Second Treatise of Government (Edited)
John Locke
OVERVIEW
This famous treatise on government, which John Locke completed in 1690, was one of the first works to explore the idea of a social contract between the individual and society. Some of the ideas presented here provided a basis for the American Declaration of Independence.
______
All men are born with natural rights. The most important of these natural rights is “property,” which includes life, liberty, and estate. “Estate” refers to real estate, or land. In nature, men have the power to protect their property from others. They also have the power to punish anyone who harms their property. This punishment can even be death!
But nature can be cruel. It is better to live in a society than in a jungle. In order to have a society, members must give up their power to punish and place it in the hands of the community. This is called “law,” and it is what protects men in a society. There is no law in the jungle; only the strong survive. In a political community, however, society acts like an umpire and decides what should be punished according to law.
People who have a common law and judges to enforce that law, live in a civil society. People who do not have a common law or judges, live in a state of nature.
The power to make laws is the legislative power. The power to enforce law is the executive power. The power to judge and punish violations of law is the judicial power. In a state of nature (the jungle), men have
all three powers. But in a civil society, the community makes laws to protect the rights of its members. The community also decides the proper punishments for violations of the law. Justice becomes a public matter, not a private matter.
In any government, it is important that people be able to appeal to independent judges if their rights have been violated. For this reason, people who live under an absolute monarchy are in a state of nature, not a state of civil society. Absolute monarchy is not a legitimate form of government. Living under an absolute monarchy is no better than living in the jungle! If one person controls legislative, executive, and judicial power of the government, there is no political community. It doesn’t matter how grand an absolute monarch’s kingdom is, for his people are no better than slaves!
Men are born free and equal. They must choose to be part of civil society. They do this by giving up their natural power to punish and gaining the protection of law. This is the social contract! When many people agree to do this, they have entered a social contract and formed a political community.
What forms of government are legitimate? As I said, absolute monarchy is not acceptable. It seems that the legitimate forms of government are: constitutional monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. However, these forms of government are only legitimate if they follow three rules:
First, a legitimate form of government must not exercise arbitrary power over the people. Whatever the government does, it must do so for the public good. The government must protect the natural rights of people, not injure them.
Second, a legitimate form of government must have clear laws that apply equally to everyone. This is important for justice. To leave the wild state of nature, men put their trust in the laws of a community. Those laws must be fair and known to everyone. Unfair laws or secret laws are not acceptable! Arbitrary power is most dangerous. If there is arbitrary or unlimited power in a monarchy, aristocracy, or a republic, the people are in a state of nature. All government must be limited by fair laws.
Third, if the government violates the natural rights of the people (life, liberty, property), the people have the right to rebel. Remember, governments were formed to protect the natural rights of people. If the government no longer does that, the people may rise up against it. The power of government does not come from God; there is no “divine right of kings.” The power of government comes from the consent of the governed, the will of the people!