¶ … government that governs least the best sort of government for a freedom-Loving nation to have.
Does the Government that Governs Least Govern the Best?: A Closer Look
That government is best which governs least." This statement has been attributed to Thomas Jefferson, though there is no actual evidence of the statement in any of his extant writings. Whether Jefferson originally made this famous saying or not is inconsequential. The fact is, this saying has been repeated countless times over the past two centuries by proponents of democracy, states' rights, civil liberties, and all sorts of other precepts upon which our nation was supposedly founded. Those who believe that a true freedom-loving democracy consists of a government that stays out of the business of its citizens as much as possible are many and loud. There are many historically famous people who can be counted among the ranks of those who believe the government governs best which governs least. However, is this really the case? Can a government which does not govern much at all really be an effective government? Even more importantly, can a government that does not govern much protect and preserve the very democracy and freedom which created it in the first place? This paper looks at the writings of Alex de Tocqueville -- specifically his novel Democracy in America -- in order to determine if the government which governs least really is best.
Alex de Tocqueville made some startling observations about America and its institution of democracy. De Tocqueville saw how the experiment of democracy had failed in his native France, and was intrigued as to how democracy was faring in America. America at this time was, after all, the only true operating democracy in the world. De Tocqueville hoped that by coming to America to observe how it practiced its democracy that he could determine just where France had gone wrong in its democratic experiment. The observations that de Tocqueville made about democracy in America formed the basis for his novel, Democracy in America. These observations also offer us many important insights into the nature...
Republicans construed Obama as suggesting government bailouts for new industries, or at the slightest a more lively federal government function in generating or supporting jobs -- concepts abominations to a lot of conservatives. The Obama campaign countered the idea as political spin that does not replicate the president's feeling or meaning, pointing to full circumstances of the quotation as confirmation (Koch, 2011). Discuss the process of how a Bill becomes a
Of course, it becomes a very difficult matter to overcome sparse levels of availability when they are encountered (e.g. In the more remote regions of Western Australia). Taken together, the issues suggest that the impact of availability policy on the use of alcohol may be as heterogeneous as patterns of availability themselves. The reduction of one outlet in an urban area has significantly different meaning and implications than the reduction
This is largely due to the global nature of the phenomenon as the Internet is indeed the trademark of interdependence and globalization. The relations and connections it facilitates allow people around the world to come together in all sorts of activities, and, inevitably, pornography is one of them. Therefore, this type of complexity demanded a thorough response from the part of the authorities both at global and at the
American Mistrust of Centralized Government This is a paper written in APA style that examines the traditional preference that Americans have for local government, the traditional distrust they have of centralized government, and the reasons behind these phenomena. Local Government: A Traditional American Preference There is a strong traditional preference for local government over centralized government in this country. This preference goes back all the way to the beginnings of our nation and
The Catholic Church Government The internal government of the early Church was formed within the framework of the Roman Empire, and bishops exercised authority over the Christian community in each Roman municipium. By the third century, a shift took place as the bishops of each Roman province formed the habit of meeting in a provincial synod, presided over by the bishop of the capital city, meaning the metropolitan bishop or archbishop.
Aristotle, friendship important virtuous regimes. Why Aristotle "complete" friendship important a healthy One of the most important concepts in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics is the notion of friendship. The philosopher attributes a great deal of attention to friendship largely because he believes it is one of the most readily accessible ways of exercising and manifesting virtue. The truly interesting part about this text in relation to the tenet of friendship is
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