Why Is Government Necessary Discussion

Week 2 – Discussion – Chapter 1 – TheDemocratic Republic
6
Respond to discussion question using the “question and answer format”.
Read the chapter before answering the discussion question to understand how to
respond to it.
Chapter 1 asks the question: “Why is government necessary?”
1. Based on the reading in the textbook, there are two main reasons the
government is necessary.
2. Give details and at least one example to prove your point. (200 words or
more)
3. Respond to two peers or more (100 words or more)
4. Use at least one (1) resource from an outside source and one (1) from your
textbook to validate your information. You can use as many resources as you
want, but one must be from the textbook and cited in APA format.

source: TedEd
Understand why democracy matters.
Closed caption available.
Chapter 1 | The Democratic Republic
Bardes, Barbara A.; Shelley, Mack C.; Schmidt, Steffen W. (2016-12-31T22:58:59.000). American
Government and Politics Today: Essentials 2017-2018 Edition (p. 5). Cengage Learning. Kindle
Edition.
covers most employees. Eventually, the county government will record your death, and a
government judge will oversee the distribution of your assets to your heirs.
Why Is Government Necessary?
Perhaps the best way to assess the need for government is to examine circumstances in which
government, as we normally understand it, does not exist. What happens when multiple
groups compete violently with one another for power within a society? There are places
around the world where such circumstances exist. A current example is the Middle Eastern
nation of Syria, run by the dictator Bashar al-Assad. In 2011, peaceful protesters were killed,
which led to an armed rebellion. The government lost control of much of the country, and its
forces repeatedly massacred civilians in contested areas. Some rebels, such as the so-called
Islamic State, were extreme Islamists. Others were more moderate. By 2013, rebels were
fighting each other as well as the government. In much of Syria, law and order had broken
down completely. By 2016, as many as 400,000 people had been killed, and almost half of the
country’s people had been driven from their homes.
As the example of Syria shows, one of the original purposes of government is the
maintenance of security, or order. By keeping the peace, a government protects its people
from violence at the hands of private or foreign armies and criminals. If order is not present, it
is not possible for the government to provide any of the other benefits that people expect
from it. Order is a political value to which we will return later in this chapter.
Limiting Government Power
A complete collapse of order and security, as seen in Syria, is actually an uncommon event.
Much more common is the reverse—too much government control. In 2016, the human rights
organization Freedom House judged that fifty of the world’s countries were “not free.” These
nations contain 36 percent of the world’s population. Such countries may be controlled by
individual kings or dictators. Saudi Arabia’s king Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and North Korea’s
dictator Kim Jong-un are obvious examples. Alternatively, a political party, such as the
Communist Party of China, may monopolize all the levers of power. The military may rule, as in
Thailand since 2014.
In all of these examples, the individual or group running the country cannot be removed by
legal means. Freedom of speech and the right to a fair trial are typically absent. Dictatorial
governments often torture or execute their opponents. Such regimes may also suppress
freedom of religion. Revolution, whether violent or nonviolent, is often the only way to change
the government.
In short, protection from the violence of domestic criminals or foreign armies is not enough.
Citizens also need protection from abuses of power by their own government. To protect the
liberties of the people, it is necessary to limit the powers of the government.
Liberty—the greatest freedom of the individual consistent with the freedom of other
individuals—is a second major political value, along with order. We discuss this value
Bardes, Barbara A.; Shelley, Mack C.; Schmidt, Steffen W. (2016-12-31T22:58:59.000). American
Government and Politics Today: Essentials 2017-2018 Edition (p. 5). Cengage Learning. Kindle
Edition.