Basic State Functions

It’s easy to forget that the government serves a real purpose. If it doesn’t perform these minimum specific functions, it will be fragile and not an appropriate or lasting government for the people.

• Establish Internal Order: The government’s primary function is to use laws to provide an understood framework for the population to peacefully interact. This population, that interacts peacefully by virtue of these laws, are called citizens. The laws may protect the citizens rights to life and safety, property, and more, depending on the government.
• Provide Physical Security: The government also protects the citizens from outside and internal forces that would harm the citizens. Police protect the citizens from each other and any who may enter the territory controlled by the government. The military protects all citizens from other governments or other hostile actors abroad.
• Infrastructure: The government, typically by virtue of taxes collected, pools resources to build out infrastructure that benefits that society collectively, which otherwise may be too expensive or complicated for a local community or the private market (in a capitalist society) to manage independently. This infrastructure may include roads, schools, sewers, water, electricity, and more.
• Government Stability: The government should provide a framework that defines leadership, succession, structure and more for its preservation and self-continuation.

These are the most basic requirements for a minimally-functional government, but a modern state should provide much more.

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