What are the principles of a free government?

Meaghan Rose Morrell

University of South Carolina

Permanent Address: 8201 Caddis Ct.

Myrtle Beach, SC 29579-1856

Local Address: 1050 Southern Drive #1404

Columbia, SC 29201

Phone Number: (843)685-9057

E-mail: mmorrell@email.sc.edu
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When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to

become an outlaw (Mandela, 1995). Throughout the course of his life, Nelson Mandela

faced several challenges in the fight against apartheid, costing him 27 years of his life in

prison and constant uphill battle against the government (Abramson, 2016, p. 21). Even

though Mandela was faced with such obstacles, he continued to fight for equal rights for all

people in South Africa. A member should not be persecuted or afraid for being oneself in a

society; the governments responsibility is to allow individuals to flourish and reach their true

potential in a way that society and the person in question can benefit from directly. It is

through the continued battle for equal rights for all that a free government flourishes and will

not cease to exist.

A free government has copious responsibilities to constituents residing within its

boundaries: to provide the freedom to profit from enterprise in producing goods and services

driven by the economy, to promote social inclusion and fight against discrimination, to

ensure the right to a democratic system with checks and balances, to promote freedom to

choose ones own religion and beliefs, to allow accessible, unbiased information from the

media and to be free to hold democratic elections. This paper will explore societal

expectations of a free government interested in being transparently democratic, through

promoting freedom in its policies and ideologies paradoxical to oppressive public institutions

limiting those rights. It is essential a government provides the correct framework structure of

governance to protect all of society, along with implementing the correct policies for society

to perform at an optimal level.

Moreover, a free government works tirelessly to appeal to the entire electorate rather

than a few interest groups or wealthy elites through initiatives, policies and the electoral

process. Such an institution admits when they are out of touch and [typically] allows for a

transition of power to occur bringing in another ruling party while equally respecting the rule
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of law; no free government should overcome the power of the judicial system. The

government will always serve an important function in providing basic but essential services

to its population; namely defence and public infrastructure projects. However, a government

interested in facilitating free ownership of resources should provide the appropriate legal

framework to permit private enterprise. Suppose hypothetically a private citizen has a patch

of land in his backyard, which can be used to produce some arable farming. If the person is

concerned that his productive output or profits from business operations will be seized by

governmental forces, there is no realistic private incentive for the business to operate. If on

the other hand, the government freely allows private ownership of this land through basic

property rights, the entrepreneur can benefit himself along with society externally. With some

ownership rights, the individual can retain a substantial amount of its turnover and profit

(subject to taxation) in such a manner, therefore incentivizing an efficient level of production.

The individual will protect the land from trespassers and thieves, can invest capital in

maintaining the land, and can sell the land property rights to someone else who will operate

optimally. Moreover, an individual struck by poverty can post the land as collateral to

achieve a lower interest rate on a business or private loan. Therefore, a government that

allows private allocation of resources and private enterprise to function alongside the public

sector is representative of a free capitalist society.

On a national level, a free government should be open to trade with other countries

and exploit their comparative advantage. This is the idea that each country has a specific

industry which they are best at producing a good or service in that industry and should

specialise in that industry to trade with other economies. If France has a comparative

advantage in cheese and Italy has in wine, they should trade these goods. In this way, both

economies can focus on certain industries instead of spreading themselves too thinly, can

achieve greater efficiency, improve international relations and propel themselves out of
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poverty through trade. A free government should work with nations to lift trading barriers

and tariffs. A tariff makes an incoming product less frequent in supply and more expensively

priced for consumers (Tariff, 2016). Conversely, less protectionism presents consumers

with more choice, boosts globalization and offers value to a society for money, goods, and

services. In a similar fashion to property rights, a free government should also promote the

use of copyright law to induce individuals to spot efficiency in an industry, cause disruption

to incumbents and protect the idea from competitors. A government desiring freedom should

not seize the rights to an idea and allow private businesses and entrepreneurs to produce

revolutionising products and services that can help others achieve a higher standard of living.

The premise of a free market system dates back to Adam Smiths invisible hand

argument. This is the belief that an individual is self-interested and will maximise their

private benefit, but simultaneously will bring about a benefit to society as a whole (Brady,

2016). The government should build a structure to allow free agents to operate and

competitive forces to set an equilibrium price (which is commensurate of demand and supply

conditions). A free government shows restraint and takes measures not to manipulate

financial markets. This type of establishment believes in a free floating exchange rate which

is determined through supply and demand in financial markets rather than a fixed value

which is set by the government (Devereux & Engel, 1998). By doing so, this means not

influencing the economys currency value for private gain or keeping the currency arbitrarily

low such that the countrys export market is cheaper than its international competitors.

Similarly, money supply and interest rate decisions should be delegated to an independent

body from government to prevent governmental interference. Historically, governments have

put interest rates low in election years to remain in power and provide a temporary ease of

credit to delude the electorate (Dinc, 2005). Instead, a free government should allow

independent decision makers such as Janet Yellen from the Federal Reserve to determine
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what interest rates should be with respect to its inflation target and inherent market conditions

(Yellen, Janet Louise, 2016). These prerequisites provide stability and less volatility in

financial markets, leading to less market speculative losses.

Another aspect of a free government pertains to its attempt to appeal to the wider

masses. It should by no means segregate individuals, groups or promote stereotypical views.

Each individuals rights are equally important and no persons rights should detract from

anothers. A notable example was the governmental system prior to the Civil Rights

Movement. African-Americans, a demographic neglected by whites, were in part

disenfranchised directly by the US government at the time which refused to recognise their

rights as equivalent to the latter (Carson, 2017). African-Americans lived in separate areas

due in part to restrictive covenants, attended different universities that were historically black

and faced oppression through everyday life. It took the efforts of Martin Luther King Jr. and

many others along with years of protesting for the system to give way to a more inclusive and

open-minded government (King, Martin Luther, Jr., 2016). This transition from the status

quo was more representative of the wider population as a whole rather than

disproportionately representing one specific group. This increasingly led to more

management positions in businesses and political offices being granted to African-Americans

and eventually past President Barack Obama, the first African-American, becoming President

of the United States (Obama, Barack, 2016). This allowed a free system whereby the most

qualified person for the position would be chosen, rather than the determining factor for this

position being the color of a persons skin tone. This evidenced an unconventional view of

a newly accepted normality in a free government; it broke ground in the sense that minority

people could be inspired to hold themselves to new standards seeing that Obama was

successful. This system of free government works against suppressing race groups and
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launches continuous policy initiatives to improve representation in a continuum of unequal

society.

Of equivalent importance to representing all races, a free government is principally

concerned with reinforcing gender equality and representing womens rights as well as

mens. The Suffrage Movement ushered in a constitutional change leading to women being

granted their right to vote in elections and other important matters (Stansell, 1980). In todays

world, the workforce in developed countries is becoming more gender balanced and having a

gender balanced team can be expressed as a unique selling point for companies in an industry

looking to attract the best talent. Although there are plenty of opportunities for development

in both the developed and underdeveloped world, the freest governments tend to be

progressive in their ideals for gender equality and preventing imbalances. Future avenues for

tackling inequality and discrimination include bolstering the rights of LGBTQ groups. Recent

initiatives of free liberal governments have typically included sanctioning gay marriage or

permitting gender neutral bathroom facilities. When these policy measures are faced with

resistance, a free government should defend its constituents and work to equally represent all

of its members in order to help defeat discrimination and segregation. An individual in a

society operated by a free government should not fear for being different in comparison to

other governments; it is the diversity of a population that lends itself to produce the best

ideas, attract the best talent and reach a higher sustained increase in living standards.

The structure of a free government is such that no individual or ruling party has too

much power to suppress the interests of others or pursue an unfair agenda. There must be

checks and balances put in place to ensure that leaders do not exploit their position for their

own gain or ulterior motive (Radu, 2010). Free democratic governments support the notion

that government should have a set of layers and judicial processes in order to bring policies

into the legislature. For example, in the UK a legislative bill must be legal and pass a review
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from both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. If the bill fails to meet one of

these requirements it is either abandoned or amended for a subsequent motion. This

strengthens the idea that bills should hold up constitutionally and meet the requirements of

the populace which these leaders represent (Grimshaw, 2017). Likewise, in the US there are

three branches of government which help to impose imperative checks and balances to ensure

that individuals are not treated unfairly, laws can be critically analysed and there is a

democratic consensus rather than a dictator passing laws to protect their own interests (Radu,

2010).

A government which is not free is characterised by corruption and exploitation of the

masses. Corrupt governments can be both a symptom and a cause of poverty in

underdeveloped countries. If individuals within a government observe regulated corruption

by their government, they are more likely to become corrupted themselves because it is seen

as an accepted norm. According to a study conducted in 23 countries where government

corruption, tax evasion and election fraud has been found in the past, researchers asked

college-aged volunteers to partake in a study that would measure honesty at an individual

level (Gchter & Schulz, 2016). These volunteers were asked to roll a die and report the

number that appeared the higher the number (1-5), the more money they would receive

from the researchers (if they rolled a 6, they would receive no money). These volunteers

knew the researchers could not see their resulting rolls, and because of this, they were more

inclined to lie in order to receive more money. When the overall average number of reported

die rolls was greater than what was expected, researchers concluded the volunteers were

lying. After comparing the end results with the amounts of reported government corruption,

researchers discovered that volunteers in countries with more reported cases of government

corruption were more likely to lie to attain more money (Gchter & Schulz, 2016).
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Synonymous to individualism, a primary principle of a free government permits

diversity of thoughts, political and religious beliefs. A ruling elite which suppresses the

inherent beliefs of its members limits the societys freedom - telling people how to think,

showing alternative facts, or telling society what to believe and what not to believe can be

described as anything but free (Strong, 2017). Within hours of the 2017 US Presidential

Inauguration, the world was flooded with the term alternative facts, a term coincident with

the action of persevering a precise understanding in complete ignorance of or with a total

disregard for reality (Strong, 2017). This concept not only produces a major issue within a

free government in being transparent with constituents, but allows constituents to justify

ignorant positions without providing evidence for reasoning. A free government should not

only allow but actively encourage freedom of information which can be accessible to

everyone. With the exception of information which protects a nations security, citizens

should be able to read about independent sources of news coverage which is not interfered

with by the government to misconstrue the facts. Platforms for discussion and debate should

be promoted for people to voice their concerns and contribute to making a more efficient and

equitable society which is fair for everyone and does not limit the rights of one group in

favour of another. Individuals in this type of society can form their own opinions and arrive

at their own decisions without any form of governmental influences. The media whether it is

broadcasted through TV, radio or newspapers should be separate from the state such that the

news being presented is politically unbiased. If the consensus is for media broadcasters to

disagree with a leader or ruling party, a free government allows itself to be challenged and

scrutinised as it is in everyones interest to make a better society rather than an authoritarian

system which chastises those who dare to criticise the government. The education policy set

by the government should not limit a certain line of thinking or omit important information

from a schools curriculum because it is at odds with the governments agenda. An example
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would be a right wing party banning the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx (Boyer, 1998)

from classrooms and local public libraries, or similarly disallowing the Quran from a

Christian majority demographic.

A free principled government should try their utmost to disentangle religion from

political decisions. It is true that religion provides some form of moral guidance to show love

and generosity to others, this is common in all religions. However, these different religious

groups should not be permitted to discriminate against one another, and certainly should not

be punished by the ruling partys religious views through politics. The most obvious case of

this occurring was during World War II when Hitler and the Nazi state persecuted and

murdered 6 million Jews (Richards, 2015). The Jewish population was used as a scapegoat

for the economic ruin of the German economy and actively detained across mainland Europe.

This clearly evidences a government limiting the rights of others due to religious beliefs, a

free government would condone freedom for the individual to form their own religious

beliefs and not implement policies which restrict the rights of certain religious groups. The

government should encourage freedom of religious practice, different places of worship and

embrace tolerance to respect other peoples views and opinions. A similar parallel can be

drawn in todays Islamophobia movement which attempts to limit the rights of those

believing in Islam. Trumps recent executive order to implement a travel ban for those from 6

Muslim-majority countries is largely reminiscent of the type of religious discrimination seen

in the 1930s and 40s (Barrow, 2017). It is worrying not only due to the negative impact on

the tourist industry and education sector, but it also paints the US as not having the free

principled government which it claims to have in embracing freedom and tolerance of all

religions.

A fictional example of a ruling structure which draws parallels to a ruling system

which is not free can be found in George Orwells 1984. In this novel, the ruling class
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attempts to influence how its individuals conduct their everyday lives and how they think so

that the status quo never changes. The government has set up a far-reaching range of

measures to limit individualism, the free flow of information, freedom of speech and

capitalist enterprise. The leader dictates exactly what the society produces without

considering trading with neighbouring states or concerns about efficiency. An environment of

fear is promoted to unite the people against the common enemy to distract people from

questioning the ideological framework of the dictatorship. Listening devices are planted in

everyones home for the state to track any potential insurgence that may come about.

Individuals are told to use a certain vocabulary with words such as doubleplusgood and

doubleplusungood with the sole purpose of conforming everyone to the same identical line

of thinking and thereby diminishing alternative views and opinions to preserve the totalitarian

Big Brother (Orwell, 2011).

In a similar fashion but nonfictional in nature, the authoritarian regime of North Korea

exemplifies the dire mistake of not having a free and inclusive government; one that instead

suppresses the masses in favour of the elite class. Their leader, Kim-Jong Un, a despot who

appears to be content keeping all power and authority to himself, is continuing the tradition of

his familys barbaric rule. The structure is assembled such that the people are misinformed to

believe whatever the leader or those that represent the leader deem to be the truth. They are

fed lies about the world outside of North Korea in order to converge to the notion that the US

and other Western powers are actively trying to destroy them and must therefore support

Kim-Jong Un and his ideological beliefs. Any person brave enough to speak out against the

leader either disappears so that others are not exposed to their views or alternatively must

serve a sentence at a prison camp to be tortured into submitting to the societys way of

thinking (Ahn, 2013). The hermit countrys policy includes preventing freedom of travel or

migration to other countries with the exception of diplomats and sportsmen. Moreover, those
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wishing to visit the country are only allowed to see Pyongyang and are largely prohibited

from taking pictures or recording footage of the country. A VICE news documentary

uncovered the extent of the governments brutality as well as the apparent belief within the

country that the system works for everyone (The VICE Guide to North Korea, 2008). The

social structure outlined both with regards to North Korea and that of George Orwells 1984

is fundamentally at odds with a government that believes in principles of freedom and should

serve as an example to draw a comparison between inclusive governing systems with

extractive authoritarian ones.

In a society where the government promotes freedom, this crucially includes the

freedom to a democratic vote to determine which candidate will lead the state, which policies

matter most to the populace as well as providing a tool to implement meaningful change. A

leader should be in charge for a predetermined fixed term and pass over responsibility

peacefully and respect the electoral outcome. No persons vote should matter more or carry

more weighting than another and a simple predetermined criterion dictates what the system

will look like. For example, a popular vote system is uncontroversial in that it states if the

candidate holds the majority of votes then that same person will hold political office for that

given term. Likewise, the electoral college system in the United States sets a benchmark that

270 electoral votes are required for there to be a clear winner of the highest political office. In

addition, regular cycles of voting takes place to decide state-level Senators, Governors and

judges (Belenky, 2008). This system helps to ensure that individuals are regionally and

nationally represented by the ruling party and holds the candidate to an ethical and moral

standard to deliver on their promises to voters. Otherwise, if a leader reneges on their

agreement with the electorate they can be replaced in the next term with someone else or

even impeached in some extreme circumstances for violating the code of ethics.
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A government that is primarily interested in augmenting freedom can demonstrate it

in a diverse range of options. Chiefly, it should promote a free market capitalist allocation of

scarce resources, embrace all demographics and ethnicities, provide access to the media,

promote freedom of religion, and provide a fair democratic process. Reflecting on disastrous

policies in recent history helps to distinguish between a free society and one that is not. It

provides direction for future policy decision makers to not repeat yesterdays mistakes and

transition towards a freer, more efficient, more equitable society which truly represents the

people. Progress will continue to be made by free governments as governments compete to

become more globalized. Often times when substantial progress that benefits the collective

good of its constituents is covered by a government over a period of time with the help of a

successful leader, the new elect that follows typically overturns that progress made, while

trying to implement ways to prevent that progress from being made again. However, history

has proven that time always prevails in the modern world and with time comes change.

Change may in fact be slow moving, but so long as people within governments continue to

fight for their personal rights and equality, it can be done. Free governments represent

freedom, and all individuals who are born into this world are entitled to freedom, regardless

of where they reside. People will continue to seek freedom and access to free governments

until all people are granted equal opportunities in all areas of the world, until then, it will

continue to be an uphill battle for generations to come. As Emma Lazarus wrote in her

sonnet, The New Colossus, which was engraved on the Statue of Liberty, a figure renown

to the world to represent freedom, Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses

yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the

homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!(Lazarus, 2017).
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