A Pragmatist Approach to the Proper Scope of Government

What is the proper scope of government? In this paper, I argue that efforts to define a clear and distinct boundary for the scope of government are misplaced. This argument takes two forms. First, and primarily, I set out a positive argument for a pragmatic approach. Given the complexity of modern life, a pragmatic approach to government will provide the most reasonable way of institutionalizing the differences between public and private activity. Second, I show that theoretical efforts to establish a clearly defined boundary cannot be reasonably sustained. They run into problems internal to their own justifications.