The Nightwatchman State is best described as?

• A. An interventionist industrial policy
• B. A comprehensive welfare state
• C. A government with a very limited scope focused on protecting individual rights
• D. A theocratic state

Answer: (D)

The Nightwatchman State centers on a minimal government whose main job is to protect individual rights and keep order. It operates with a narrow scope: enforcing laws, policing, defending the nation, and upholding contracts and property rights. Because it avoids broad economic planning, welfare programs, or religious rule, its purpose is to safeguard life, liberty, and property rather than manage society or the economy. This minimal, rights-protecting role is what defines the Nightwatchman approach, in contrast to systems that intervene extensively in industry, provide wide social welfare, or govern by religious authority.