Overview
While we have traced the processes of the market and explored the effects of various government policies on that market, we have not yet looked at the causes of action within governments. Just as many people are unaware that natural laws govern market processes, so they are also unaware that governments are similarly subject to certain natural laws. In this section we shall find that governments have their own natural dynamics, which must be taken into account if one wishes to plan political systems that will be beneficial to human beings in the long run.

Since governments are functional entities (pp. 1.4:22-9), we shall begin by determining the function that explains the existence of government; this function is used to define the concept. We shall also define precisely what are meant by power, wealth, and freedom—terms that are commonly used in describing how governments operate or ought to operate. We shall then look at the major ends or objectives of government. Some thinkers, known as "liberals," have argued that governments should serve freedom by protecting people against aggressors. Others have suggested that governments should seek to institute economic "equality" or some form of "redistribution" of wealth. Still others have used governments for theocratic purposes or other ends of their own.