Social Contract Theory
A government is
legitimate if people
would voluntarily
submit to its
authority
Central idea:
government (and
its authority) are
rational
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
The Choice
Imagine two situations:
Government (the state)
No government (the state of nature)
Which would you choose?
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Locke’s Answer
You would choose government
It would be rational for you to
choose government
That rational,voluntary choice
makes government authority
legitimate
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
John Locke
Rationality
justifies
government
But also limits its
authority
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Why choose government?
What is the state of nature
like?
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
The State of Nature
Thomas Hobbes: a “war
of every man against
every man” in which
life is “solitary, poor,
nasty, brutish, and
short
Where there is no law,
there is no injustice
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Locke’s state of nature
Equality of power and
jurisdiction
Declaration of
Independence: “We
hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men
are created equal….”
Liberty, not license
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Locke’s state of nature
Law of nature:
no one ought to
harm another is
his life, health,
liberty, or
possessions
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Locke’s state of nature
You have natural rights in the state
of nature:
Rights to life, health, liberty, and
property
Right of self-preservation
Right to execute the law of nature
Not a state of war
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Natural Rights
Life, health, liberty, and property
Cf. the U.S. Constitution: “nor shall
any State deprive any person of life,
liberty, or property, without due process of
law….” (14th Amendment)
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Property v. Pursuit of
Happiness
Declaration of Independence: “We
hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal, that they are
endowed, by their Creator, with certain
unalienable rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of
Happiness.”
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Private Protective
Associations
In the state of nature, you would
find ways of protecting yourself
Private Protective Associations:
posses, vigiliantes, security guards
Is that enough?
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Locke’s Social Contract
Problem: finding an impartial
arbitrator— who shall be judge?
You would give up
Your right to execute the law of
nature
You gain
Impartial judgment
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Natural and social rights
Rights to life, health, liberty, and
property are natural— you have them
in the state of nature
You do not give them up in the social
contract
You can’t give them up
Slavery would be wrong even if
voluntary
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Voluntary Slavery
Hobbes thinks you would give up liberty
even to an absolute monarch
But, for Locke, that would be like selling
yourself into slavery
You can’t surrender your rights to life,
liberty, and property
But you can be placed under laws that
limit them (taxation, punishment)
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Locke on Rights
All substantive rights are general rights
They follow from your right to selfpreservation => your rights to life,
health, liberty, and property
All positive rights are procedural— rights
to a fair, speedy, public trial, to a trial by
jury, to confront your accuser, etc.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Freedom under government:
Republican ideal
To have settled rules
In common
Made by a legislature duly erected
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Freedom under government:
Republican ideal
To follow my will where the rule is silent (10th
Amendment: “The powers not delegated to the
United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it
to the States, are reserved to the States respectively,
or to the people.”)
Not to be subject to the arbitrary will of
another
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Locke on Property
My body is and should be mine
Labor theory: My body makes
things mine
Limits (in state of nature)
Waste: I can own only what I can
use
Scarcity: There must be enough and
as good left over for others
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Money and Consent
Allows greater accumulation and
inequality
I can gather more than I can use
Waste is not an issue
Neither is scarcity
How is this inequality justified?
By consent: use of money benefits all
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Purpose of Government
We consent to government to protect
property (including life & liberty)
Structure
Legislature: Settled, known law
Judiciary: Known and indifferent judge
Executive: Administer and enforce law
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Limits of
Government
Government must act for the common
good
Declaration: “laying its foundation on such
principles, and organizing its powers in such
form, as to them shall seem most likely to
effect their Safety and Happiness.”
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Limits of Government
U.S. Constitution, Preamble: “We the
People of the United States, in Order to form a
more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure
domestic tranquility, provide for the common
defence, promote the general Welfare, and
secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and
our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.”
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Limits of
Government
Government has power only by
consent of the governed
Declaration: “That to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among Men,
deriving their just powers from the consent of
the governed.”
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Limits of
Government
Consent expressed in majority rule
Legislature must not transfer power
(accountability & consent)
Wednesday, October 20, 2010