The Purpose of Government

By: Eric Ruppel

As long as any of us have been alive, there have been debates about the purpose of government. What is it for? Who is it for? What should it accomplish? Why do we need it? All of these questions are, of course, answered to one degree or another in the Constitution and in the long legacy of laws, judicial record, and executive actions that have been pursued (and argued over) since then. Taken together, the story of America is the interpretation of these founding documents through the lens of each era, as problems arose and patriots did their best to uphold their ideals and the oaths of their office to protect and defend the Constitution.  

KY Citizens for Democracy is investing in the mantra “knowledge is power” and the bedrock of our power as U.S. citizens is the Constitution. 

The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution is one of the best-known passages in American civics because all of us studied it at some point in our youth. We have heard Lincoln’s “four score and seven years ago” and we know Kennedy’s “ask not what your country can do for you…” and if you know those, then you certainly know “We the people…” 

So where does it come from? 

The Origins of the Preamble

The Preamble of the Constitution was drafted in 1787 during the Constitutional Convention. This single paragraph sets the stage for the rights that would be defined later on in the same document and in its amendments. Just as importantly, it outlines the basic premise of government in the United States. Here is the Preamble, the first 52 words of the United States Constitution:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

In barely more words than we have States in our nation, the founders managed to cast one of the most effective visions in history. It may not carry significant judicial weight compared to the rest of the Constitution, but it is still helpful as a guidepost to help orient us toward what the framers may have intended to convey in their time about what this brand new government “of the people, for the people, by the people” should look like.  

The earlier founding document from 1781, the Articles of Confederation, held the States together in a loosely defined federal system, but the States retained the lion’s share of the power. However, in these first words of the Constitution, they declared that this was a unified government, not a union of separate governments. In fact, the original text listed out “We the People of the States of…” and listed each State present, but they shifted direction to focus on their federal unity. 

Six Phrases to Shape a Nation

The founders also insisted on power stemming from the people, and they spelled out exactly what they intended the Constitution to achieve for themselves, their children, and the generations to come. Let’s look at them one by one: 

• “form a more perfect Union” — not perfect now, as soon as the ink was dry, but embracing continuous improvement, united under a federal government. This Constitution would create a stronger federal government than the Articles of Confederation enabled, with defined limits and checks & balances
• “establish Justice” — only four years after the Revolutionary War ended, the founders had a very present understanding of British colonial rule. In contrast, they wanted to establish a fair system with consistent law, specifically to establish economic justice (e.g. debtors vs. creditors and the power of societal elites). Some “social justice” causes as we know them today were debated, but largely remained absent in the document — realizing justice for all came later.
• “insure domestic Tranquility” — delegates were concerned about several uprisings that took place in the wake of the Revolution and wanted a government that could hold the republic together. They struggled to balance policies that enabled authoritarianism with those that would leave the government too weak and fracture this new country.
• “provide for the common defence” — the framers debated whether the military should be strong or weak and who was in charge of it, but they eventually settled on Congress funding and regulating and holding the power to declare war, with the Executive largely in charge of the rest, with civilian and Congressional oversight. Ultimately, they wanted to be able to defend themselves, but not abuse citizens like the British army had. 
• “promote the general Welfare” — some wanted this to be interpreted very broadly, and others wanted it narrow. More on this below, but ultimately Article I, Section 8 included “general Welfare” to grant the government power to tax and spend to promote the general welfare of its citizens — it was no longer just a voluntary fund and Congress could be more assertive in these actions. 
• “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity” — liberty was viewed as something vitally in need of protection, so the Bill of Rights was added shortly after ratification in response to widespread public and delegates’ demand for explicit protections. Unfortunately, the Constitution did not explicitly grant the same protections to ALL people as full citizens, namely women, slaves, non-landowners, and Native Americans. 

The role of the Constitution was to establish a government that could fulfill all six of these goals. If any of them is lacking, is our country failing? How should the success or failure of our government be measured? 

Each of us likely read all six of these phrases and our favorite issues and debates spring quickly to mind, with a Constitutional defense right there in our front pocket. Maybe one phrase feels more important to you than another, whether it was about defense, or justice, or something else. Remember that the founders were often at odds with one another and many of our present debates go back 250 years in one form or another. 

Put into six terms, the Preamble outlined the major goals of our American government: union, justice, peace, security, well-being, and liberty. Our founding fathers never stated that they created a perfect system; they stated their intent to create a more perfect Union that would embody these principles. 

Debate and Omissions

Each of these founding ideals was thoroughly debated and any conversation about the purpose of government should not shy away from that. Below are a few contentious points about what was included – and excluded – from the Preamble.  

1. The Preamble itself avoided mention of any deity, since the majority of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention wanted to reflect Enlightenment ideals. The Declaration of Independence included religious language, but the separation of Church and State was forefront as the Constitution came into focus.
2. The Preamble did not reference either slavery or freedom, even though universal rights and freedom was considered at the outset of our national experiment. Southern delegates argued that the federal government lacked the authority to make a decision of this sort, ultimately leading to civil war and centuries of injustices.
3. What is the “general Welfare”? This was a hotly contested issue, with some delegates at the convention wanting to be explicit about the government’s role in commerce and infrastructure, as well as public goods, but others wanting to ensure that free enterprise could continue without limitations and state rights would not suffer under federal overreach. Does this debate sound familiar? The “general Welfare” communicated the government’s responsibility to advance the well-being of its citizens, but it is left intentionally broad and is generally up for interpretation even today. [Side note: The phrase “general welfare” became a major point of constitutional debate during the New Deal era, as President Franklin D. Roosevelt used it to justify expanding federal programs for economic recovery, infrastructure, and social protections like Social Security. The debate surfaced again in the 1960s, when President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society programs—including Medicare and initiatives to fight poverty and racial injustice—further broadened the federal government’s role in promoting the well-being of its citizens.]

By understanding these founding debates, we better equip ourselves to engage in today’s conversations about justice, freedom, and the future of our republic. 

Please note: We at KYCfD are not lawyers or legal scholars — we are average citizens trying to lean on and reclaim the founding truths in our country in a tumultuous time. Please comment on our social media posts or send us a message if you find inaccuracies in our newsletter or want to provide additional insights. We will issue corrections and clarifications as often as we need to! We will continue to publish pieces that outline key elements of our Constitution in each newsletter, so be sure to follow KYCfD on Facebook and at www.kycitizens.org!  

Further reading: 

Read the full Constitution and find in-depth analysis of each part, as well as critical cases and more: https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/ 

You can purchase a pocket-sized Constitution numerous places, including Amazon for $1.50 here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0880801441/ 

To read more on ideological foundations and debates of the Constitution, check out Gordon S. Wood’s The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787 (University of North Carolina Press, 1969).

Richard Beeman’s Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution (Random House, 2009) also includes a detailed analysis of the Constitutional Convention and key debates, including the Preamble.

Lastly, the National Constitution Center’s Interactive Constitution helps the entire document come alive, with historical and modern context and scholarly commentary on each section: https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution