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What Is the Purpose of Government?

Explore the purpose of government through the perspectives of liberalism, libertarianism, and communitarianism. Understand concepts of fair distribution, equal opportunity, and fostering strong communal relationships.

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What Is the Purpose of Government?

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  1. What Is the Purpose of Government? • To distribute goods and services fairly, protecting everyone’s right to equal opportunity and bettering the lives of all members of society(liberalism: Rawls) • To protect the right to own that which one is entitled to (libertarianism: Nozick) • To foster a sense of community rather than individualism (communitarianism: Sandel)

  2. John Rawls: Justice as Fairness • All citizens should share in a society’s wealth and be given equal economic opportunities • In a just society, rational individuals under a veil of ignorance about their original position in the society should endorse a theory that: • gives everyone as much liberty as possible • allows for the unequal distribution of wealth only when the existence of such inequalities benefits everyone and is accessible to everyone

  3. Libertarianism (Entitlement/Minimal State Theory): Robert Nozick • We are entitled to use our property as we see fit. The State’s legitimate power is limited to preventing harm and protecting property rights • Taxation for anything other than protection (e.g., to impose a pattern redistributing wealth) is unjust because it ignores how goods are acquired fairly through trade, labor, gifts, etc.

  4. Communitarianism:Michael Sandel • We do not form governments to promote our individual self-interests; such a view treats our sense of community only instrumentally (Hobbes) or sentimentally (Rawls) • The purpose of government is to encourage us to recognize how we are constituted in our communal relations to one another

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