In seeking to determine which political systems best serve the lives and welfare of human beings, the primary question to ask is what the objective or function of that system should be. Just as we cannot objectively evaluate the design of a building, an automobile, or any other human-made functional entity until we have determined what function that entity should serve for human beings (pp. 2.3:1-7), similarly we must first determine what function a political system should fulfill in human life. As we have learned, the basic human requirement that gives rise to governments is the need to defend the lives, liberty, and property of individuals from would-be aggressors—i. e., to preserve freedom. Consequently, the most important practical distinction is that between (1) political systems that promote individual freedom and (2) those that promote "social good" or other goals defined by the arbitrary desires of rulers. This primary distinction is represented by the two rows in the diagram.     

	Popular Government		Centralized Authority	Anarchy
	Representative	Direct
Freedom	liberal republic	*	*	anarcho-capitalism
"Good of society"/Personal Ends	mixed economy	direct democracy	communism, fascism	civil or feudal war

* unstable systems with no common designation indicates unstable systems

---

Previous