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Paternalism Vs Libertarianism

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Every democratic government must find a balance between Libertarian Political Philosophy and the Philosophy of Paternalism. However, in order to understand how the Libertarian Political Philosophy and the Philosophy of Paternalism work in today’s democratic governments, we must understand what the definition of these two philosophies are. Libertarian Political Philosophy (Libertarianism) is a form of philosophy that revolves around the rights of people and a maximization of freedom for them. Paternalism, however, refers to the restrictions and laws that are placed on citizens by some sort of government or agency. For as long as governments have existed, there has been much tension between the two philosophies. It is understood by most people that no person can have unlimited freedom, even if they are the person in charge of the controlling agency. …show more content…

People are also given the right to choose who regulates their rights, and how radical the regulation of their rights are. Democracy has come to be the most efficient form of the balance between Libertarianism and Paternalism, because it places the government in a position where it can regulate the freedoms of its people, whilst not taking all freedom from the citizens. In a society controlled by a democratic government, people are given rights that are very comparable to the theory of natural

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