My ideal government / John Locke

Every one of us has a different idea of what a perfect government should look like and which rules and

laws should be valid. Many philosophers shared their opinions and views on constitutions , laws , rights, etc and

we are introduced to different judgements and points of view, which we can either agree or disagree with. One of

the philosophers , John Locke , stood out to me and his attitudes towards the ideal government are very similar

to mine. Some of various propositions that he has made and from my point of view , the most significant ones are

rigorous control of power, government's benefice on the vast majority of citizens and changeability of the

government.

In the ideal government​ , control ​of power is necessary. Political leaders must have the obligation to

follow laws . The authorities would not have unlimited power and freedom of doing whatever crosses their

minds. Limit of power is established by strict laws restrictions , usually in a written constitution that people on

the government , as well as other citizens must obey. In written documents , such as The Bill of Rights ,

propositions of how the government should act are clearly stated. Some of their propositions are the following - it

restricts governmental authority prohibiting the government from intruding in several aspects such as freedom

of speech, religion, regulating economy and collecting taxes. ​.​ Exactly the outline of what the government can

and can’t do is what protects the rights of people.

Government should put their efforts into benefiting the majority of the citizens. Since all men

should be considered equal, they should as well have similar interests or, at least, make a balance between them.

Political leaders must be familiar with their citizens’ needs, interests and wishes and adjust their ruling to that.

This item is crucial in order for people in the government to be on the same line as regular people, having same

rights, laws, financial situations and fair split of economy. For example, a romanian communist politician ,

Nicolae Ceausescu, did not follow these norms which later on resulted in rebellion and his assassination . Whilst
he was living in extravagant and lavish houses and palaces and had access to stores with goods that were

incredibly rare and unavailable to other citizens, people were waiting endless lines in order to get just one loaf of

bread and they were deprived from using some products that we nowadays use without thinking such as jeans,

leggings and chocolate. People recognized that they were lacking their rights, so they gathered their bravery and

rebelled which helped citizens emerge from this economic catastrophe , since both the president and his wife

were murdered. To avoid these unpleasant events, rulers must be aware of their citizens’ needs and respect them.

Government is supposed to promote the public good and protect the rights of people, if it fails to

do so, there should be an option of changing the government. Voting has to be present in complementation of

citizens making a decision or sharing an opinion. By voting , people should be able to elect leaders of the country.

Voting enables the rule of majority , which selects alternatives which have more than half of the votes to be

implemented which makes more than 50% percent of the society pleased with the people ruling the state. Voting

is the easiest way of choosing the government without any controversies. However , voting must be controlled

and any kind of interfering with votes must be prevented. If the voting protocol is legitimate, as I have already

mentioned, half or even more of the society will be satisfied with the results. This is a peaceful way of solving the

problem of who should rule the country. Although the voting has many benefits, it wasn’t always in use and it

ensued major protests, revolution and violent actions. The most famous example of these protests is the French

Revolution. The king was living in luxury and richness, while his citizens were suffering consequences of a

devastating economic crisis . They soon arose a revolution which resulted in guillotining both the king and the

queen and establishing constitutional government. The indicated event was a violent way of changing the

government. It promotes rebellion , disobedience and brutality, instead of peace and solving issues in a calm and

rational way that can be promoted by voting and imposing the rule of majority.

Overall, it can be concluded that John Locke had some very reasonable ways of thinking in the aspects of

th I consider the ideal government should have rigorous control of power that is to be established by strict

restrictions in written forms, such as The Bill of Rights, that must be obeyed by both regular citizens and the
ones who have power within the Government.The ideal government has to be concerned about their citizens’

requests and wishes and the authorities have to put their efforts into benefiting the majority with the purpose of

emerging spiteful situations such as demonstrations, assassinations, rebellions etc. Finally, yet an equally

important quality of a good government, is option of changing it if it fails to meet expectations. Indubitably, the

government is to be chosen in a calm an civil way, by highly controlled elections.This way, improving and

growing the country will be painless and the majority of the country will be satisfied with the leader.