Can people be trusted to Govern?
Famous Quotes: Discussion
“A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the
rights of the other forty-nine.” – Thomas Jefferson
“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb
contesting the vote! ” – Benjamin Franklin
“The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.” – Winston
Churchill
“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to
those who would not.” – Thomas Jefferson
“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” Winston
Churchill
“The government that governs best, governs least.” – Thomas Jefferson
“If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” – James Madison
“Government is not the solution to our problem. Government IS the problem.” – Ronald Reagan
“Death solves all problems – no man, no problem.” – Joseph Stalin
“Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them
have ideas.” – Joseph Stalin
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To understand the philosophical roots of the Constitution, we need to
examine the wide variety of ideas about government held by prominent
thinkers during the 17th and 18th centuries. We specifically want to focus on
their beliefs as to whether or not people can be trusted to govern. While
many diverse philosophies (ideas) of government exist, we will focus on
four individuals whose belief systems had an impact on the creation of the
United States Constitution.
Thomas Hobbes:
Thomas Hobbes was born in London, England in 1588. Throughout his life he traveled to
other European countries several times to meet with scientists and to study different forms of
government. Hobbes became interested in why people allowed themselves to be ruled and what
would be the best form of government for England. In 1651, he wrote his most famous work,
Leviathan. In it, he argued that people were naturally wicked and could not be trusted to govern.
Therefore, Hobbes believed that an absolute monarchy, a government that gave all power to a
king or queen, was best.
Hobbes believed that humans were selfish creatures who would do anything to better
their own position. According to him, people should not be trusted to make decisions on their
own. Governments then, were created to protect people from their own selfishness and evil.
Hobbes believed in the rule of a king because he felt a country needed an authority figure, a chief
executive, to provide direction and leadership. Because the people were only interested in
promoting their own interests, Hobbes believed democracy, allowing citizens to vote for their
government leaders, would never work.
Despite his distrust of democracy, Hobbes believed that a diverse group of
representatives presenting the problems of the common person would hopefully prevent a king
from being cruel and unfair. Hobbes believed that an individual could be heard in government by
authorizing a representative to speak on their behalf. In fact, Hobbes came up with the phrase
“voice of the people”, which meant that one person could be chosen to represent a group with
similar views. However, this “voice” was merely heard and not necessarily listened to. Final
decisions lay with the king.
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Louis XIV
Louis XIV became King of France in 1643 at the age of five. However, the head of the
Catholic Church controlled the government until Louis was 23. Louis’ lifestyle symbolized the
prosperity of the times in his country. He built himself a whole new city, called Versailles near
the country’s capital of Paris. Gigantic in size, his palace was full of polished mirrors, gleaming
chandeliers, and fountains. Versailles was the wonder of Europe and Louis was envied by many
other kings. He was called “The Sun King” because it seemed that his power and influence
radiated out to the entire world.
Louis believed in the Divine Right of kings. (“Divine” means from God and “right”
means, in this case, legal ability. Therefore, divine right means a God given legal right to do
something). The Catholic Church taught that all power comes from God and that all who hold
power are responsible to God for the way they use it. Louis believed that he was chosen by God
to be the King. After all, if God is all powerful, and God wanted somebody else to be the king,
then wouldn’t someone else be the king? Therefore, a king or queen could do anything they
wanted and they only had to answer to God. And if someone disobeyed the king, they were also
disobeying God’s will.
Louis believed in an absolute monarchy and that he had the power to rule his country
any way he wished. Therefore, the law was whatever the King wanted – free from the influences
of parliaments, other elected officials or even the people themselves. Louis was an absolute
monarch because no other persons or institution could tell him what to do.
Louis XIV ruled France for over 60 years. His reign is remembered as the grandest in
France’s history. His belief in his own greatness and divine right to rule encouraged him to use his
military to expand the boundaries of France. In the beginning, the people of France loved these
military exploits as it made France seem all the more strong, but eventually the string of conflicts
left France weak and in debt. It was the strain of these wars that finally turned his people against
him.
John Locke
John Locke was born in Bristol, England in 1632. Locke became interested in, and studied
medicine. While in college, he became interested in the idea of religious freedom and the idea that
people should not be punished for having different views of religion. Moreover, he believed
disputes could be settled through compromise.
After college, Locke expressed his views about freedom of religion and the rights of
citizens. The English government saw his ideas as a challenge to the King’s authority. He
temporarily left England, but soon returned and he began publishing his thoughts on government.
In his writings, Locke argued that people have the gift of reason, or the ability to think. Locke
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thought people had the natural ability to govern themselves and to look after the well-being of
society.
Locke did not believe that God had chosen a group or family of people to rule countries.
He rejected the idea of Divine Right, which many monarchs used to justify their right to rule.
Instead, he argued that governments should only operate with the consent of the governed (i.e.
the approval of the people). In this way, Locke supported democracy as a form of government.
According to Locke, governments were formed to protect the natural rights of life, liberty and
property. He also believed that the government should be divided into three branches to balance
the power. He felt that if governments abused their rights to govern, then the people had the right
to rebel and form a new government. Furthermore, Locke believed that women had the ability to
reason, which entitled them to an equal voice – an unpopular idea during this time in history.
Baron de Montesquieu
Born in France in 1689 as Charles Louis de Secondat, he received the title of Baron de
Montesquieu from his uncle when he passed away. He spent his early years criticizing the
lifestyles and liberties of the wealthy. In 1748, he published On the Spirit of the Laws, which
outlined his ideas on how government would best work.
Montesquieu believed that all things were made up of rules or laws that never changed.
He set out to study these scientifically with the hope that knowledge of the laws of government
would reduce the problems of society and improve human life. According to Montesquieu, there
were three types of government:
a monarchy (rule by a king or queen)
a republic (rule by an elected leader or leaders)
and despotism (rule by a dictator that takes power by force).
He believed that a government elected by the people was the best form of government. Also, he
believed that the success of democracy depended on maintaining the right balance of power
within the government.
Montesquieu argued that the best form of government would be one in which power was
balanced among three groups of officials. Montesquieu called this idea of dividing government
power in to three branches the separation of powers. He thought it was important to create
separate branches of government with equal but different powers. That way the government
would avoid giving too much power to one individual or group of individuals. Each branch could,
therefore, limit the power of the other two branches. His ideas about separation of powers
became the basis for the United States Constitution.
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