What Good Government Does

The Declaration of Independence makes very clear how the colonists expect to be treated as “free people” and what good government does. Good government requires pursuing the common good, cultivating and protecting the rule of law and the sovereignty of the people, encouraging material prosperity and growth, and providing access to justice, security, and peace for the citizens. (Danielle Allen, Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality, p. 247)