Intended Land of the Free: What is Government?

     The ultimate purpose of government is not to create or determine the rights of its people, but to protect the rights they already possess under natural law; therefore, government must remain limited enough that its authority does not threaten the freedoms it exists to preserve.

     Many scholars have posed the question, “What should be a government’s intention?” John Locke is one of the most prominent examples. Locke theorized natural law, the idea that human nature governs itself and that certain laws are inherent. For example, violating someone’s natural rights by taking something they scavenged for or created would violate natural law. The Founding Fathers largely used Locke’s notion that the purpose of government should be to prevent violations of natural law and protect natural rights, rather than intervene unnecessarily or create new laws, as a foundation for their work creating the Constitution.

     Although natural law provides the strongest foundation for protecting individual rights, the United States government has gradually moved away from this principle. Over the course of American history, presidents have increasingly interpreted the Constitution in ways that expand the authority of the federal government, often arguing that such expansions are necessary to address new problems or protect the nation. As constitutional powers have been reinterpreted and expanded, government has become more involved in the lives of its citizens, making the limited role envisioned by Locke and reflected in the Constitution less representative of modern American government.

     If the purpose of government is to protect rights that already exist under natural law, then its authority should always be limited by those rights. The Founding Fathers attempted to establish this principle through the Constitution, but the gradual expansion and reinterpretation of governmental power has moved the United States further from that original ideal. Ultimately, the question of what government should be remains just as important as the question of what government has become.

     The ultimate purpose of government is not to create or determine the rights of its people, but to protect the rights they already possess under natural law; therefore, government must remain limited enough that its authority does not threaten the freedoms it exists to preserve.