Bonus State Functions
While the basic requirements of a functional state have been understood and available since the earliest formation of cohesive societies, it's only in modern governments that the following additional functions have become more common and expected by the governed populations.
- Equality Under the Law: All citizens must be treated equally under the law. Any system that behaves otherwise is ripe for abuse, corruption, and capricious actions by the government and others.
- Liberty: The citizens should be free under the law to act, speak, and live without arbitrary or undue control from authorities or outside forces.
- Citizen Welfare: A modern government should ensure the education and the best mental and physical health of the population. It will also provide for the poorest and those unable to work.
- Economic Stability: A modern government should use the tools at its disposal, including international agreements, to encourage the increasing wealth of the population, stable inflation, the affordability of necessities, etc., all while keeping anti-competitive market actions in check (or the equivalent alternative outside a capitalist market system).
Why should a government strive to provide these extra benefits? Even discounting some moral obligation we might have as humans to treat each other with empathy, the modern government relies on the work output of the population to fund the government and projects for the citizens, and only through an educated society and a mentally and physically healthy population will this work be maximized and social services minimized. At the same time, economic stability and civil liberties minimize stresses on the citizens and government institutions, promoting self-perpetuation of the government and providing an avenue for feedback regarding the citizen's needs.
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