Second Essay on Civil Government
The Second Treatise of Government was published amidst the turmoil and
upheaval of late-17th century English politics. In 1690 when it anonymously
entered the canon of great works of political theory, the absolute monarch King
James II had been deposed two years previous and William and Mary were now jointly
ruling the kingdom. This “Glorious Revolution” was the culmination of decades
of strife and power struggles between Catholics and Protestants, kings and
Parliament, and the government and the people.
Many scholars initially believed that Locke composed the Two Treatises
of Government in 1688 while he was in exile in Holland. This seems convincing;
it contains a statement that dates itself to that year, and the themes of the
work seem to justify the political events. However, serious scholarly work has
since shown that the work cannot have been completed in 1688 even though
certain small portions were added during that period. The bulk of the text was
comprised nearly a decade earlier and was a call for a revolution to take
place, not a rationalization for one that had just occurred.
It appears that most of the work was written in 1679-1681 in the wake of
the Exclusion crisis, in which Protestant nobles attempted to pass a bill in
Parliament that would exclude then-king Charles II’s brother, James, duke of
York, from ascending the throne. Locke’s friend and patron the earl of
Shaftesbury was the leader of this plan and was very influential in shaping
Locke’s thoughts about politics.
In the last few decades, Locke’s work has been read as supportive of the
idea of bourgeois individualism (and garnered the ire of socialist and
communist thinkers). However, as stated by Locke scholar Peter Laslett in his
introduction to an edition of the Treatises, it “also [provides] the
intellectual resources and ideological ballast for a radical critique of
capitalism and a democratic assault on the liberal constitutionalism.” It has
been printed well over one hundred times since its initial publication and has
been translated into at least eleven languages.
The Second Treatise is one of the most significant and influential works
of political theory ever published. It has been heralded as an intellectual
influence on the American and French revolutions and its ideas form the core of
the subsequent centuries’ political dialogue about the nature, ends, and
limitations of civil government. What is most striking about this is that Locke
never acknowledged it as his work during his lifetime (only in his will).
During his lifetime he was known primarily as the author of An Essay Concerning
Human Understanding; this work secured his intellectual fame and the prominence
of his later published work. Presumably, he did not want to acknowledge
authorship in the event that James II returned from exile and reclaimed the
throne, but the reasons will never be clear. Regardless of why he kept it
anonymous, the Two Treatises, particularly the Second, is a monumental
achievement, and Locke would no doubt be surprised and pleased with the
attention it has garnered over the centuries.
In the Second Treatise of Government, John Locke discusses men’s move
from a state of nature characterized by perfect freedom and governed by reason
to a civil government in which the authority is vested in a legislative and
executive power. The major ideas developed throughout the text include popular
sovereignty and the consent of the governed, the protection and limitations of
property, the problems inherent in an absolute monarchy, and the ability of a
people to dissolve their government if it does not adhere to the bond of trust
established between the governed and governor.
The Treatise begins with a discussion of the state of nature. In this
state, men are born equal to one another and have perfect liberty to maintain
and order their lives and property. They are governed by reason and seek the
preservation of mankind. When a man transgresses the laws of nature and uses
force against another, the entire society has the right to punish him in order
to preserve order and make an example of him to deter future crimes. The state
of nature is entirely free but men find that other men may interfere with their
ability to protect their property.
A state of war exists when one man uses force against another. It can
only be lifted when the aggressor is killed or reparations are made. In terms
of slavery, Locke states that it is only just for a man to be enslaved when he
forfeits his life due to his usage of force against his conqueror. It is not
just for any man to exercise absolute or arbitrary power over another. Absolute
monarchs who do so are guilty of creating a state of war between themselves and
their subjects.
The desire to protect one’s property is paramount in establishing a
civil government. Property includes a man’s life, liberty, and possessions. In
a state of nature, man’s property (in terms of land) is directly correlated to
the labor he puts into it. Any land he cultivates can be considered his
property, as well as any fruits of the earth that he picks. As populations grow
and societies establish currencies, a government is needed to regulate
property.
Civil government is established when the people consent to be governed.
They cannot be forced into allegiance or fealty to a government. The people
give up their rights to perfect freedom, judgment, and punishment, and invest
these powers in a legislative and executive power. Locke does not believe
democracy is the only type of valid government, but he does firmly state that
absolute monarchies are completely at odds with civil society because the ruler
has no limitations on his power. The civil government is based upon the bond of
trust between the people and their authority. The people gave up their freedom,
and in turn, they expect the authority to act with the public good always in
mind. Any breach of this bond of trust can legitimate the people’s dissolution
of the government.
The civil society has a legislative and executive power. The legislative
power is the supreme law of the land; its standing laws must be known and
followed. The executive power enforces the laws of the legislature and
exercises the power of prerogative, which is the ability to use discretion to
enforce the public good even if the laws must be circumvented or ignored. If
the legislative or executive powers act arbitrarily, erratically, or simply not
at all, they are violating the bond of trust with the people and forsaking
their claim to obedience and submission.
If, after a prolonged series of oppressive maneuvers and unheard
appeals, the people still have no respite from the tyrannical actions of their
government, they have the right to dissolve said government. They can restore
it with new leadership, change it, or create an entirely new system of
government. A government only exists when it has the consent of the people, and
thus, can be dissolved when it has failed them.
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