It's a common belief that governments exist for the sake of their citizens rather than the other way around, or at least Sarah Hoyt said that the former idea came as a shock to her probably some time in the seventies) when she was living in Portugal. I think a very high proportion of people, maybe a majority, believe the former now.
Is that a rational principle that describes the behavior of governments that exist, or a rational principle that should be followed in setting up and evaluating governments?
That is, is it a predicitive statement, or an ethical principle? (Or am I confusing latter and former again?)
I was just wondering. Human minds are messed up in 1001 ways, but are there a few rational principles that most people already have down? Of course, the answers to this question are probably so extremely obvious that I haven't even considered them. But I ask all the same.