ORIGIN AND NECESSITY OF

GOVERNMENT
 INTRODUCTION
• The previous unit examined the meaning of government and how it differs from the
concept of the state.
• It also examined the basic functions performed by the government.
• In this unit, we shall examine the origin and necessity of government.
• The major theories of the origins of government include: \
– the evolutionary theory,
– force theory,
– divine theory and
– social contract theory.
• These theories, in their explanations of the origins of government harp variously on
– family or clan-bound structure,
– force,
– supernatural being and
– the contract between the government and the governed respectively.
• Be that as it may, man generally accepts government as a necessary, if not sufficient
condition, for peaceful and prosperous existence, and for the interest of all in society.
 Evolutionary Theory
• The evolutionary theory posits that government originates from a family or clan-bound
structure.
• This explains the formation of the world's first political structures.
• These earliest and very loosely formed governments were the result of a shift from hunter-
gatherer societies (otherwise called the wandering band) to more settled agricultural societies.
• As families joined to form clans and clans joined to form villages, the need for leaders and a
central organizational structure developed.
• These leaders helped determine how to address unfamiliar issues, such as water rights for crop
irrigation and the distribution of other resources.
• They also provided an increased sense of safety and security for the society.
• In many early societies, these first states developed monarchies, with rule based on
membership in a ruling family.
• In modern times, some governments continue to be led by a succession of members from the
same family.
• For example, in the monarchy of Saudi Arabia, the king has been descended from the Āl Saʿūd
family since 1744.
 Force Theory
• The force theory espouses the idea that government originates from taking
control of the state by force and is often found in a dictatorship—a type of
government characterized by one-person or one-party authoritarian rule.
• Historically, this has been achieved in some cases through forcible invasion or
occupation when a more dominant people or state takes control of the
political system of a less powerful people or state, imposing its governmental
system on that group.
• New governments can also be formed by force during revolutions or coups
within a country.
• A coup is the overthrow of an established government, and the resulting
leader or dictator is most often a military figure.
• An example of the force theory occurred in Cuba in 1959 when revolutionary
Fidel Castro and a small force of guerrilla soldiers defeated the national army
and took control of the government.
 Divine Right Theory
• For the divine right theory, government originates with power vested
in an individual by God or gods.
• Generally, monarchs lead governments of this type.
• This theory was followed in ancient times, including by the ancient
Egyptians and Maya.
• The idea of divine right experienced a resurgence in western Europe in
the 16th to the 18th centuries, when King James I of England, several
French monarchs, and other rulers asserted that their authority came
directly from God—and thus could not be challenged.
• Russian czars, such as Peter the Great, believed their autocratic rule
was God-given, and they used their power to gain territory, wage war,
and impose taxation on their subjects.
 Social Contract Theory
• The social contract theory of government was the result of centuries of frustration with
the unchecked power of monarchs.
• Under this theory, the government is a kind of contract in which those in power have
responsibilities toward those they govern and the governed respect the power of the
governing individuals.
• There are various versions of the social contract theory, ranging from an emphasis on
maintaining a peaceful social order to a focus on using individual free will to determine
what is best for the public good, or that which benefits all people in a society.
• Although the social contract theory has numerous variations, at its core is the idea that
government is an agreement between those who govern and those who are governed.
• This theory was developed in the 17th and 18th centuries by philosophers such as
Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau.
• The founders of the United States drew heavily on social contract theory in the
construction of both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution
 Necessity of Government
• The idea of government, its origin and necessity has had both bourgeois and
revolutionary approaches.
• However, bourgeois writings and discourses on government have pre-dominated
political science literature in particular and social science literature in general.
• Thus, political thinkers and writers have varied views on the idea and purpose of
government in society.
• Aristotle expressed the view that government exist for man in society and it exists for
the sake of the best life.
• John Locke maintains that the purpose of the government is the preservation of man’s
lives, liberties and property.
• Adam Smith in his Wealth of Nations (1976) sees the purpose of government in terms of
threefold duties, namely,
– protection of the society from foreign aggression;
– establishment of an exact administration of justice to every member of the society;
– establishment of certain public works and certain public institution for the general welfare of the
people.
• According to Herbert Spencer, the government exists to prevent an individual from
infringing the rights of another.
• Government is, therefore “a joint-stock protection company for mutual assurance”.
• To the utilitarian school, of which Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill the well-
known exponents, the primary purpose of government is to ensure the greatest
happiness of the greatest number of people.
• Harold Laski’s view which represents the modern view on the purposes of
government cannot be said to be fundamentally different from the views the state
as an “organization or enabling the mass of men to realize social good on the
largest possible scale”.
• Laski sees the primary purpose of the state as the maintenance of citizen’s
inalienable rights.
• Again, that government exists to control the levels at which men are to live as men
to protect the interests of men as citizens.
 Conclusion
• From the above, man generally accept government (following the bourgeois logic)
as a necessary, if not sufficient condition, for peaceful and prosperous existence,
for the interest of all in society.
• It is in this context that government is defined as the highest institution of every
state, an impartial arbiter with a central authority which claims allegiance from all
members of the state, capable of imposing its will on all members of the state if
need be by means of force, and which is ready to protect the lives and properties
of all members within its confines.
• The question about the origin of organized government has been discussed for
centuries.
• Although four theories have been accepted as to how the first governments were
established, there is no concrete evidence to support any of the proposed
theories.
• Irrespective of its origin, type or form, the government is necessary for peaceful
co-existence of all in society.