My Government is Smaller than your Government

The main contention between liberals and conservatives is the size and power of the government.  The trick to any organization is sizing it properly and having the right mix of checks and balances between all of the disparate parts.  This is such an important concept in the business world most companies hire outside consultants to routinely review every aspect of their operations and organization.

In order to properly size a government, we need to define what functions the government must provide.    A government for free societies fulfills two general functions: 1) Protect its citizens, and 2) Create an environment conducive to their citizens’ success.  While this sounds simple, just about everything can be placed into one of those two categories, so let’s break each down a little more.  Across most forms of government, “Protect its Citizens” has a uniform definition that can be broken down as follows:

  • Protect Citizens
    • Internal
      • Prevent and Prosecute Crime
      • Prevent Government Overreach
      • Regulate Disputes between Citizens
    • External
      • Provide Military Defense
      • Regulate Trade
      • Diplomacy/Treaties
      • Natural Disasters

The second function, “Promote Success” is much more flexible and depends on the type of government and economy.  In socialism, the government will control most of the economy in order to enforce equality amongst its citizens.  This enforced equality often leads to reduced productivity and innovation, and an increased probability for government corruption.  For a capitalism, the government minimizes regulation and allows the market to control itself.  The danger lies in the tendency for corporations and the upper class to have too much power and influence over the government and average citizens.  The ideal mix between capitalist and socialist policies is achieved by investing to increase productivity and innovation in order to generate enough money and human capital to protect citizens (and pay off debts).

While the above balance can provide a reasonable approximation for the size of government, it needs to be constantly monitored and analyzed for smaller fluctuations.  The final keys to finding the right size of government are the changing views and norms of corporations and citizens.  Corporations can influence a government’s size by mistreating customers and employees, as well as buying influence through lobbyists and political donations.  While citizens can influence the size of government through a demand for services, ethnic/racial makeup, and changing social values, their largest influence is as a part of the economy.  Spending habbits, saving rates, consumer confidence, personal debt and changes in socio-economic status al need to be taken into account to keep a government a proper size to serve its citizens.