Determining Principles of National Priorities

by Robert J. Romano

July 13th, 2004

Above is a basic template that has reflected over a year of study into national priorities, though it is hardly original.  Largely, it is based on the Declaration of Independence, and also the Federal Constitution, natural law and natural rights philosophy, the Federalist Papers, the republican philosophy, just war theory, social contract theory, and also historical studies.  Influences worth noting to do with natural law and natural rights philosophy are St. Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Thomas Jefferson.  Also worth noting are all the members of the original Constitutional Convention, too numerous to list, but including James Madison, the father of the U.S. Constitution, and also the other two authors of the Federalist Papers, John Jay and Alexander Hamilton.  Worth noting in the republican philosophical tradition are Marcus Tullius Cicero and Niccolo Machiavelli, and also recent authors have been invaluable to me in shedding more light on the tradition, Quentin Skinner and Maurizio Viroli.  To do with social contract theory, Hobbes and Locke having already been mentioned, but also John Rawls and Robert Nozick, Rawls in particular for best articulating the original position and the priority rule, and Hobbes in particular for most accurately describing the state of nature.  For without the priority rule, I wouldn't have thought about the incompleteness of Rawls' own theory of justice, and some of its own inherent contradictions.  It is after having considered all of these numerous sources that I have formulated this present template, and its continuing formulation has morphed and changed over time, though the inherent priorities articulated have not changed.  

        Overall, I have stuck to Jefferson's Declaration that, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness..." And so it goes on, but herein we arrive at the first priority.

        1) Truth: For, everything that follows, in all systems of thought, must derive from a basic understanding of the truth to begin with.  Jefferson holds all that follows to be derived from these very basic truths, which brings us to the second priority.

        2) Justice, Natural Law, and Natural Rights: Contained within those truths, and the Declaration, is a basic understanding of justice, the Laws of Nature and Nature's God, and natural rights, which the latter herein have been somewhat modified to correspond with my understanding of them: life, equal liberty, and property and the pursuit of happiness.  The modification has to do with merging Locke's and Jefferson's property and the pursuit of happiness, respectively, using the republican conception of equal liberty, and in establishing the priority rule.  Life overrides equal liberty overrides property and the pursuit of happiness - which makes it particularly important in how these rights are to be defined, and to be secured.  First, however, having properly identified these rights, and having derived them from an understanding of justice and the Laws of Nature, the best means of initially securing them takes us to the next priority.

        3) Freedom and Independence (Sovereignty): For, in order for these rights to be fully secured, the United States had to fight a war against a tyrannical monarchy, and separate from the British Empire.  A new government had to be founded in order to do a better job than had the previous ruler.  Sovereignty had to be established through security in order for the new political institutions to be established later on, which takes us to the next priority.

        4) Constitution, Limited Government, and the Rule of Law: However, winning the war of the American Revolution was not sufficient in terms of best securing these rights, as was discovered by the shortcomings and failures of the Articles of Confederation.  In order to best bring these sovereign States together, federalism and republicanism were needed to formulate the federal government in the form of the Federal Constitution.  Federalism incorporated a division of sovereignty between the federal and State governments.  Republicanism incorporated a separation of powers between the branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial.  The best definition I have seen for this inherent constitutionalism was written in The Oxford Essential Guide to the U.S. Government by John J. Patrick, Richard M. Pious, and Donald A. Ritchie, Berkley Edition, published in 2000: "Limited government means that officials cannot act arbitrarily when they make and enforce public decisions.  Public officials cannot simply do as they please.  Rather, they are guided and limited by the laws as they carry out the duties of their government offices.  In the United States, the Constitution is the supreme law that guides and limits the exercise of power by government officials.  Laws made in conformity with the Constitution also guide and limit the actions of government officials... The rule of law means that neither government officials nor common citizens are allowed to break the law.  Furthermore, people accused of crimes should be treated equally under the law and accorded due process, or fair and proper legal proceedings, in all official actions against them.  Law governs the actions of everyone in the system - public officials and the citizenry, from highest to lowest ranks in both government and society.  All laws and actions based on those laws must conform to the highest law in the land, the Constitution..." (page 117) It just so happens that one of the obvious facets of equal liberty is the equally administered rule of law, and that limited government protects against tyranny.  This brings us to the next set of priorities, those institutions established in conformity with the Constitution that defend and protect our rights.

        5) Rights are Protected by these Institutions: Security, politics, and capital economy.  Just as the priority rule applies to our rights, so does it apply to these institutions, for security protects life by defending against enemies both foreign and domestic, politics protects equal liberty by having representative government positions and offices open to all citizens either through election or appointment, and capital economy protects property and the pursuit of happiness by there being competition, liberal trade, and businesses which offer an equal opportunity for all to have the chance to succeed.  These institutions must be developed in accordance with the laws of the land, and the principles which surround them should guide officials and citizens alike in determining the proper balance between competing claims.  Are these principles of justice, as in the tradition of Rawls? Perhaps.  They do come after justice and the law, though, and it is important to realize that there are no decisions which may be made that are contrary to the law.  Though thinking of considerations in solely these three institutions is useful in an abstract sense, practically speaking, each of these institutions falls under law, as do our rights.  Life under law, and security under law.  Liberty under law, and politics under law.  Property and the pursuit of happiness under law, and capital economy under law.  Overall, our rights, and the institutions which protect them, must also be defined and limited by the law so as to prevent them from being abused to detriment of others' rights.  Rights are natural, yes, but they are best protected by both traditions and customs established under law, once freedom and independence have been secured.

        This is a basic formulation, and unsurprisingly is not sufficient in even explaining the details.  The order of the priorities is established in history, though, and each is dependent on its predecessor.  There would not be these institutions without the Constitution, and there would not be the Constitution without freedom and independence, and there would not be just sovereignty without justice, natural law, and natural rights, and there would not be justice without the truth known in the first place.