Good government

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