The Relationship between Liberty and Government - Assignment Example

 The Relationship between Liberty and Government Introduction The relationship between liberty and good government is very strapping. Both of them depend on each other in order to get effective result as good government is indispensable to promote liberty and autonomy is the soul of good government. Liberty is basically a concept of political philosophy or in other words we can say that it is a condition where an individual is set free to act according to his or her on will but the definition of liberty is a bit different in the dictionaries of the founders as described by Holcombe "Liberty for the founders meant that the government would protect the rights of individuals but would have minimal involvement in their economic affairs."1 Apart from natural liberty there is another kind of liberty as well which is known as federal liberty. Federal liberty further has two forms that are: Liberty always is the first precedence of every individual, institution or organization and in case of governments it is legitimate object of "good government". Every government has both strong and weak points and same is the case with British government. But when it comes to good government, another fact about British government is that it is among the group of highest performing countries in the world. In order to analyze Britain with reverence to good government let us first point out the basic requirements that a government need to become a good government and that are: People who are elected or appointed should know their roles and job in order to maintain good accountability. Whereas, good people here mean to empower the front line who can administer well in political context and good process is better policy and law making. Trust between those who are governed and those who govern will maintain the good standards. Moreover outcome of the actions will prove that government was performing well. People being the majority have the right to opt, modify or eradicate their government which actually is the soul of democracy. It is though difficult for a government to take care of freedom of every individual as it some how can affect others emotions and one of the most sensitive matters is to make a policy to provide religious freedom to every individual especially in a religion that seize abundant sects like Christianity. After the revolution American puritans strove hard to create a pure church and a thoroughly Christian society. Puritanism is the most criticized religion in American history and their self righteous attitude was a cause of English civil war and American Revolution. Puritan basically was a name given to people who criticized or wished to purify the Church of England by Anglicans. Puritans were divided into two groups: Separating puritans Non separating puritans The basic difference between both groups is that one believe that Christians church of England is corrupt and puritan should separate themselves from it where as the other believe that they should not separate themselves but should reform the church respectively. John Winthrop was the member of puritan faction with in the established church of England and had given the suggestions to make colonies. He wanted to transform the world by making an ideal colony. As Winthrop believes that love is the most important element that binds the whole body together so he wanted to make a system where every body should respect and care for each other. Moreover Puritans no doubt have developed the improved education system of England. Apart from Winthrop there were some other important entities who believed that Puritanism should be practiced as a religion and those who did so are supporting devil. John Cotton was among such people. He was puritan minister and was of the same view that Winthrop was that is to become a "city upon the hill" Thomas Jefferson has criticized such thinking of Puritans and believes that no one can force any one to follow a particular religion and that every one should be set free to opt religion of his own choice. Moreover Jefferson also said in his writing that "civil capacities"2 of a person should not be affected because of his different thinking or argument in religious or any other aspect as he has the right to argue. Another important name in representing Puritan was of Niles. Puritans believe in the concept of "education for all" in order to support society and in this way they will be able to follow the teachings of bible by reading it where as there were some people who were of the same opinion but the difference was of the reason behind these opinions. One man of the same opinion but for different reason was Thomas Franklin he believes that educated people can raise their voice against tyranny moreover he believe in education for all so that educated landed gentry will rise up to be the leader of the nation. A person who worked to enlighten Puritanism was Benjamin Franklin .Though he puritan by origin but he believes that religion is not as important as it was in Puritan's time. He followed the puritan's values of hard work and self governing. But he also added an additional value to enlighten Puritanism that is of tolerance. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Paine worked hard to strengthen liberty. All of them believed in self governing and to empower the individual to make decisions for himself which is the root of democracy. The secret behind the popularity of all three men was their belief on the fact that priority should be given to the civil duties of a person and personal desires should be put aside. Writers and analyst have always done their job of guiding people in every era. Thomas Paine is also among such writers who believe that it is there duty to guide and the he performed the same duty through his book common sense. Paine believes that Britain should not rule over America. He said that British rule over America is just like an island that rules over whole island which is absolutely iniquitous so he always wanted independence from British rule. To establish a good government should be the purpose of every empowered entity and liberty should be given to every individual in every aspect of life. God has given the mind to every individual so that he can think and make the decision for his life that he thinks are best for him so who are we or our leaders to make us bound of there decisions. Religion though is very sensitive issue but the best thing a policy maker can do is to set all individuals free to choose his desired religion and let their religious duties perform freely. REFERANCES Franklin, Benjamin, "an autobiography" , pg 13-38, 83-140 Paine, Thomas, "Common Sense", 1776, New York, Penguin classics Randall G. Holcombe, From Liberty to Democracy: The Transformation of American Government. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2002,pg 171 Jefferson, Thomas "bill for establishing religious liberty", pg 15 Read More