One role of government is to ensure that policies benefit the people within their jurisdiction.

For local governments, it would be the townspeople or city dwellers.
For the state governments, it would be the people living within the state.
For the federal government, it would be everyone within the borders of the country.
Using an ideology discussed in the textbook, construct an argument explaining how this ideology upholds the public good by examining power, order, and justice.

Select an ideology discussed in the textbook. In an essay, examine how power, order, and justice as it relates to the ideology you choose promotes the public good.

Writing Requirements (APA format)

Length: 1.5-2 pages (not including title page or references page)
1-inch margins
Double spaced
12-point Times New Roman font
Title page
References page (minimum of 1 scholarly source and textbook/lesson)
Magstadt, T. M. (2017). Understanding politics: Ideas, institutions, and issues (12th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage.

SOLUTION

Benefiting the Public Good: Capitalism

Ideologies have proved to be important in both politics and running of economies in the past and present. Magstadt (2017) defines ideology as “any set of fixed, predictable ideas held by politicians and citizens on how to serve the public good.” The prevalent ideologies tend to act as filters that true adherents use to explain human behaviors, interpret events and justify political action.

For this essay, the ideology being put into consideration is capitalism. Capitalism represents the notion that the public has control of the prevailing means of production, with minimal or no interference from the government. Here, there is a complete separation of [cmppp_restricted] the state and the economy. Adam Smith was the founder of capitalism after he realized how mercantilism was hindering development and change since it was a regressive system that created trade imbalances between nations(Kocka & Riemer, 2016). The central features of capitalism lie within capital accumulation, private property, voluntary exchange, competitive markets, wage labor and a price system. Currently, capitalism is, by far, the most powerful and prevalent ideology in the United States (Magstadt, 2017).

Power, order, and justice relate to capitalism in varied ways. When it comes to power, it rests with the people owning the means of production. However, this is not entirely the case since it is the consumers that determine what is going to be produced as per the prevailing demand. A good example is when the consumers are demanding a certain product, it is the companies that are producing this product that will survive in that industry for the foreseeable future. This works to show how powerful consumers are in a capitalist society.

Order, on the other hand, emanates through social harmony that is created by capitalism as people pursue self-interest. As individuals pursue their economic self-interest, it, in turn, benefits the economic interests of other people. The absence of government interference results in wealth creation in the most efficient way possible(Kocka & Riemer, 2016). This results to increase in economic opportunities and improved living standards.

Capitalism is also a comprehensive embodiment of social justice. Every individual gets no less or no more than what he/she gains through voluntary association with other people. Under capitalism, it is just for someone to keep what they have earned, but it is unjust to keep what has been earned by other people.

From the above, it is clear that power, order and justice associated with capitalism promote the public good. The power held by consumers based on the demand factor ensures that they always get what they want within their desired quality and price. Consumer satisfaction is actualized as a result since the tendencies of exploitation by companies are reduced. The order established, on the other hand, ensures that as an individual creates more wealth for themselves,  they create more wealth and opportunities for others too (Reich, 2016). Justice, on the other hand, ensures that one has to earn what they own hence the tendency of taking over other people’s property is negated since everyone is viewed equally under the law.

References

Kocka, J., & Riemer, J. (2016). Capitalism: A Short History. Princeton University Press.

Magstadt, T. M. (2017). Understanding politics: Ideas, institutions, and issues (12th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage.

Reich, R. (2016). Saving capitalism: For The Many, Not The Few. Cambridge: Icon Books Ltd. [/cmppp_restricted]