Political Science the Emergence of Civil Society Essays

John Locke
Introduction and Second Treatise
? What would life be like prior to humans forming either
society or governments?
Discuss
? Would we be free?
? Would this be a good life?
? Would we have rights? Property?
? Born in 1632 in England
? English Civil War (1642-1651)
? Restoration
Historical
Background
? Whigs and Tories
? Second Treatise (1689)
? Mainly as a defense of the Radical Whigs/wn attempts at
revolution
? Also serves as foundation for modern conceptions of private
property, natural law, and individualism
John Locke
The Natural Life
? Locke claims that in order to understand
The State of
Nature
political power (³) we must understand its
origins
? A state prior to political power would be a state
of perfect freedom and equality (´). What does
he mean by this? Could we do anything we
want?
The State of
Nature
? The Law of Nature (Reason) would require that
we not harm anyone else or allow ourselves to
suffer harm (¶).
? The law of nature and our obligation to enforce it
The State of
Nature
generates two rights
? Right of punishment
? Belongs to all. Why?
? Right of reparation
? Belongs only to the injured party. Why?
? Because the state of nature would require each
The State of
Nature
of us to be judge and executioner in our own
cases, Locke recognizes that government might
help us out here (±3)
? Where has this state of nature existed?
? International relations (±4)
? All men exist in this state until consent is given
(±5)
? State of enmity and destruction
? Not about passions, but about reasoned
designs on the life of another
? I have a right to defend myself
? I have a right to destroy that which
State of War
attempts to destroy me (±7)
? This includes any attempt to place me in
absolute power
? One can only assume slavery from
this attempt
? (is makes it lawful for a man to kill
a thief . . .(±5)
? State of war can exist both in the state of
nature and in society
State of War
? When the actual force is over, the state of
war ceases for those in society
? Outside of society, we have no appeal and
the violence can continue
? Natural liberty = having only law of nature for his
rule
? Liberty in society = only law by consent as rule
Slavery
? Freedom is to have a standing rule to live by
? Freedom from arbitrary power = selfpreservation
? Can take my own life, can give it away either
? Why does Locke include this brief chapter?
? Property is natural
? The world comes to humanity in common
Property
? Since it is necessary to make use of nature, it only
seems right that we must be able to appropriate
what was common into our private property
? This is true even before Inclosure (²6)
? Labor allows us to do this (²7)
Property
? We have a property in our body
? The labor of our body is our property
? When we mix our property with common property
it becomes private property (²8)
? Waste is an affront to nature (³7)
Limits to
Property
Accumulation
? Lockean proviso
? whilst individuals have a right to homestead
private property from nature by working on it,
they can do so only “…at least where there is
enough, and as good, left in common for others”.
(³3)
Limits to
Property
Accumulation
? Is there a way around this? Where does
inequality come from?
? Introduction of money (´7)
? How does this solve the problem?
John Locke
The Emergence of Civil Society
? What is its purpose?
? To preserve property
Political or Civil
Society
? It exists where individuals give up their natural
right to punish to the community
? The community becomes umpire
? Judgments of the community are our own
judgments (¸8)
? Compare this to state of nature
? Rejects absolute monarchy as a form of civil society
Political or Civil
Society
? One purpose of entering civil society is to free
ourselves from the risks of arbitrary power
(¹1)
? No man in civil society may be exempted from
the laws of it (¹4)
Of the
beginning of
Political
Societies
? ¹5 explains the initial process
? Humans come together to form one community/body
? Will of majority = will of the community
? Why must this be the case? (¹8)
Of the
beginning of
Political
Societies
? Objections to this idea
? This never happened historically
? Gives several examples (±01-103)
? Because all people are born under a government,
they have no right to begin a new one
? A child is born a subject of no country, if this
were not the case there would be no such thing
as legitimate gov (±13-118)
? Explicit vs. Tacit Consent (±19-122)
? Chief end of gov is the preservation of
property
Purpose of
Gov
? We lack 3 things in state of nature (±24-126)
? An established, known law (legislative)
? A known and indifferent judge (executive)
? Power to execute the law (executive)
? We give up our powers from the state of nature
for something better. This is an argument from
self-interest
? Three forms (although they can be mixed)
? Democracy
? Oligarchy
? Monarchy (hereditary/elective)
Forms of Gov
? Legislative power must always be supreme
? t being impossible to conceive that an inferior
power should prescribe to a superior, or any but
supreme make laws, according as the power of
making laws is placed, such is the form of the
common-wealth(±32)
? First positive law is establishment of legislative power
? Natural law moves from the individuals to the
common-wealth
? Only valid law is law approved by the legislative
Extent of
Legislative
Power
? Limits
? (1) cannot be absolutely arbitrary over lives and
fortunes (±35)
? We cannot consent to what is not ours to give
? (2) cannot rule by arbitrary decrees (±36)
? We lacked known law in SoN, this is why we
make gov
? This would be worse than SoN
? (3) cannot take property without consent (±38)
? (4) cannot transfer legislative power (±41)
? Executive is internal
Executive and
Federative
Power
? Applies to members of the common-wealth and
non-members who are obligated to obey laws
? Federative is external
? War, treaties and alliances, trade laws, etc.
? These powers can be combined in the same
body without much danger
John Locke
The Limits of State Power
? The Legislative power is supreme
? However, the people maintain a type of supremacy over
it. (p78)
? This only takes place when the gov is dissolved
Subordination
of Powers
? When the legislative is not in session we can speak of
executive being supreme
? Obedience to the executive is obedience according to
law
? When executive violates law, no right to obedience
? Executive/Federative always exist, not so with legislative
? What if executive prevents legislative from convening?
? People have a right of removal
? Executive can adjust proportions of the legislative body
in order to return it to its original purpose
? Quote from (p83)
? This is about discretion in day to day activities of the state
? Executive has ¹ the common law of nature a right
Prerogative
to make use of for the good of the society, in many
cases, where the municipal law has given no
direction, till the legislative can be conveniently
assembled to provide for it.(p84)
? ©t that the laws themselves should in some cases
give way to the exec¿ Justice of prerogative should be obvious (p85) (historical
narrative)
? What do we do in conflict? The people must make an
appeal to heaven (p87)
? Aggressors have no right over the conquered
? Unjustly entering a state of war removes you from
the realm of right
? Compare to smaller examples (pirates, a robber)
(p91)
Conquest
? Can only appeal to heaven (p92)
? What about the victor in a lawful war?
? CONSENT IS STILL NECESSARY, force cannot make
citizens
? Even just conquerors are despots without consent
? Can take life of those on the unjust side, but not
property
? Everyman is born with the right to inherit his
fatheràproperty
? Conquest is foreign usurpation, now to look at
domestic
Usurpation
? The difference is that a usurper can NEVER have
right on their side (p100)
? Usurpation is getting possession of what another
has a right to
? Usurpation is a change of persons, not of powers
? Tyranny is the exercise of power beyond right
? King vs. Tyrant
? îe makes the laws his bounds of his power, and
Tyranny
the good of the public, the end of his government;
the other makes all give way to his own will and
appetite(p102)
? Compare to prerogative
? Resistance to tyranny
? Go through text here of examples
? Revolution? (p106)
? Different from dissolution of society
? (1) When the legislative is altered
? (a) when a single person sets up their will in
Dissolution of
Gov
place of laws
? (b) when the prince hinders legislative from
assembling
? (c) when elections are altered without consent
? (d) delivery into hands of a foreign power
? (e) executive refuses his charge
Dissolution,
cont
? (2) When either power acts contrary to trust
? (a) legislative takes property, or attempts
arbitrary power over lives liberty and fortune
? (b) executive bribes and corrupts
representatitves
? No
? (a) No more than any other situation. People don
like being exposed to arbitrary power
? (b) õch revolutions happen not upon every little
Frequent
Rebellion?
mismanagement in public affairs . . .(p113)
? (c) This right is actually the best fence against
rebellion 6iolation of trust is the true rebellion
(p114)
? Whoever uses force without right puts himself into
a state of war (p116)
? But who shall be judge? (p123)
? Again, appeal to heaven. What can this mean?

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