The Family Government

The Family Government

The family is a form of government.  It has all five characteristics that a government needs to even be considered a form of government: sovereignty, authority(hierarchy), law, sanctions, and succession.

The family government has sovereignty.  The parent or guardian is person in charge and is responsible for the children or other members of the family.  Families have the right to exclude others from entering their home or becoming a part of the family.

The family has a sense of authority; the other members report to the one in charge (parent, guardian, etc…).  This isn’t something one member can do, but the whole family needs to have some type or form of self-government to establish some kind of peace throughout the household.

The family needs to have law (rules).  In other words, the family needs rules to live by.  Without this major component, a household is utter chaos because no one would know what the boundaries are or the consequences for their decisions.

Also, the family imposes sanctions to reward those who obey the rules set before them and discipline those who don’t obey.  This also keeps order in the home because then members realize what they get if they obey and disobey.

And last but not least, the family must have succession to thrive.  One member might decide not to have kids, which brings up the risk of the family name dying out.  Perhaps that person has siblings, which then brings the likelihood of the family name continuing for more than one generation down, the process is continuous and is forever lasting.