Colonial Government Vs American Government

Common Sense seeks to answer the question: Is the form of colonial government ruling America the most effective option, in that it provides security and protects the people from anarchy and their vices at the least expense? Paine 's thesis is that the English system of government is undesirable as it does more harm than good to the society that it governs, and therefore a true republic should replace the English constitutional monarchy. This conclusion is supported by the points that government is a necessary evil to ensure security, the English constitution is redundant and archaic, and monarchies are destructive human constructs. To begin, Common Sense argues that government is intended to protect society from anarchy and hardship. Nevertheless, the government only fills this role logically as long as the

Paine notes that with “security being the true design and end of government,” we must choose the form “with the least expense and greatest benefit.” To this end, Common Sense states representative democracy is the correct solution to fill the governmental role because it is the most efficient in supporting society 's needs. With this view, the English system is not the least harmful form of government and in fact has many flaws. The constitution that forms the foundation of the English government contains “two ancient tyrannies” in the form of a monarch and aristocrats. Society is represented in the constitution by a House of Commons, supposedly checking the power of the monarch and aristocrats. However, Paine argues that the House of Commons only serves to disguise the will of the king as democratic. Common Sense dictates that the democratic House of Commons would better serve society alone, forgoing the “two ancient tyrannies”. There is no benefit in retaining the monarchy any longer in this contrived constitution. The final argument made by Paine