18 must think about how to organize government itself so that we minimize the ability of individual decision-makers to do mischief. Even beyond that, what ought to be the scope and power of government entrusted to decision-makers? The existence of sin makes a difference in how the Christian answers these questions. Checks, balances, and limits seem to be preferable to unlimited scope of power and unlimited individual authority. Given human nature as including the image of God, we would favor the institutional arrangement that best promotes the elements of creativity, calculation of means and ends through reason, and freedom to pursue ends within the limits of law. We would also favor the institutional arrangement that best harnesses any selfishness for good ends, over ones that actually tend to incentivize negative behavior. Markets fulfill these conditions. They are not perfect institutions; no human institution is perfect, since it is made up of imperfect individuals. So in the end, we may say that self-government is the ideal type, with allowances to be made for the necessity of governmental action to constrain theft, fraud, duress, etc. It is precisely because of the corrupt nature we possess that the best form is to leave maximum freedom within the boundaries of appropriate law. The state through its “ministers” does not know what the needs, desires, and problems of each individual are, and cannot ever attain such knowledge, either in sufficient quantity or quality. Individuals generally know this best, and only need to know as much as necessary for each transaction or act of production, given that only individuals are capable of attaining local knowledge. The real question is which type of institution, given our natures, moves us closer to the ideal, even if the ideal is unattainable this side of Paradise? Human Nature and Law Law of course is closely related to politics and economics. Put simply, law is the authoritative and enforceable command of some legally constituted body. Law then is a set of rules. But for laws to be consistent with reality and also with special revelation, a proper view of human nature is essential. For a long period, especially after the Roman Emperor Constantine’s accommodation of Christianity (ca. 4th c. A.D.), law codes of the West reflected Christian foundations, including the ideas about human nature in Scripture.9 It was not assumed that humans were either inherently good or that what they did was environmentally determined so 9 Harold Berman, Law and Revolution: The Formation of the Western Legal Tradition. Harvard University, 1985.
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