7.4 Area Government                                                                                Version 1.1 March 2012

 

 

 

National, state and global governments are responsible for particular areas – they are “area governments”.  Their jurisdiction should remain the local area.  Everyone within the area is subject to the local jurisdiction – whether they like it or not.  The area government has the right to coerce people – through democratically made laws, independent police forces and investigative agencies and an independent judiciary.  Because of their imposition on individuals, area governments should take in general a (small l) liberal approach (cf John Stuart Mill: that government which governs least governs best) without going overboard.  So far as possible functions should be devolved to lower levels. 

Area governments naturally are responsible for law and order within their borders, and for other roles that involve coercion.  These include enforcing contracts, which includes “exchange” – money used to pay for goods and services. 

Natural monopolies, or industries where the entry hurdle is excessively high, including networks for roads, canals(?), water distribution, electricity distribution, electronic and digital communications, must be rigorously controlled if not owned and managed by the appropriate area government. 

A primary role of an area government is also to look after their area – to protect and preserve the environment. 

Basic rights are rights to physical security, clean water, nutritious food, decent clothing, shelter, sanitation, medical care and legal aid.  Those unable to provide these for themselves or their dependents are entitled to support from those who live above this basic level.  It could be argued that such roles are not essentially tied to area government and could be assigned to non-government organizations.  But security, water, sanitation and legal aid are directly linked to the area and the local jurisdiction.  Demands for food, clothing, shelter and medical care often arise from local conditions such as war, civil unrest, droughts, storms, floods, earthquakes, bushfires, epidemics, and so on, which are heavily area based.  Other demands for these services may be more efficiently managed by the local area government.  Some outsourcing of these responsibilities may be acceptable in some circumstances and outside out will be essential in poor or oppressed areas.

To counteract the risk of Big Brother we need internal checks and balances (constitutions, bill of rights, ombudsmen, and so on).  All nations should also subject themselves to external scrutiny.  We have progress, such as the World Court, but America does not subject itself to the Court.

The United Nations is a collection of national governments covering the area of the whole world.  It would be best to restrict itself to those functions that involve coercion that cannot be devolved to nations or other bodies.  Its key functions should be preventing war, preserving the global environment, monitoring elections in its constituent countries according to their own constitutions, high level oversight of human rights, and facilitation cooperative arrangements between nations.  The UN should address the risks of a global collapse, due to climate change, environment destruction, resource depletion, and so on.  It has happened before and it can happen again.

There a number of transnational organizations linked to the United Nations whose role is to promote prosperity and social justice across the globe.  These include the World Population Fund, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the World Court.  Many of these have been opposed by America and other major countries or used by them to promote their own agendas, or emasculated by withdrawal of funding, and many of them have made major mistakes.  But they should be reformed rather than abolished.

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank should be arms of the UN, managing area government matters, as identified above.