function was performed by the central governments of the newly emerging national political
societies--Spain, Portugal, France, and England.
I.
OPERATION OF SOCIAL INSURANCE (SECURITY) PROGRAMS TO PREVENT FUTURE POVERTY
In order to ensure the income security of citizens and thereby prevent future poverty, contemporary
governments in relatively wealthy societies provide for social insurance or security – governmentmandated insurance programs designed to protect the individual members of society from
economic misfortune widely perceived to be due to circumstances beyond the control of the
individuals, circumstances such as old age, physical disability, poor health, and temporary
unemployment.
The benefits distributed under a social insurance program are paid for by the program's participants;
the benefits are not funded out of general-tax revenues. The benefits are paid out of the program's
trust fund, to which the beneficiaries have made compulsory contributions. Each participant in the
program is required to contribute to his own protection against future impoverishment.
J.
OPERATION OF SOCIAL WELFARE PROGRAMS TO ALLEVIATE EXISTING POVERTY.
Social welfare policy--also known as "public assistance," "public aid," and "public welfare"--consists
of government programs to provide assistance to the poor. These programs are designed to
alleviate existing poverty, providing aid to particular categories of persons who are unable to
adequately support themselves, due to circumstances widely perceived within the society to be
beyond the control of the indigent persons.
The categories of persons eligible for public assistance generally include:
1. women with dependent children in families where the father is absent or unemployed; and
2. persons who, though aged, blind or disabled, are not covered by social-insurance programs and
are therefore ineligible for benefits under them.
The money to pay for social welfare programs does not come out of trust funds to which the
beneficiaries have made contributions, as is the case with social insurance programs. The benefits
distributed under social-welfare programs are financed with funds coming directly from the general
public treasury. In other words, social-welfare programs are paid for by the taxpayers in general.
Excerpts from https://www.proconservative.net/CUNAPolSci201PartOneB2.shtml
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