LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Government: Powers
built 141 days ago
Natural rights are the basis for the theory of government shared by most branches of liberalism (including libertarianism). In this view, human beings are born with certain natural rights, and governments are established strictly for the purpose of protecting those rights. What the natural rights actually are is a matter of dispute among liberals; indeed, each branch of liberalism has its own set of rights that it considers to be natural, and these rights are sometimes mutually exclusive with the rights supported by other liberals. As a result, there is some debate between natural rights theorists, ranging from modern writers such as Tibor Machan to Enlightenment thinkers such as Locke, Kant, or Jefferson. Today, natural rights are the basis for many issues involving the scope of governmental powers.
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[A]nother aspect of this kind of intervention is the fact that the members of government often take opportunities to shape economic policies for their own benefits. For example, capitalists in a government might adjust policy to favor capitalism, so capitalists would see that government as a friend. In a feudal society, feudal lords would maintain laws that reinforce their powers over their lands and the people working on them, so those lords would see their government as a friend. Naturally, the exploited persons in these situations may see government very differently.
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Depending on closeness to those who are governed and their holds all the power, a government consists of different levels including: local governments, regional governments and national governments. This category includes absolute monarchies, as well as dictatorships.
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In any analysis of governmental power, the question soon comes to mind -- How is it, that government can maintain its power? How is it, as David Hume observed, "the many are governed by the few?"28
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