Before We Start
A genuinely different starting point than Hobbes
Where Hobbes saw the state of nature as pure chaos requiring absolute rescue, Locke argues people are born with natural rights — to life, liberty, and property — that exist independently of government. Government's job is to protect these pre-existing rights, not create them.
💡 The Conditional Nature of Government Legitimacy
Because government exists specifically to protect natural rights, Locke's theory makes legitimacy CONDITIONAL — a government that fails to protect these rights forfeits its legitimacy, and citizens retain a genuine right to revolt in response.
Mnemonic
The Lockean logical chain
Natural Rights
Life, liberty, property
People are born with these rights — they exist prior to and independent of any government.
Government as Contract
Protect rights or lose legitimacy
Government's authority rests specifically on its function of protecting these pre-existing natural rights — this is the specific "job" that justifies its existence.
Conditional Legitimacy
Failure forfeits authority
Because legitimacy depends on rights protection, a government that fails at this task genuinely forfeits its legitimate claim to authority.
Historical Influence
Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence, constitutional government
Locke's theory directly and traceably influenced the American founding — the Declaration of Independence's framework of natural rights and government-by-consent draws directly on Lockean theory.
💊 Locke's specific triad — life, liberty, property — is worth comparing directly to the Declaration of Independence's "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," a deliberate echo (with one substitution) that reflects Locke's direct, traceable influence on Jefferson's thinking.
⚖️ Applying the Framework — Assessing Government Legitimacy Through a Lockean Lens
A government systematically fails to protect its citizens' basic property rights over an extended period, despite having the clear capacity to do so.
Apply Locke's Conditional Legitimacy Test
Under Lockean theory, this government's persistent failure to protect a core natural right (property) directly undermines its claim to legitimate authority — legitimacy was always conditional on rights protection, and this systematic failure represents exactly the kind of breach that triggers the theory's conditional structure. This isn't a minor administrative failing in Lockean terms — it strikes at the government's fundamental justification for existing.
Identify the Available Remedy
Given this breach, Locke's theory would recognize a genuine right to revolt — citizens are not obligated to continue obeying a government that has forfeited its legitimacy through sustained failure to protect natural rights. This directly contrasts with Hobbes's position, which would not recognize this same remedy even for serious governmental failures.
📌 Exam Application
Locke questions test both the natural rights framework and its conditional-legitimacy consequence:
Core framework: "What are Locke's three natural rights?" → Life, liberty, property.
Conditional legitimacy: "Under Locke's theory, what happens if a government fails to protect natural rights?" → It forfeits its legitimacy, and citizens retain a right to revolt.
Historical influence: "What American historical document directly reflects Locke's influence?" → The Declaration of Independence.
⚠️ The Trap — Assuming Locke's Government-by-Consent Position Is the Same as Hobbes's Social Contract
Both Hobbes and Locke describe a form of social contract, which can lead to conflating their conclusions. But Locke's contract is genuinely conditional (revocable if government fails), while Hobbes's justifies unconditional, absolute authority once established.
The safeguard: Remember Locke's contract as conditional and revocable — this conditionality is the specific feature that distinguishes his theory from Hobbes's.
✓ Quick Self-Test
Answer before checking:
1. What are Locke's three natural rights?
2. What happens to government legitimacy if it fails to protect these rights?
3. What historical document reflects Locke's direct influence?
4. How does Locke's view of the social contract differ from Hobbes's?
Answers:
1. Life, liberty, property.
2. It forfeits its legitimacy, and citizens retain a right to revolt.
3. The Declaration of Independence.
4. Locke's contract is conditional and revocable if government fails; Hobbes's justifies unconditional, absolute authority.
Next Lesson
Rousseau — The General Will
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