A government’s role is only to provide defence capability and urban infrastructure (roads, water supplies, etc.). All other services (education, health, social security) should be provided by private groups or individuals in the community. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

The role of the

government

has been a heated topic for discussion ever since the creation of nations. Some people maintain that the functions of the public sector should be limited to military and infrastructure. Another argument is that other services,

such

as health and education, should be ceded to private hands. In

this

essay, I will discuss both these views and outline that governments do need to be simplified but that they should not be excluded from all fields in relation to public benefits.

To begin

with, limiting

government

power to defence capability and city facilities is a significant move to improve the efficiency of public departments.

This

approach might

also

serve the purpose of preventing corruption.

However

, a small

government

as

such

can bring about vacancy in regulation and

thus

cause chaos in critical sectors like medicine and commerce. Without strict law enforcement to ensure the order of the market,

for example

, authorising safe drugs and punishing fraud, the well-being of the population will face serious threats.

This

is why the regulating role of the governments is indispensable. The other opinion justifies the legitimacy of private sectors providing all basic social services ranging from medical care to social security, which is, in fact, the other side of the coin of the proposal analysed above. Given that companies and community organisations certainly have a better understanding of the local needs, and the former,

in addition

, dispose of stronger financial power, they are more capable of making investments in advanced medical machinery and building school facilities of better quality.

Nevertheless

, private firms, out of their pursuit for profits, will naturally require a higher price for their services,

thus

marginalising poor people and worsening the disparity between the rich and the poor. In summary, restricting governmental participation to military purposes and expensive public projects, and banning intervention of the public sector in social activities are, by nature, the two principles of creating a small

government

. But the regulatory role that public servants could and should play can by no account be ignored.