Moral Justification Of The State Interference With Rights And Liberties Of The Citizens
Chapter One
Preface
Background Of The Study
In the history of political gospel there have been different views as to what relationship should live between the citizens and the state in terms of state’s powers, authority compared to individual rights and liberties. An exponent of despotism for illustration would want to argue that countries authority and powers superceded the liberties and right of the citizens. The despotism would justify a state’s hindrance on rights and liberties because they generally see the state as a advanced organism also the individualities, consequently to them, if these small organism( individualities) are to actuate their capabilities, the state a advanced organism of which they’re a part, should first appear it’s capabilities before a favourable atmosphere can be created for individualities to achieve theirs.
The liberalists on the other hand would want to argue that the rights and liberties of individualities be abundantly unrestricted. They tend to perceive the person in the state collectively and they feel he should be given a great quantum of freedom to develop his ingrain capabilities to the outside. The purpose of this essay is to answer the rather vexed question being asked in political gospel, is there any condition whatsoever in which the state can justifiably, intrude in the rights and liberties of the citizens? Or put else, is it maintainable for mortal beings to be born free naturally and yet be put in chains by the artificial organism called the state?
For the purpose of appearing the end of this essay, an objective position would be maintained without taking into cognizance the position of the totalitarian and the leftism as instanced above rather, logical and innocently substantial argument would be used to support this essay. Logical in the sense that the state is logically bound to intrude with rights and liberties of individualities on the base of their delineations and function that could credited to individualities on the other. While the moral argument is grounded on the function the state has perform for the citizens that’s functions which are innocently good or geared toward moral ends.
This essay is also aimed at resolving the notoriousJ.J. Rousseau’s Paradox that “ Men are born free but far and wide are in chains ” 1 This defense will employ the argument that men needs some quantum of restraint which men are lacking and ought to be headed, which made them transcends the state of nature to a well systematized state. If it’s assumed that this need has been purposely realized and people went into a contract which now resembles a contract situation can be justified in carrying in a certain manner to avert the circumstance the need for which led to the conformation of a state.
Hegel’s proposition of the state, and what he said about the relationship between the state and its citizens could also justify it, according to Hegel there’s no other power superior to the autonomous state controversies or conflicts between different individualities in the state are settled by the state through the legislated laws and not through whimes and Caprices.
The state according to him isn’t a mortal construction freely and designedly set up by some kind of social contract. mortal beings didn’t decide to form a state to give their requirements, as we’re told by proponents like Thomas Hobbes and John Locke.
Statement Of The General Problem
A lot of misconceptions have been made about the relations that live between the state and its citizens especially when it relates to power, authority and rights activism.
Significance Of The Study
This study will help to unravel the sticking relationship between the state and its populace as regards the power of the state and right activism which would in turn help to maintain a cordial relationship between the populace and the state power.
Description And Origin Of The State
1. Description Of State
The question of what really is a state has noway been an easy bone because the state has been conceived of in different ways and varying perspectives. Some people have conceived of the state through its function aims.
The state is seen as a people living in a given home under one law with a single governmental system extending to all of them and to no bone differently, are the members of a state, but the state as an institution doesn’t embrace all places in which they’re but only political or legal places.
Though this description is too specific because it makes it categorically clear that the state can only plays political or legal places and it’ll not be taken seriously within the reaches of this essay. In any case, to hyperventilate or capture the introductory end of this essay, a family analysis of the description of the state is needed; hence it becomes necessary to employ the two generalities of a state stressed over.
2. STATE CONCEIVED OF IN TERMS OF FUNCTION
Every state irrespective of its population size and profitable capabilities strives to promote peaceful relations among its people as well as its outside relationship with other foreign state. Grounded on that generality of the state, it’s agreed that it’s the duty of the state to promote the topmost happiness for the topmost number of people. The state is an institution set up to promote social good on the largest possible scale. And in trying to achieve this purpose, the tendency is for government to make themselves more and more conspicuous especially by the planning of profitable life. The state aims first at icing the protection of integrity of the home from foreign aggression and the particular security of the individualities. To achieve this thing the state defines and penalized crimes. Administer justice, maintain the police and fighting forces and conducts of civil defiance these conditioning of state are refers to by liberalists as hindrance.
The state protects the right to private property, together with the right to the free transference of duly to fulfil contracts freely entered into political rights and duties is also another introductory function they’ve to perform, the state determined the political rights and duties of citizens, passes laws to regulate voting and gives directives on other voting procedures.
From the below abstract analysis of the state, it becomes imperative to note that ultramodern state is a social service state, a positive state as compared to the part of the citizens, to uphold social norms to help exploitation and manifest judges to remove the needles hazards of profitable struggle and to assure and advance the general interest against neglectfulness or egoism of particular groups.
Granting the function of a state and numerous other which the state still exercises power on. It’s also important to consider the state from the generality of characteristics and nature.
CHARACTERISTIC OF A STATE
According to this view, there are certain introductory characteristics that are common to all either concertedly or singularly designate them as state, important characteristics and nature includes.
home- There must be a given home and this is the introductory characteristics, a group of people has to be necessary like within a given home boundary to be regarded as a state not minding whether the group is homogeneous. The home must be defined and championed with all the coffers like air, space, minerals, technology, climate and terrain.
Population- It must have a definable number of population with distinct characteristics features.
iii. Government the state must have a government, a body of people charged with the responsibility of controlling the state ministry of power with all institutions.
iv. Constitution also, a state must then the capability to apply power with absolute governance within the given home and these powers are elevated in the codified laws called constitution. People come together to regulate their progress among themselves and to achieve this goes a constitution is announced. A constitution is an agreed abecedarian principle written legal or redundant on which a particular state operates.
legality- With this characteristics, a state makes itself accepted to the people and its polices and decision are binding within that home. The state both mercenary and military passes to licit their coming by the ills of the once government.
ORIGIN OF THE STATE.
The origin of the state poses a problem in political gospel because it lacks the rudiments of history and anthropological workshop. Among the first question which political propositions raised are. What are the causes that brought the original establishment of ultramodern countries?
There are colorful propositions concerning the morning of the state
a. The godly right proposition
b. The force proposition
c. The evolutionary proposition
e. The social contract proposition
still, for the purpose of appearing the objects of this essay, it becomes necessary to bandy the four common propositions applicable to the theme.
proposition of the Divine Origin- This is the academy of study that has it that the state came into being as a result of godly creation. It must have been as discipline of humanity. Medical period this proposition reigned supreme, they believed that the state has been established by the constitution of God, its have been established by an constitution of God, Its rules are divinely appointed; they’re responsible to no authority but God. therefore we’re told in the bible.
Let every soul be subject into the advanced powers, for there’s no power but God. Whosoever thus defied the power defied the constitution of God and they that repel shall admit to themselves damnation3.
From the below biblical excerpt, it’s clear that a king being the head of a state can noway be monstrously vicious indeed if a king is wicked, it means God has transferred him as a discipline for people’s sin’s and has laid upon them, granting the below views to be true, it’s clear that the conduct of the state to the individualities are justify, they aren’t regarded as hindrance because of the fact that all the government conditioning.
b. The Force Theory- In its simplest form this proposition may be stated therefore; War sired the king. The state is the result of the subjection of the weaker by the stronger. It’s the belief that the state came into being as a result of subjection or compulsion. Hume gave an expression to this analogous idea of this proposition. That the first ascendant of one man over multitudes began during a state of war, where the superiority of courage and of genius discoveries itself most visibly where the nocuous goods of complaint are most sensibly felt. The long continuance of that state, an incident common among savage lines, incurred the people to submission4.
A state is innovated when a leader with his band of soldiers get endless control of a definite home of a considerable size.
Historically speaking there isn’t the fewest difficulty in proving that all political communities of the ultramodern types are their actuality to successful warfare5.
Thrasy Machus would support this view, according to him, “ Justice is the interest of the stronger ”, Autocrats makes laws to cover their interest which automatically becomes what’s just and right therefore justice in every state is the interest of the stronger.
c. The Evolutionary Theory- This considers the state, neither as a godly institution nor as a deliberate mortal contrivance, it sees the state coming into actuality as a result of natural elaboration. The preposition that the state is a result of history means that the state is a gradational and nonstop development of mortal society. Out of a grossly amiss beginning through crude but perfecting form of incarnation towards a perfect and universal association of man.
Political knowledge is robotic, natural binary born, with man and the family, Aristotle was simple stating a fact when he said man is by nature a political beast. The requirements for order and security is an ever present factors, man knows artificially that he can develop the stylish of which he’s able only by some form of political association. At first, it might be that the political unconsciousness, but just as the forces of nature operated long before the law of solemnity, political association rested on the harmony of mind, unconscious, dimly conscious of completely conscious of certain moral ends presents through out the whole course of development.
d. The Social Contract Theory- The substances of this proposition is that the state is the result of an agreement entered into by men who firstly had no government association, this means that the history of the world is separable into two clear ages. The ages before the state was introduced and the period after. In the first place, there was no state no mortal authority to formulate laws, men lived subject to the laws of nature. After some time they parted with their natural liberties and agreed to observe the laws specified by the state.
The idea of a social contract could be seen as people suffering from lawlessness as illustrated by the proverbial tendency of a large fish swallowing a small bone . In his work the crito, 6 Socrates is presented as awaiting calmly the prosecution of his judgment , indeed though he considered it unjust, because he’d not break his covenant with the state by escaping from captivity into exile.
There are three notable social contracts proponents; they’re John Hocke( 1632 – 1704). Thomas Hobbes( 1588 – 1679)J.J. Rousseau( 1912 – 1978). The contractarians have a common view, they all used the proposition of the state of nature as a premise in arriving at the proposition of the social contract. They’ve a common departure which is the state of nature but their point of divergent is the disagreement on how the state of nature. Despite their different views the fact remains that the state of nature wasn’t favourable enough to enhance political, social and profitable development, hence the social contract. Every person is anticipated to observe the rules of the state and any existent that defied must be forced to conform or suffer the penalty, every existent must be forced to be free, that’s adhering the state.
Functions Of The State
Having studies the delineations and origin of the state it come necessary to link up similar porous analysis to the part, they’re to perform on behalf of the citizens. The main end of the state is the good of all in the society. The state Aristotle tells us, began for the purpose of life. The end of the state is thus, ethical the state exists for the increase of its population or wealth or for conglomerate or the extension of its influence. It exists for the exercise of the rates, which make men good citizens, good hubby father, neighbors, and good heads of homes. The ethic end of the state is vanquished to convenience in Hocke. His concern isn’t with the “ Good ” but with the “ Accessible ”. The great end of men uniting into state is the preservation of their particular rights and liberties.
All state, no matter the nature performs nearly the same function similar function could be classified into two
The function as a night watchman
The paternalistic function
The function of a night watchman This is the first major function of a state, this function sees the state as playing further as a unresistant function, for the state data as a bare overseer. But the state does in fact in some cases perform more active function on good moral grounds than a further overseers, bearing in mind the ultramodern challenges of a state similar as profitable, education and technological development and a situation where the general weal of the citizens is used as a surrogate for measuring a good state. Robert Norzick conceives of the state in terms of a minimum function of the night watchman. In this case, the state performs the limited functions of precluding theft, fraud creation of the enforcement of contracts and agreement guards against the use of force7.
The paternalistic functions By this function the state can make demands of affirmative action or restraint forms its members. The father should be seen to promise a positive part and in the sense of what the law does by prohibition in terms of negative ends. This involves the choice of conduct for citizens in shot to promote their weal and happiness.
This paternalistic function is a way of furnishing the positive aspects of liberties for citizens by way of social services similar as academy, good roads, hospitals, water, electricity to mention a many. To achieve these points for illustration, the state might be seen by haven to put taxation which might be seen by the people as hindrance. The paternalistic upon which mind and character may develop them characters. also, the state is to maintain order, peace and security for its citizens, thus creating a good niche or terrain for them to formed their possibilities which is the only condition by which Aristotle could regard the state as good. This, the state does by furnishing for the law enforcement agent to help violence that might avert a peaceful atmosphere.
The state through those involvement punishes malefactors in order to maintain social equilibrium. In the process rights and liberties are safeguard which is necessary for the well being of all, but at the same time, a violation of the natural tendencies are being put under check.
It could be observed that the function of the state isn’t principally to make individual character but rather the group character, the state is concerned with the general good of all in the society, this is the introductory end of the state and the individual character as member of such a group. This individual character also graduate into group character.
With description and origin of state as a base, it becomes imperative to progress in the coming chapter by explaining the generalities of rights liberties as base that would logically need the countries encroachment.
References And Notes
Rousseau The Social Contract and Discourse restated and With preface byG.O.H. Cole( London Dent and sons Ltd, 1973),p. 165.
Ben andR.S Peters Social Principles and Popular state.( London Hampshire cantina . 1984),p. 252.
The Bible,( RSV) Rom. B vs 1- 2.
Essay of The Origin of Government( Middlesex Penguin Books, 1969),p. 89.
Junks A History of Politics.( London Jonathan Cape cantina . 1971),p. 72.
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