Answer: One of the most fundamental tensions in democratic political systems arises from the attempt to balance the protection of individual liberty with the pursuit of the common good.
Too much emphasis on liberty and the well-being of the entire nation may suffer; too much focus on what’s best for the public at large and the interests of some, perhaps many, individuals may be trampled.
Few countries achieve a perfect balance of the two, and the tendency to favor one side or the other is rooted in a nation’s political culture. Countries with a communitarian culture, like those in Scandinavia for instance, tend to err on the side of the common good. Those with a more individualistic culture, like the United States, lean toward liberty.