Hard paternalism, like antismoking legislation, coerces people into behaving a particular way and can be morally defended as long as it protects people from being hurt by others. Soft paternalism, such as automatically enrolling people into organ donation programs unless they opt out, nudges people into behaving a particular way. The idea is that governments should steer people’s choices without coercing them. As a general policy, coercing and nudging people like a herd of sheep instead of making them competent is not a promising vision for a democracy.
