The Role of Goverment in a Free Society ; An Outlook to the American Economic System

When social discussion has reached into several issues such as ‘social freedom vs social rights’ or ‘government role vs public role in a country’s economy system’, one will hardly disagree that it is not going to be a brief one. Taken as example is government role in a free society.

Representative system in the body of government allows unanimity (fully in agreement/held by everyone involved) without conformity (act accordance with custom or convention). This means that in several cases, public permits the government to make any required policy or take any decisions without taking account public’s direct involvement.

The problem is government’s final outcome generally must be a law applicable to all group rather than a certain group. It is probable that, proportional representation in its political version tends to be far than just permit unanimity without conformity. In fact, it leads to ineffectiveness and fragmentation as it (again, in some cases) operated by destroying any general agreement on which unanimity with conformity can rest.

Difference is common in many facets of our lives. In practice, political channel is required to reconcile differences and when inevitable, it strains the social cohesion which is essential for a stable society. The strain is least if agreement for joint action needs to be reached only on a limited range of issues on which people in any events have common views.

When it goes so far as to touch an issue on which men feel deeply yet differently, it may disrupt the society. The wider the range of activities covered by the market, the fewer are the issues on which explicitly political decisions are required and hence on which it is necessary to achieve agreement. In turn, the fewer the issues on which agreement is necessary, the greater is the likelihood of getting agreement while maintaining a free society.

No doubt that unanimity is ideal but fact says that we could not afford time or the effort to achieve complete unanimity on every issue. Market is then led to accept majority rule as an expedient (necessary to achieve something though not always fair).

Government as Rule maker and Umpire

The basic role of government in a free society is to provide means whereby market can modify the rules, to mediate differences and to enforce obedience. The need for government in this respect arises because absolute freedom is impossible. Men’s freedom must be limited to preserve others’. Major problem in deciding the appropriate activities of government is how to resolve such conflicts among different individuals.

Relating this topic to economy, in economic area, the dilemma in respect of the freedom is the freedom to combine and the freedom to compete. In the United States, ‘free’ has been understood that anyone is free to establish enterprise(s). The existing enterprise is then not free to keep competitor except by doing better than other competitors. In the continental tradition, the meaning has been that an enterprise is free to do what so ever they want including fixing prices, divisions of market and the adoption of other technique to keep out other competitors.

Besides individual freedom, definition of property right is another issue to be considered in economic era. Recent society tends to fail to recognize that the ownership of property grants is a complex social creation rather than self-evident proportions. Another economic area that raises problems is the monetary system. There is probably no other area of economic activity with respect to which government actions has been so universally accepted since through the government, the maintenance of law and order to prevent persuasion of one individual by another can be enforced.

In short, the organization of economic activity through voluntary exchange presuppose that we have provided, through government, for the maintenance of law and order to prevent coercion (persuade someone to do something by using force) of one individual by another, the enforcement of contracts voluntarily entered into, the definition of the meaning of property rights, the interpretation and the enforcement of such rights, and the provision of a monetary framework.

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Written By ContactMuna

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