CHAP. VII 3. Service unless, and until, his way of thinking prevails, he must obey the constituted authorities; or if, for conscience' sake he defies the law, he must accept the penalties that fall upon him and find such comfort as he can in the approbation of his conscience. The third great obligation is service. Legally, the state has a right to demand of every citizen any kind, and any amount, of service of which he or she is capable; and, under varying limitations fixed by constitutions or other fundamental laws, the government has the same right. In times past, personal service to the state has taken many forms: service in the army or navy; assistance in suppressing riots or rebellions, or in arresting disturbers of the peace; office holding (which has not always been considered a privilege or honor); jury service; labor on highways and other public works; and, by no means least, the payment of taxes. In earlier days, much service was rendered in the form of produce or manual labor. Nowadays, however, taxation is the commonest form. Rather than neglect their own affairs in order to discharge their obligations by working for the government with their own hands, the citizens turn over to the government a small percentage of their savings; and with the money thus obtained the government hires its own workers, who by giving all of their time, under a voluntary arrangement, attain a proficiency not to be expected of compulsory service. Complete immunity from direct personal service, in case it is needed, is, however, never attained. Even in the United States, where personal liberties are amply protected, any able-bodied man is liable to be called out at any time of emergency to become a member of a posse comitatus, or to assist in guarding property, or to aid in subduing a conflagration; and he can be compelled to render these and other services at the point of the bayonet, and without hope of compensation. REFERENCES S. Leacock, Elements of Political Science (Boston, 1907), Chap. v. W. W. Willoughby and L. Rogers, Introduction to the Problem of Government J. Bryce, Modern Democracies (New York, 1921), I, Chap. VI. R. G. Gettell, Introduction to Political Science (Boston, 1910), Chap. IX. J. W. Burgess, Political Science and Comparative Constitutional Law (Boston, 1891), I, 174-183. W. S. McKechnie, The State and the Individual (Glasgow, 1896). G. Jellinek, Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (trans. by CHAP. VII H. Jones, The Principles of Citizenship (London, 1919). W. H. Taft, Four Aspects of Civic Duty (New York, 1906). E. Root, The Citizen's Part in Government (New York, 1907). PART II. THE FOUNDATIONS OF GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES CHAPTER VIII COLONIAL BEGINNINGS governmen tal system studied now to be Having seen something of the nature and objects of government A concrete in general, we are now ready to take up the study of a particular system of government and to observe how some of the definitions and principles that we have evolved work out in practice. The government which we are to consider in this way is, by good fortune, that of our own country. It is quite as natural and easy to describe the origins, forms, workings, and problems of government in terms of American political experience as in any other; and there is the added advantage that in doing so we gain a familiarity with our institutions which is indispensable to good citizenship. The American government is the student's own government. It makes the laws under which he lives, levies the taxes which he pays (or will some day pay), protects his life and property. It is capable of being wisely or foolishly administered, of being made a blessing or a burden to mankind, of being turned in new directions, reconstructed, or replaced with some entirely different scheme, according as he and his generation determine. The government of the United States merits study, however, not by Americans alone, nor by them merely because it is their own system. There are special reasons-in addition to the fact that it applies to three million seven hundred thousand square miles of territory and wields control over one-thirteenth of the entire population of the globe-why students of government everywhere look to it with interest. To begin with, it was in the United States that the federal form of government was for the first time brought into operation on a large scale. Greece and northern Italy had, in ages long past, made use of the federal principle; Switzerland and the Netherlands were, in the eighteenth century, organized on that basis. But the United States first showed the possibilities of for special interest in govern American ment: CHAP. VIII 1. Federal form the principle as applied over a wide area, and at the same time proved it not inconsistent with strong national government. In the second place, the United States first refuted the old idea that a republican form of government is not feasible in a large and expanding state. The French philosopher Montesquieu, near the middle of the eighteenth century, praised republicanism highly, but thought it not suited to a country so large as his own. All early 2. Repub- republics were small, and long after representative government became a familiar concept political writers clung to the notion that large states must be monarchies. Even before the mechanical developments of the nineteenth century brought scattered populations into quick and easy communication, the United States, however, proved that republicanism is workable on a large, as well as a small, scale. lic with large area 3. Viewed abroad as in democ Special interest attaches to American government, in the third experiment place, because throughout its history that government has been a racy great experiment in democracy, and has been so viewed by the world. It is true that government in this country was in the earlier days by no means completely democratic; it is not in all respects democratic even now. But it has always been more democratic than most other governments, and while Americans have themselves commonly taken democracy for granted, for a century, as a recent writer observes, intelligent Europeans "were aware that popular government and social equality on such a grand scale were new things in the world." In the fourth place, the governmental institutions and experience of the United States have deeply influenced the political development of many widely scattered states and peoples. Our own colonies-Alaska, Hawaii, Porto Rico, the Philippines-have received the American impress. Latin America, although drawing its law and culture largely from Spanish and government Portuguese, and therefore non-Anglo-Saxon, sources, has copied 4. Influ ence on throughout the world extensively from the United States in political matters. The governments of the British overseas dominions-Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, and especially Australia-combine principles and forms drawn almost equally from the mother country and from the United States. The makers of the new constitutions of central and eastern Europe which flowed from the political transformations wrought by the World War were often profoundly influenced by American principles and precedents. This great governmental system was not created out of hand 1C. Becker, The United States, an Experiment in Democracy, 2. 1 |