What should the role of the state be in contemporary society - Essay Example

?Introduction It is important for a society invest legitimate ity on s to enhance the prevalence of order in conducting of public affairs. The lack of legitimate authority to exercise power on behalf of the people may hinder the potential of a given society to prosper. A State is the main institution which exercises power on behalf of the people in the contemporary society. It is bestowed with legitimate authority by the society for preserving its institutions for the betterment of the welfare of all. The contemporary society has empowered the state to make and impose laws that are necessary for the harmonic existence of all members of the society (Woodrow, 2001). The main role of State is providing protection to the entire society (Petricus, 2009). This core role of the state arises from the fact that it is almost impossible to guarantee all members of society protection that is based on voluntary arrangement amongst individuals. There is need for an institution that is acceptable to the entire society to provide protection from both internal and external forces that may threaten the well being of individual members or the entire society. Protection by state refers to securing the rights, liberties and freedoms of the individuals as well as their property. This role is undertaken by one authority within a given society to avoid conflicts which may arise in dispensation of this important duty. However the state has other important roles which are related to its protective role such as promoting economic welfare of the society, provision of basic needs such as food, shelter and education. This paper is a critical evaluation of the roles of the state in the contemporary society. The Protective Role of the State The protective role of the state to the society can be understood by evaluating the status of security and human rights practices in stateless societies such as Somalia in comparison with a society which has an effective system of governance such as the United States of America. It is evident that there is widespread abuse of human rights and lack of protection in a stateless society. Somalia is a country in the horn of Africa, which has survived for more than 10 years without a formal authority to govern the citizens. As a result, numerous criminal organizations such as Al-Shabaab have continued to terrorize citizens as well as committing atrocities against the country’s peaceful neighbors. As a result, Somalia has continued to lag behind in terms of development especially due to power struggles, which have created conflicts that have resulted to some of the citizens seeking refuge in some of the neighboring countries since there is no sufficient security. This has also created a loophole which has facilitated international terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaida with a ground to fulfill their violent missions around the world (Abukhalil, 2006). It is important to note that the powers of the state are at times abused for the benefits of the ruling class thus negating the core role of this important societal institution. Since, by design, some members of the society exert relatively higher control on the state, it is possible for such group to extract more benefits than the majority of the society who are under control through acts of corruption and nepotism. It is for this reason that recent developments in some of the Arab nations such as Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, have taken place, where civilians have taken it upon themselves to overthrow corrupt leaders, whose main agenda was to remain in power and continue to acquire illegal wealth. The western society and other societies which have adopted and successfully implemented democratic ideals have at their disposal three means by which they protect themselves from undue exploitation by the state. These are; restraint through judicial processes, voicing concern through voting in general elections and removing irresponsible officials through votes of no confidence as well as invoking the right to hold non violent demonstrations. These measures form the basic protection of the society from the excesses of the state. It is thus apparent that the protective roles of the state need to be explored with respect to the extent at which the state authority can be utilized without constraining individuals’ rights and freedoms which are supposed to be upheld. Thus in this paper, the state’s protective role is limited to the protection of members of the society from coercion, theft and fraud as well as defense of the entire society from external invasion or aggression (Chang, 2009). The state provides all members of the society with protection of their right to life and freedom, which is achieved through the adoption of laws and other institutional measures such as use of police to deter violation of these rights and freedoms. State organs such as the police are charged with the responsibility of arresting individuals who violate others people’s rights, and forward them to the judiciary for prosecution. In addition, the state has bestowed authority on law enforcement agencies to undertake surveillances and investigations that are aimed at preventing threats to people’s life and their property. The state also delegates authority to these agencies to undertake measures that are necessary to eliminate eminent danger to life and property and in the process of doing this, officers are supposed to behave in an ethical manner, which does not violate the fundamental freedoms and rights unless there is an imminent danger that requires vigilance and use of limited force (Chang, 2009). The state provides the society with protection from external aggression through the use of military power and diplomatic means. Almost all states in the contemporary society have military force whose core purpose is defending the society from external aggression. External aggression in this context may be in form of provocative actions by another state or members of another state. In such situation, the state provides protection by engaging the enemy in war with the intent of destroying its capability to harm the citizens. This may also involve mobilization of other friendly states military power to defeat the aggressor. However, diplomacy is always advocated for and it is only after such efforts have been exhausted that a state can declare war on another state in accordance with article 51 of the United Nations Charter. The US for example has been a victim of terrorist attacks orchestrated by criminal organizations based in other countries. This is the reason why the US military invaded Afghanistan and Iraq in hot pursuit of the terrorists, who were involved in the 9/11 attacks (Abukhalil, 2006). It is important for a state to maintain adequate capability for protecting its citizen from both internal and external forces that may cause loss of life and violation of basic freedoms and liberties. The state achieves this by developing and maintaining adequate legal framework and institutions for promoting and enforcing law and order (Friedman, 1962). This involves the establishment of a free and fair judicial system to ensure that justice is delivered to both victims and perpetrators of crimes. The state also trains and equips law enforcement agencies and the military to ensure that these institutions always maintain the capability to detect and respond in a timely manner to any threat to both individual and national security. Role of State in Economic Development According to Lau (1998), the state plays three important roles in the process of economic development. First, the state provides the necessary institutions such as order and security, which ensures that there is a leveled playing field for economic actors. Secondly, the state plays a critical role in ensuring fair distribution of income generated in economic activities such as tourism, service industry and mining among others. It thus prevents economic exploitation by ensuring all participants in economic production receive their share according to their contribution. Lastly, the state is a promoter of economic activities through it various agencies. As it has been illustrated in the previous section, the state plays an important role of providing the necessary institutions to enhance the effective operation of economic activities. For instance, security in the society is necessary for encouraging people to invest. Otherwise without the guaranteeing of investors that their property will be secured, it is hard to promote capital investments, which are very critical for exploitation of natural resources and also in the manufacturing sector. In addition, the state is charged with the role of establishing critical services and infrastructures which support economic growth and development. For instance, the state builds roads, oil pipelines, railways, airports and other transport and telecommunication networks which require high economic outlay with long amortization period and which could be much more expensive for the citizens if they were the responsibility of the private sector. It also establishes institutions that regulate economic activities and resolve disputes arising from these undertakings (Lau, 1998). The central purpose of the state provision of necessary institutions and infrastructures for economic development is to ensure that fairness and justice prevails. The state offer equal protection to all economic actors and ensures none of them enjoys undue advantage over the other. It also protects the societal resources such as labor, minerals and other natural resources from misuse or over exploitation without consideration of the good of all. To achieve this, the state regulates and charges levies and taxes which are used to develop infrastructure. It also ensures that all economic actors have equal access to productive resources without discrimination (Chang, 2009). It is the role of the state to ensure that the benefits derived from economic development are fairly shared among all stakeholders. The state ensures this through establishment of laws and regulations which underline the principle of wealth distribution. This includes the taxation laws and local government levies which are used to collect funds from economic actors which is then used to support social programs such as education, health care and salaries for public servants. The state, through its legislative organ formulates labor laws which have direct influence on the amount of wages and salary that workers receive as compensation for their effort in economic production (Chang, 2009). All these functions are geared towards fair distribution of wealth generated by the society in its economic endeavors. The state promotes economic activities through various functions. At the initial stage, the state must determine and support economic activity that is most compatible with the society situation. This includes the level of literacy, level of mechanization and adoption of technology as well as the available resources. The state thus dedicates resources and societal effort towards such economic activity for which the society have a comparative advantage over competing societies. By enhancing the competitiveness of the society in production of given set of commodities probably through specialization, the state promotes economic growth and development (Lau, 1998). A country may not be self sufficient in terms of monies available for development. In such a circumstance, the state is charged with the responsibility of mobilizing funds from both internal and external sources to finance the establishment of infrastructure and subsequent maintenance in addition to other vote heads, which require funding fro the state. The mobilization of funds may involve borrowing from bilateral partners or seeking strategic partners to provide finance and expertise and be repaid in an agreed period. This is important due to the fact that citizens have no means or contacts to enable them acquire loans and grants but a state is in a better position and well represented in institutions such as the World Bank, International Monetary fund among others (Lau, 1998). Another role of the state in promoting economic growth and development is setting standards for both quality and quantity of commodities produced by the manufactures. It the duty of the state through its standardization agencies to ensure that commodities produced conforms to set standards in terms of quality. As such, the state acts as guarantor to the general public that commodities that are provided in the market are fit for human consumption and thus pose no danger or risk of harming the consumers. In addition, the state is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that firms and individuals conform to safe production standards and that there is no risk or danger posed to the society in undertaking economic production (Woodrow, 2001). The Role of State in Promoting Human Rights and Justice It is the role of the state to promote the attainment of human rights and dignity by all members of the society. This is achieved though state initiatives to ensure that every individual has access to basic human needs and is free from degrading treatment or negligence. The state is charged with the responsibility of establishing homes to accommodate the homeless and provision of food stamps or other related food programs aimed at solving the dietary problem of the underprivileged in the society. It is also the responsibility of the state to ensure that every individual has access to quality basic health care and information. State in the contemporary society is also engaged with taking care for the aged and other members of the society who require special attention (Woodrow, 2001). The state ensures that justice is available to all by enforcing laws and rules that provides that every person is entitled to a fair trail in a court of law. The institutionalization and standardization of instruments for delivering justice by the state ensures that every individual has access to fair trail or resolution of civil disputes regardless of their faith, gender, race, wealth or political affiliation. The judicial officers are servants of the state and therefore are expected to deliver unbiased judgment for any matter brought to them (Chang, 2009). Role of State in Enhancing Democracy It is the duty of the state to conduct public affairs in a transparent and accountable manner. The state is charged with the responsibility of overseeing that all members of the society participate effectively in societal decision making processes (Axelrod, 2005). The state ensures that power and authority is excised responsibly and state actors are held accountable for their actions. Thus, it is the role of the state to ensure that political office holders get those positions through free and fair election. In fact, the state in the contemporary society is charged with the responsibility of conducting regular elections to ensure that power is exercised in accordance with democratic principles (Axelrod, 2005). Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the state to ensure that the views of the minority are not subdued by the majority through the development of policies that promote fair representation and participation of all individuals in decision making processes. It is also the responsibility of the state to provide information that is necessary for individuals to judge the performance of public institutions in order to enhance quality of their participation in decision making processes. The state has a duty to the society to uphold democratic ideals and allow the voicing of differing opinion on different issues in order to generate the best alternative action. However, this role has been misused in the past whereby some states have continued to oppress the people by denying them the freedom of speech (Woodrow, 2001). Role of the State in Environment Conservation Environment conservation and sustainable development have emerged as important issues in the last decade. The society is more concerned on the implication of various activities on the environmental well being. Increased awareness of the need to balance economic endeavors with sound environmental management necessitates the state participation. It is the role of the state to develop and implement policies that ensure effective environmental stewardship among the involved parties especially those involved in mining and fossil energy production and utilization. The society has continued to conduct human activities such as deforestation, encroachment of water catchment areas, charcoal burning, poor waste management among others, which have continued to degrade the environment. Consequently, the same society continues to experience numerous negative impacts such as malnutrition, health deterioration as a result of pollution among others such as soil erosion. Since these individuals are only motivated by the greed for money and not the welfare of the whole society, it is the state which has the machinery and the resources to ensure that such activities are controlled for example by coming up with policies that ban any activity that has such a negative impact on the environment (Harding, 2005). In addition to overseeing the effective adoption of environmental rules and regulation, it is the duty of the state to lead by example by supporting conservation efforts and environmental restoration efforts. In this context, citizens are mobilized to take up action such as planting trees, community policing in order to track poachers and illegal cutting of trees as well as activities such as building gabions for the purposes of controlling soil erosion. The state must also adopt sustainable practices such as the use of alternative energy in state offices and other facilities. The state should also lead the way in mobilizing funds to support research in sustainable development such as green energy. This includes provision of monetary and policy support to develop means of mitigating the effects of adverse environmental practices such as global warming which has increased floods, severity of drought and the rising of the sea levels (Harding, 2005). Bibliography Abukhalil, A. (2006). Bin Laden Islam & America's New War on Terrorism. Seven Stories Press Axelrod, R. (2005). ‘Promoting Democracy through International Organizations. University of Michigan.’ [Online] Available at: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~axe/research/PromotingDemocracy.pdf (Accessed 15 November 2011) Chang, W. (2009). The Role of the State in a Capitalist Economy. Kumarian Press Friedman, M. (1962). ‘Capitalism and Freedom.’[Online] Available at: http://books.cat-v.org/economics/capitalism-and-freedom/chapter_02 (Accessed 14 November 2011) Harding, R. (2005). Ecologically Sustainable Development: Origins, Implementation and Challenges. Cambridge University Lau, J.W. (1998).Role of Government in Economic Development. Oxford University Press Petricus, A. (2009). ‘Role of State/ Public Authorities in the Realization of Human Rights.’[Online] Available at:http://www.etc-graz.at/cms/fileadmin/user_upload/humsec/SAc_08_PPP/PPP_Antonija_Petricusic_III.pdf (Accessed 14 November 2011) Woodrow, W. (2001). The State. Cambridge University Press Read More