Sunday, October 22, 2017

John Locke’s Political Philosophy

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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