the government
- Using Aufrecht and/or Broome explain why it is likely that governments acting through laws for whole
populations will be more effective than individual action in combatting the accumulating dangers from
climate change. Why would even large numbers of individuals deciding for themselves, trying to make a
difference for good still be unlikely to bring about large changes compared with government
legislation and regulation? (use the two readings, but you may use one more than the other)
According to Broom, the government is a body that acts on behalf of the people for the wellbeing of the people. It has the power to enforce laws through whatever means possible as long as it is in accordance with the rule of law. However, Climate change is a collective responsibility that every citizen must take note and take part in. climate conservation will only be effective if the laws that are enacted will be effective enough to make sure that the whole population report what the laws say. Broome states that when the government is acting by using the law, it becomes more effective compared to when the individual does acts, so many reasons can attribute the reason behind the government effectiveness. The first reason is the availability of resources. The government has enough resources to enforce any law as opposed to an individual or a group who can only mobilize people based on their wiliness. An individual may just enact laws, but the implementation of such laws requires citizen cooperation which may not be achieved by an individual. To strong opposition that an individual can get from the public, there is a high chance that an individual may not achieve what he may want to achieve with the law. Secondly, the effectiveness of a law depends on enforcing and convincing power. Because the government have absolute power over people, it is clear that the government will have to make sure that the citizen is convinced either forcefully or free will to obey the law. The head of Government is the president or the prime minister, this leader when elected was given the responsibility to protect the constitution, one of the constitutional requirement is the conservation of the environment and therefore if the president has to protect the constitution. He or she must make sure that the law is followed. The president has the power to amend the constitution to solve any problem that may arise. This is the ability that an individual lacks and hence cannot make any effective change in the society when it comes to laws.
This also applies to a large group, a large group may have a huge influence because they control many people, however, without the government’s support, and their effort may go to drain because the country is bigger than a group. The large group can only act effectively when they have the support of the government. The other reason that may not make a large group success is financed, for any laws to successfully go through the group must use finances to convince the large number to support them. On the other hand, the government does not have to use any finances but can do it through the statehouse of the parliament. The effort put by an individual and a group when pushing for the law is too much compared to the effort put by the government.