Introduction
The General Welfare clause is a section of the Constitution-- as well as certain charters and statutes-- which provides that the governing body empowered by the document may enact laws to promote the general welfare of the people. In some countries, the clause has been used as a basis for legislation promoting the health, safety, morals, and well-being of the people governed by the state. Such clauses are generally interpreted as granting the state broad power to legislate or regulate for the general welfare, remaining independent of other powers specified in the governing document.
The common good is a term that can refer to several different concepts. In the popular meaning, the common good describes a specific "good" that is shared and beneficial for all members of a given community. This is also how the common good is broadly defined in philosophy, ethics, and political science.
General Welfare in the United States
The United States Constitution contains two references to "the General Welfare," one occurring in the Preamble and the other in the Taxing and Spending clause . The Preamble of the United States Constitution states that the Union was established "to promote the general Welfare. " The Taxing and Spending Clause is the clause that gives the federal government of the United States its power of taxation. However, The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld that the mention of the clause in the Preamble "has never been regarded as the source of any substantive power conferred on the Government of the United States or on any of its Departments. "
There have been different interpretations of the meaning of the General Welfare clause. The historical controversy over the U.S. General Welfare clause arises from two distinct disagreements: The first concerns whether the General Welfare clause grants an independent spending power or is a restriction upon the taxing power; the second disagreement pertains to what exactly is meant by the phrase "general welfare. "
Individual States
The state of Alabama has had six constitutions. The Preamble of the 1865 Alabama Constitution notes one purpose of the document to be to "promote the general welfare," but this language is omitted from the 1901 Alabama Constitution. Similarly, Article IV of the Constitution of Massachusetts provides authority for the state to make laws "as they shall judge to be for the good and welfare of this commonwealth. " The actual phrase "general welfare" appears only in Article CXVI, which permits the imposition of capital punishment for "the purpose of protecting the general welfare of the citizens. "