=The World a Great Laboratory for Experiments in Government.=—Everywhere throughout the world the process of experiment in forms of government is going on, twenty-four hours a day, in ceaseless round. And it has been going on for more than two thousand years. Every experiment in political organization that the human mind can suggest has had, or is having, its trial somewhere. During the past few years we have seen earth’s proud empires pass away and new republics rise in their stead, just as two thousand years ago the great Roman republic collapsed and an empire took its place. The astronomer who scans the heavens with his telescope commands no such laboratory of endless experiment and sees no such continuous panorama of change as the student who watches with naked eye the political activities of his fellow-men. That is what makes the study of government, when carefully pursued, the most interesting and most instructive of all studies. “On earth”, as the poet Pope has said, “there is nothing great but man”. And it is in his organized activities that man shows himself at his best. General References JAMES BRYCE, _Modern Democracies_, especially Vol. I, pp. 24-50; II, pp. 335-610; WOODROW WILSON, _The State_, pp. 1-68; J. Q. DEALY, _The State and Government_, pp. 119-181; J. W. GARNER, _Introduction to Political Science_, pp. 86-204; STEPHEN LEACOCK, _Elements of Political Science_, pp. 3-51; 141-153; _Cyclopedia of American Government_. (See under State Government, Social Compact Theory, Separation of Powers, etc.). Group Problems 1. =To what extent should the government engage in business?= The original functions of government. Growth of governmental activities. Extent of governmental enterprises in European countries. Government enterprises in America. Effects of government enterprises on private initiative. Effects on the government itself. Relation of government activities to the maintenance of democracy. Conclusions. =References=: J. W. GARNER, _Introduction to Political Science_, pp. 273-310; WOODROW WILSON, _The State_, pp. 41-57; STEPHEN LEACOCK, _Elements of Political Science_, pp. 386-409; J. G. BROOKS, _The Social Unrest_, pp. 46-67. 2. =The faults of democratic government. References= E. L. GODKIN, _The Unforeseen Tendencies of Democracy_, pp. 96-144; EMILE FAGUET, _The Cult of Incompetence_, pp. 12-36; A. M. KALES, _Unpopular Government in the United States_, pp. 21-90; ALLEYNE IRELAND, _Democracy and the Human Equation_, pp. 80-118; A. B. CRUIKSHANK, _Popular Misgovernment in the United States_, pp. 1-27. 3. =The merits of democratic government. References=: C. W. ELIOT, _American Contributions to Civilization_, pp. 1-102; JAMES BRYCE, _Modern Democracies_, especially, Vol. II, pp. 527-610; J. Q. DEALEY, _The State and Government_, pp. 338-353. Short Studies 1. =What end does the state serve?= WOODROW WILSON, _The State_, pp. 58-68.