Foundations of Government

1. Enlightenment Thinkers
Mr. Palmer / Civics

2. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
- English scholar and
philosopher
- Attempted to answer the
question, “Why do we
have government?”

3. State of Nature
- The idea that before governments, everybody lived in a
state of nature, where everyone has a right to everything
- People were naturally wicked and quick to fight; selfish
- Hobbes believed governments were created to protect
people from their own selfishness
- Otherwise, everybody would be at war with one another
and nobody would produce anything like inventions, art,
tools, crops, etc. for fear that others would take them away
- Believed government was necessary

4. Social Contract Theory
- First of his era to introduce the social contract theory
- An agreement between the people and the government
- People give up certain rights in exchange for protection
- Hobbes believed that once people give up these certain
rights, they lose their power to challenge the government
in any way

5. Leviathan
- Book written by Hobbes to explain how he thought
governments should work
- Believed in a strong central authority; thought that a
single sovereign or supreme ruler should have total
authority
- Felt that a monarchy with a king was the best
government and that it was smarter to place all of the
power in one place; known as an absolute monarchy
- Hobbes influenced political thinkers to come, especially
with his ideas on social contract theory

6. John Locke (1632-1704)
- English philosopher and
political scientist
- Produced a number of
writings that influenced
future leaders of political
thought
- Wrote Two Treatises of
Government

7. Blank Slate
- Believed that when people are born, their mind is a blank
slate; this is also known as tabula rosa
- During life, this blank slate gets filled up with peoples
sensory experiences (5 senses)
- People learn and develop differently because they are
exposed to different things
- The one thing that all people have in common is that
they are human and share a human nature that is the
same for all people

8. Natural Rights
- Unlike Hobbes, Locke had a more positive view of human nature
- Believed people could govern themselves because they possessed
the gift of reason
- Like Hobbes, Locke believed in the state of nature
- He also believed that people have natural rights
- People were born with these rights; they didn’t need to earn them
- These included the right to:
- Life: the right to live
- Liberty: the freedom to make your own decisions
- Property: the right to own things (land, tools, food, etc.)

9. Social Contract
- Believed a government could only be valid and
legitimate if it was based on a social contract with its
citizens
- However, unlike Hobbes, he believed it was a two way
street; the people agreed to give up some freedoms but
only if the government promised to protect their rights
- If the government failed to provide on their part, the
citizens had every right to revolt and overthrow the
government

10. Montesquieu (1689-1755)
- French nobleman
- Devoted himself to the
study of political liberty
- Studied the history of
Ancient Rome and
contributed its collapse to
the loss of political liberties

11. On Human Nature
- Argues that man is capable of grasping four laws of
nature:
- 1. Man seeks nourishment for bodily preservation
- 2. Man desires peace to sustain bodily well-being
- 3. Man is drawn instinctively to other people
- 4. Knowledge derived from interaction with other people
encourages him to live in society
- Asserted that no single government is always and
everywhere superior

12. Separation of Powers
- Developed the theory of separation of powers
- Wrote On the Spirit of Laws, in which he described the
separation of power between an executive, legislature
and judiciary
- Each branch would have powers (checks) over the other
branches
- This idea became the basis for the United States
Constitution

13. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
- Genevan philosopher
- Felt out of place with other
Enlightenment thinkers and often
roamed the woods
- Considered by many to be
insane, but nonetheless brilliant
- Wrote The Social Contract

14. The Social Contract
- “Man is born free, yet everywhere he is in chains”
- Believed state of nature was a primitive condition without
law or morality, which people left for the benefits of
cooperation with others
- As people became civilized, the strongest among them
forced everyone to obey unjust laws, thus freedom and
equality were destroyed
- The only legit government ruled with the consent of its
people
- Believe that the people should be sovereign (dominant)