Principles of Citizen-Centric Governance

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Governing a large group of people is not a simple task and therefore there is no set way that it can or should be done. Instead, there are suggestions as to what a government should do for citizens and the practices that should be prohibited to protect the rights of each citizen. Broadly speaking, we must consider every person that resides in a state as a citizen, regardless of legal status. This is to protect all from suspicion and discriminatory practices that do not further liberty, democracy or justice. Government, as I understand it, is intended to protect the citizens of the country from undue harm and burden. Those within government shall choose the best course of action in a timely manner. However, they will not violate any individual’s …show more content…

This idea brings up an important issue on how governments should be formed. No government should be created with a single ideology that will guide the affairs of the state as it would be exclusionary and discriminatory toward those that do not adhere. Hood sees the problem with ideology in his recognition that ideology is created by an individual and varies across all. He says, “Ideology is also often defined as a worldview that is not readily ‘disprovable’ by facts and events, because after every apparent failure the true believers can argue that the problem arose because their preferred approach was not applied vigorously enough, rather than that it was tried and failed.” As a result, it is my opinion that government cannot have a set ideology but should have a framework to work …show more content…

Instead, government needs to focus on providing for citizens and working for their best interests, not the bottom-line. It needs to be acknowledged that there is no “best practice” because a perfect government does not exist. Citizens are not customers, government is not a business, it is intended to protect people from the dangers they are unaware of and the harmful practices of others. Government is meant to provide for people, with the understanding that if they fail the people have the right to choose a stronger government. Governments need to protect citizens from negative externalities that arise regardless of the culprit. They should regulate markets to prevent predatory practices by those who seek to gain at the cost of everyone. Government needs to protect and regulate the use of our resources so that we do not deplete those that are finite but needed for life. Everyone has to be allowed to participate in government, to access and share information (within limits), and to speak out if they think that the government is not meeting the needs of the

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