Government of the people, by the people, for the people

The Lincoln Address Memorial at Gettysburg, USA

I am sure most of you must have heard this phrase at least once in your life. But, many of us do not understand what it really means or why it became so popular. Let me tell you the history and the background relating to this phrase.

This phrase became prominent after the famous speech of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, USA in 1863 after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg. Lincoln never let the world forget that the Civil War involved an even larger issue. This he stated most movingly at Gettysburg. I quote an excerpt from his speech:

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honoured dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

However, you will be surprised to know that Lincoln was not the first person to use this phrase. This phrase was first mentioned in the prologue to what was probably the earliest translation of the Bible into the English language in 1384:

“This Bible is for the government of the people, for the people and by the people.”

The author was the theologian John Wycliffe, also called as “the Morning Star of the Reformation. I will try to explain this phrase here. Various people have various connotations and meanings attached to this phrase. I will explain in the way I perceive it.

Government Of the People

A country’s government is a government of the people. In India, the government emanates from the Parliament meaning the Ministers are Member of Parliament. The setup of government is not important. If the government is governing people, making laws, it could be said to be a government of the people.

Government By the People

This probably refers to the decision-making aspect in the government. The people must have the ultimate authority to make decisions. There could be many ways to do this. For e.g. in India, the representatives are chosen directly by the people to the legislative assemblies and the Parliament. These representatives are responsible to honour our wishes and make them known in the Parliament and the legislative assemblies. The representatives are vested with a great deal of power.

This would also include the right to change those representatives if they are not performing or are lacking authority. In India, we do this by holding elections every five years.

Government For the People

A Government must exist for the people. If the government does not work for the people, people would eventually revolt. Unjust taxation, unequal laws etc. lead to such situations. If a government is for the people, it will do what it can to protect its people from any harm. It would do things that empower the people and not just those things that empower the government. Such governments build infrastructure, enforce law, protect people from the outside world etc.

I hope that our present and subsequent governments continue to cherish these principles in their working and philosophy.