ROLE OF
GOVERNMENT
IN RELATION
TO CITIZENS
Reported by: Miguel
WHAT IS
Government is the essential instrument or
GOVERNMENT?
machinery of the state that carries out its will,
purposes and objectives.
Through the government the state
maintains its existence and carries
on its functions. Government is an
institution by which society’s
needs for social services are
satisfied and by which men’s
conflicting interests are
reconciled.
In the word of Justice William O. Douglas of the Untied States
Supreme Court,
Goverment is the most advanced of human relations.
It dispenses the various services that the complexities of
civilization require or make desirable. It is designed to keep
in balance the various competing forces present in any
society to satisfy the dominant, contemporary demands made
upon it. As a result it serves a high purpose; it is the cohesive
quality in civilation.
The government is not similar to the state.
The state comprises the entire people, while
the government consists only of a few
persons within a political community and it be
abolished and a new system take place, but
the state is always a permanent polity as long
as it retains all its essential elements.
Government is composed of institutions, agencies, and personnel
that carry out proliferated functions such as law and order,
defense, justice, and other modern functions related with
education, social services, economic planning, public works
services, and world-wide foreign relations.
What are the purpose and objectives of the
state that the government seeks to attain
towards its people?
• Domestic Order and
Tranquility
• Common Defense of the
state
• Blessing of Liberty and
Justice
• Promotion of General
Welfare
• Promotion of Public Morality
DOMESTIC ORDER AND
TRANQUILITY
The primary purpose of the state that its government
seeks to achieve is the maintenance of domestic order
and tranquility.
The government can realize this by
providing laws to regulate the
people's conduct and an effective
system of law enforcement. The
government performs essential
functions, like the maintenance of
an effective police force to
apprehend criminals and suppress
domestic violence; and keeping an
independent and impartial court
system to settle disputes.
COMMON DEFENSE OF THE STATE
Concomitant with the maintenance of domestic
order and tranquility, the government also
undertakes to defend the state from external
aggression. To attain this
this end, the government builds a strong armed
force for common defense. Another way of
establishing order and protecting national
security is the maintenance of foreign service to
promote peaceful and friendly relations with
other nation-states.
BLESSINGS OF
LIBERTY AND
JUSTICE
The third objective of the state is to secure
for the people the blessings of liberty and
justice.
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are
the inalienable rights of man. The freedom
of the individual to enjoy these rights is
dependent upon government, which is
instituted to safeguard them. Freedom of
speech and of the press, freedom of
association, freedom of religion, and the
rights of persons accused of crimes should
not be subject to restraints.
PROMOTION OF GENERAL WELFARE
This is undertaken by the government by
performing service functions, like the
creation of essential public services (ie.
establishment of roads, bridges, hospitals,
irrigation systems, schools, etc.), promotion
of health and sanitation, regulation of
business and dissemination of public
information, and other govermental
activities relative to the care of the general
interests and well-being of the state. Welfare
has become an imperative, subject to which
modern governments in all civilized
countries operate.
PROMOTION OF PUBLIC MORALITY
This end of the state is concemed with value
judgments and moral standards. Goverments should
set one code of moral conduct for all, including public
officers.
It should set a high standard of morality in running the
affairs of the state. This can be done when public
officials perform their duties and functions with the
highest sense of dignity and responsibility, and when
they consider themselvés accountable to their people.
In this way, the people will not only accord them
respect and trust but also follow their example.
"The state exists for
the sake of a good
life, and not for the
sake of life only.” ~
Aristotle
“The end of
government is the
good of mankind; and
which is best for
mankind, that the
people should always
retain the supreme
power, or that the
rulers should be so.” ~
John Locke
Thanks
