Monday, November 1, 2010

John Locke - Second Treatise on Government

John Locke sets out his social contract theory, arguing that government is a contract between the people and their authority and laying down premises for such a contract.

1. Government is a contract meant to protect the rights of men

a. Men offer government political power on the condition that it will be used to protect their rights and punish those who threaten them

b. All power must stem from the contract so that the government serves only the needs of the people, and the purpose of this power must be solely to protect the people’s rights

2. Bounds of government

a. Laws must be constant for all people

b. Laws must be designed only for the good of the people

c. Taxes must only be raised by the consent of the people, because taxes must be for the good of the people only

d. The government must be the only law-making entity, to preserve the contract

3. Right to overthrow government

a. When the legislature does not defend the rights and good of the people, it forfeits the political power invested in it by the people and so can be overthrown, because the government exists solely for the welfare of the people who it represents

b. However, government should only be overthrown only in the most extreme of cases, because it is only worth the effort after a long series of abuses

c. From this, asserts that the social contract theory is the best way to prevent rebellion.

“The end of government is the good of mankind”

No comments:

Post a Comment