Explain the theoretical basis of Locke's theory of the limitations on legitimate government - publié le 01/04/2013

Résumé du document

John Locke, a philosopher and doctor of the 17th century is seen as the father of the liberal theory in political science. His theories about the State have to be understood in an historical revolutionary background. Indeed, all his reflections about state's birth and goals have been made around the British revolution. John Locke is known to be the inspirer of the Independence Declaration of 1776, and the author of two main books, the Two Treatises of Government, in which he exposes his theories about the State. As he is known as a liberal thinker, we are going to wonder in this essay what the bases of his ideas about the limitations on legitimate government are.

Nowadays, the liberal ideology is seen as a state's disengagement one. But actually, Locke's principles are more complex, and his reflection about the balance between state and liberty are really interesting. To understand why the state defended by Locke is a limited one, we will see the Locke's vision of state of nature in order to understand next how a state appears in his theory. Those theoretical bases will allow us to understand in a last part the limitations on legitimate government.

Extraits

[...] But what Locke is interested in is the growing of private property in the historical background in which he develops his theories, and that since the invention of the money, which allows people to get not only what they need but also what they want. The challenge with this issue for him is to fight against Kings' claims, and to explain why individual property is an inalienable right for people. According to him, the private property is a legacy of God. [...]

[...] That's why Locke considers that this political society has to emerge from consent, with the aim of make people renounce to their power of applying the natural law (Georges Lescuyer, 2001).”The beginning of political society depends upon the consent of the individuals” (Locke, 1967), so society's formation is conditioned by a general agreement amongst the people. Locke doesn't use the word ‘contract' to describe the will of man to establish a state, but terms as trusteeship or agreement, which have a less consequential juridical scope, which is very important when we look at the historical background of the English revolution (Georges Lescuyer, 2001). So, the consent would found the authority in Locke's theories (MacFarlane, 1970). [...]

[...] So the state only has to protect individual properties and liberties, and that's why John Locke limits its attributions in his theory about the separation of powers: executive and legislative powers have to be separated in order to prevent a system from the absolutism, and just to establish a common legislation for the commonwealth, which will be applied by a different power, the executive one, what seems to be relevant regarding at our current parliamentary regimes. This conception of the separation of powers will influence Montesquieu's very famous theory, but Locke is still considered as the father of the liberal state. Bibliography Hampsher-Monk, I. (1992), A history of modern political thought, Cambridge: Basil Blackwell Inc. Locke, J. (1967), Two treatises of government: a critical edition with an introduction and appatarus criticus by Peter Laslett, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. [...]

[...] Those theoretical bases will allow us to understand in a last part the limitations on legitimate government. In order to understand why Locke puts some limitations on legitimate government, we have to come back first to his conception of the state of nature. The state of nature is what comes prior to the society's birth. For Locke, state of nature is moral and a-historical' (Iain Hampsher-Monk, 1992), it just allows the author to think about what did exist before the state. [...]

[...] As we saw it, there are two main theoretical bases for Locke's theory of limitations on legitimate government. First, his definition of the state of nature is very important to understand why there are some limitations for a government: this state is a state of peace in which the only people's duty is to protect themselves because of a divine will. But because of the raising of private individual properties, people recognize that they have to gather in political societies to protect their goods, their right of property. [...]