Good government is a normative description of how government is supposed to be constituted. It has been frequently employed by various political thinkers, ideologues and politicians.

Thomas Jefferson and good government

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

often referred to the term good government. In his opinion, the government ought to be judged by how well it meets its legitimate objectives. For him, a good government was the one that most effectively secures the rights of the people and the rewards of their labor, which promotes their happiness, and also does their will. For instance, he said: "The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the only legitimate object of good government." —Thomas Jefferson to Maryland Republicans, 1809. ME 16:359.Thomas Jefferson (1903–1904) ''The Writings of Thomas Jefferson'' (ME) Memorial Edition (Lipscomb and Bergh, editors) 20 Vols., Washington, D.C., 1903–1904.

Good government as a political slogan

The political slogan, 'Good Government', was used in English-speaking countries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It appears in the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source o ...

political maxim "

Peace, order and good government In many Commonwealth jurisdictions, the phrase "peace, order, and good government" (POGG) is an expression used in law to express the legitimate objects of legislative powers conferred by statute. The phrase appears in many Imperial Acts of Pa ...

." Like many other political slogans, its meaning is not literal, but was constructed to express a specific partisan stance, rather than being a common phrase which acquired a more obscure meaning by public mental association. The phrase came into existence by those political groups who abhorred the results of the expansion of the political franchise, and who wanted to get ''those people'' out of office. Examples of its use in the United States were by all sorts of opponents of the

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

rule of New York City and by the old Yankee political elite who opposed the transfer of power to Irish immigrants in Boston. It was used in the 1930s by those opposed to the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

, and later by the opponents of increased governmental size around the time of the

Great Society The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States launched by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964–65. The term was first coined during a 1964 commencement address by President Lyndon B. Johnson at the University ...

project. Those who so use this phrase are in turn called by their own opponents "

Goo-goos The goo-goos, or good government guys, were political groups working in the early 1900s to reform urban municipal governments in the United States that were dominated by graft and corruption. Goo-goos supported candidates who would fight for politi ...

". The phrase was used by the Canadians to refer to their understanding that their British heritage (ties to the more experienced "Mother of Parliaments") would enable them to escape falling into such a condition, often called "

mob rule Mob rule or ochlocracy ( el, ὀχλοκρατία, translit=okhlokratía; la, ochlocratia) is the rule of government by a mob or mass of people and the intimidation of legitimate authorities. Insofar as it represents a pejorative for majori ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Good Government Political catchphrases Mathur Kuldeep. Politics and Implementation of Integrated Rural Development Programme, Economic and Political Weekly 1995; XXX:41-42.

Thomas Jefferson and good government

Good government as a political slogan

See also

Notes