GOVERNMENT AS PUBLIC WILLGOVERNMENT NOT THE ONLY AGENT OF PUBLIC WILL -- THE RELATIVEPOINT OF VIEW； ADVANTAGES OF GOVERNMENT AS AN AGENT -- MECHANICAL TENDENCYOF GOVERNMENT -- CHARACTERISTICS FAVORABLE TO GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY -- MUNICIPALSOCIALISM -- SELF-EXPRESSION THE FUNDAMENTAL DEMAND OF THE PEOPLE -- ACTUALEXTENSION OF STATE FUNCTIONS
IN the growth of public will any agency amenable to public opinion may serve as an instrument； and this means， of course， any sort of rational activity， personal as well as institutional. Thus the work of a secluded scientist， like Pasteur or Edison， taken together with the general acceptance and application of his results， is as much an act of public will as the proceedings of a legislature， and often more梑ecause they may show a more public spirit and a wider knowledge and foresight.
What is necessary is that somewhere there shall be effectual purpose and endeavor based on a large grasp of the situation. In short， public will is simply a matter of the more efficient organization of the general mind：
whatever in the way of leadership or mechanism contributes to the latter has a share in it； and we may naturally expect it to progress rather by the quickening and coordination of many agencies than by the aggrandizement of any particular one. [1]
The view which many hold that public will must be chiefly if not wholly identified with the institution of gov-(403)-ernment is a just one only in a certain narrow sense.
That is to say， the mechanism of government is indeed the most definite and authoritative expression of public choice， and if public will is to be limited to what is decided by a count of voices and carried out， if necessary， by forge， then the government is its only agent. But only a small part of the will of society is of this sort. In a larger sense it is a diversified whole， embracing the thought and purpose of all institutions and associations， formal and informal， that have any breadth of aim， and even， as I have said， of secluded individuals. Surely the true will of humanity never has been and is not likely to be concentrated in a single agent， but works itself out through many instruments， and the unity we need is something much more intricate and flexible than could be secured through the state alone. Like other phases of organization， government is merely one way of doing things， fitted by its character for doing some things and unfitted for doing others.
As to what these things are， we must， of course， take the relative point of view and hold that the sphere of government operations is not， and should not be， fixed， but varies with the social condition at large. Hard-and-fast theories of what the state may best be and do， whether restrictive or expansive， we may well regard with distrust. It is by no means impossible that the whole character of the political state and of its relation to the rest of life is undergoing change of an unforeseeable kind which will eventually make our present dogmas on this point quite obsolete.
The most evident advantage of government as a social (404) instrument梩hat which makes it the logical recourse of those who seek a short way to regeneration梚s its power and reach. It is the strongest and most extensive of our institutions， with elaborate machinery ready to undertake almost anything， and poser limited， in the long run， only by public opinion.
Moreover， under a democratic system， it is definitely responsible to the people. Not that it always serves them： we know too well how apt it is to respect particular rather than general interests：
but there is always a definite means of bringing it into line with public thought， always reins which the people may grasp if they will. This has the momentous effect that there is less jealousy of a democratic government， other things equal， than of any other form of power. Feeling that it is potentially at least their own， the people will endure from it with patience abuses that would be intolerable from any other source. The maddening thing about the oppression of private monopolies is the personal subjection， the humiliation of being unable to assert oneself， while in public life the free citizen has always a way of regular and dignified protest. He appeals not to an alien but to a larger self.
The most general defect of government is that which goes with its good qualities. Just because it is the most ancient and elaborate machine we have， it is apt to be too mechanical， too rigid， too costly and unhuman. As the most institutional of institutions it has a certain tendency toward formalism， and is objectionable on grounds of red-tape， lack of economy and remoteness from the fresher needs of the people.
(405) It is easy， however， for one impressed with this idea to be too indiscriminate in its application. Much depends upon the kind of government actually in question， upon the interest the people take in it， and many other conditions.
In the United States， for instance， each of us lives under three somewhat distinct kinds of government？federal， state and local梕ach of which has a large measure of practical independence of the others， and may be treated as a separate agent of public will. Moreover， it is often the case that the larger systems梥ay the federal post-office梐llow a great deal of local autonomy in their administration， making it flexible to local opinion.
