What was Voltaire's view on the role of government?

Voltaire, or Francois-Marie Arouet which was his real name, had definite views about government and its role.  Voltaire believed government must protect people's basic rights.  This included freedom of speech and religion.  He believed that no religion or religious groups should be favored by the government.  He was especially upset how there was an unbalanced division of the tax burden among the First Estate (church), Second Estate (nobles), and Third Estate (masses, who had the highest tax burden) in France.  Voltaire also had a distrust of democracy.  He believed the average people were not capable of making proper decisions.  He believed that philosophers had a role to play in advising the leader.  He generally supported the concept of an enlightened monarchy.  Voltaire had many thoughts about the role of government in society.  

Voltaire was a philosophe during the Age of Enlightenment. While many people think he was an atheist, he was actually a Diest who saw God as the being who created the universe but was separate from everyday life. As such, he was extremely opposed to organized religion. 

During this time, the philosophes produced prolific writing regarding the role of the government in its citizens everyday lives. Voltaire saw no role for organized religion in the government, and he especially hated Catholicism for its deep roots and wide influence over the existing monarchies throughout much of Europe. Instead, he saw it as the responsibility of the people to be ethical and monitor their own behavior. 

He was quoted as saying, "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him." However, he would not have advocated for that God, or its religion, to be part of the ruling body. 

What are Voltaire's main ideas about the role of government?

Voltaire was born Francois-Marie Arouet in Paris in 1691 and rose to become one of the most prominent and important philosophers of his time. Of all the subjects he addressed, Voltaire was an outspoken critic of the French government. He disliked how the government was heavily influenced by the aristocracy and called for the prohibition of many of its practices, including slavery and colonialism. 

In Voltaire's mind, the ideal government was ruled by an enlightened monarch who was not easily swayed by the ideas of his aristocracy: in his words, he would rather "obey one lion than 200 rats." Voltaire believed that the monarch should use his influence and position to improve the power and wealth of France. He also believed that the government should completely reform its tax system and begin taxing the clergy (who were exempt at this time) as this would act as a counterbalance between the Church and the state. 

Voltaire also put forward the idea that the role of government was to guarantee the equal protection of all citizens, regardless of rank or income, before the law. Only when the government completely protected the rights of its citizens could people be completely free and able to experience the essence of being human.