Legitimate Government

By way of review, there are three legitimate interests of government which overlap to some degree, but which also stand in opposition to each other to some degree - liberty, equality, and fraternity (human fellowship). Liberty allows for freedom of action, but paradoxically requires restrictions imposed by law. Equality seeks to demolish social stratification and encourages hard work in the lower classes and demands it in the upper classes. Equality strives for equal results, but through hard work and other social improvements, such as universal education. Fraternity demands that the well-being of each member of society be considered and fostered to the extent possible on a systemic level, that each member of society be provided with a purpose if necessary, but also that social structures should be as lateral (non-hierarchical) as possible.

In considering any public policy concern, these are the three factors which must be weighed against each other, and a sort of cost-benefit analysis conducted. Legitimate government allows for this analysis in such a way as to maximize adherence to the conclusion, but also in such a way as to most easily discard irrational and clearly erroneous conclusions. I suspect that there is never one clear answer to any given problem, but rather that there is a set of acceptable answers from which to choose, and that each society must be free to conduct their own cost-benefit analysis and determine their own solutions.

First, these three principles (particularly those of equality and fraternity) indicate a basic governmental system based in a democratic process. However, it does not indicate a pure democracy. Pure democracy would simply mean that the will of the majority prevails in every circumstance brought before it. This can be dangerous, as some of the ancient Athenians would no doubt testify. It was because of the will of the majority that Socrates was sentenced to death, an indisputable failure of pure democracy. Pure democracy can infringe on the liberty interests of others by including clearly erroneous and illogical solutions into the set of possible solutions for society to choose from. Thus, there must be a democratic system, limited to some degree by a Constitution. A Constitution is principally a guarantor of the liberty interests of minorities from the vagaries of a democracy. This restricts the set of available solutions to those which result from a logical cost-benefit analysis. Other elements may be included in any particular Constitution, but this is the primary purpose in a legitimate government.

Second, the liberty interests may be divided into two categories. Transitory vs. inalienable. Transitory rights are those which may vary from society to society and from time to time. For example, France has recently decided to provide its citizens with the right to get faulty breast implants removed at no direct cost to the patient. This may or may not change in France, but certainly varies by society. Other rights are deemed inalienable. Thomas Jefferson famously wrote that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are inalienable rights. However, this is largely based on John Locke's philosophy, which seems to me to have some serious flaws. Chiefly, Locke's approach is far too atomistic, taking individuals as the basic unit of society. However, as I've indicated in previous posts, I really disagree with this view. Individuals depend on society and society depends on individuals. Neither is more basic than the other. Thus, society (and government as the rough expression of the will of society), far from being a system perversely imposed upon individuals, is part of an essential relationship. It is in the nature of this relationship that any inalienable rights arise, not in the nature of the "basic" individual. Therefore, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness may indeed be inalienable rights, but this should be revisited and reanalyzed rather than taken as gospel truth. To be complete, a Constitution ought to indicate what are recognized as inalienable rights, as well as provide for a means by which any new insights may be accommodated and made part of the Constitution.

Thus, we see that a legitimate government is democratic at its base, limited by a Constitution, which provides for both transitory and inalienable rights. Any other differences in how particular societies solve similar problems and balance the interests of liberty, equality, and fraternity is irrelevant, so long as the process itself is legitimate. This should be the primary goal of each independent state, and perhaps, the goal of our foreign policy.