Second Treatise of Government

The Second Treatise of Government is a philosophical text written by Enlightenment thinker and “Father of Liberalism” John Locke in 1689. When the treatise was published in the late 17th century, England was in a state of political unrest. King William III and Queen Mary II were in power, as monarch King James II had been deposed two years earlier. This period of history is known as the Glorious Revolution, and it followed years of conflict between Catholics and Protestants, the government and the people.

Locke’s Second Treatise is widely viewed as having a place among the most important and influential texts ever written about political theory. It is believed to have been a significant factor in shaping the ideals of both the French and American revolutions. Locke claimed authorship of the piece in his will, having allowed it to circulate anonymously during his lifetime.

Summary

The Second Treatise of Government was the second of two essays Locke wrote to defend liberal principles and the ideal form of government, and the ideal state of man, that he thought liberalism could bring about. The First Treatise mainly refutes the arguments of Robert Filmer, a contemporaneous thinker who defended the idea of absolute monarchy based on his interpretation of the Bible and patriarchal power. Filmer believed that kings, as descendants of Adam, were the rightful inheritors of the human race and deserved both the spoils of the world and the subjugation of its people. Locke heavily disagreed with this and critiques Filmer’s argument point by point in the First Treatise.

In the Second Treatise Locke articulates a potential framework for the ideal democratic state. He examines the evolution of man, beginning with man in the state of nature, where the power of reason and complete natural freedom guided him through life. This he compares to being ruled by a civil governing institution, where control is ceded to legislators and executives. Other major concepts considered in the text include problems that naturally occur in an absolute monarchy, private property and its protection and limitations, and the people’s right to depose a government if it breaks the compact between itself and the people.

According to Locke, men are born in a state of nature, with each person equal to every other and possessing the freedom to conduct their lives and protect their property. Their actions are guided by the innate desire to preserve mankind, and they can utilize reasoning to do so. The state of nature symbolizes total freedom, but there are times when men prevent other men from protecting their property. In instances when a man uses force against other men, society at large has the right to punish them to maintain order and to have the punishment serve as a deterrent to future transgressions.

When men use force against each other, a state of war exists. Ending a state of war entails either killing the perpetrator or some sort of recompense. On the topic of slavery, Locke says that the only time it is acceptable for a man to be enslaved is in a situation where he has given up his life after exerting force against a conqueror. Using absolute power, or using power in a random manner against another, is never an acceptable course of action in Locke’s philosophy. Absolute monarchies thus are guilty of causing states of war between the government and its subjects.

When Locke talks of property, he refers not only to a man’s physical possessions but also his life and liberty. In the state of nature, the property referred to is primarily a person’s land and the labor needed to work it. The land a man farms and the fruits of his labor are his property. When a society grows and conventions like money come into use, a government must be established to protect and regulate property. For a government to truly be effective, the people must agree to be governed; a government cannot be forced upon them and expect to gain support. There is a tradeoff, a search for a balance, as man seeks protection for his property. Although Locke examines a structure in which people invest power in legislative and executive branches of government in exchange for giving up some freedom, he notes that democracy is not the only acceptable form of government. However, he stresses that absolute monarchies are not in accord with civil society because there are no limitations on the ruler’s power. Whenever people give up a portion of their freedom, there must be trust between the people and the party to which power is given.

In Locke’s assessment of the state of nature, and his definition of the social contract in which some freedom is surrendered in exchange for a protective government, is it important that man retain the right to remove the government from power. The people may bring new leadership to the existing government or develop a completely different system within which freedoms and property are still protected, but not by an all-powerful hand.

In defining and proposing his ideal government, Locke introduced an array of concepts that have since formed the basis of most modern Western democracies. Concepts like the state of nature, the state of war, property rights, the right to depose the government have become a kind of basic vocabulary in the defense and proliferation of liberal and democratic states.