Locke is most renowned for his political

theory. Contradicting Thomas Hobbes,

Locke believed that the original state
of nature was happy and characterized
by reason and tolerance. In that state
all people were equal and
independent, and none had a right to
harm another's "life, health, liberty, or
possessions." The state was formed by
social contract because in the state of
nature each was his own judge, and
there was no protection against those
who lived outside the law of nature.
The state should be guided by natural
law.
Rights of property are very important,
because each person has a right to the
product of his or her labor. Locke
forecast the labor theory of value. The
policy of governmental checks and
balances, as delineated in the
Constitution of the United States, was
set down by Locke, as was the doctrine
that revolution in some circumstances
is not only a right but an obligation. At
Shaftesbury's behest, he contributed
to the Fundamental Constitutions for

the Carolinas; the colony's proprietors,

however, never implemented the
document.
According to Locke, political power is
the natural power of each man
collectively given up into the hands of
a designated body. The setting up of
government is much less important,
Locke thinks, than this original social
political compact. A community
surrenders some degree of its natural
rights in favor of government, which is
better able to protect those rights than
any man could alone. Because
government exists solely for the wellbeing of the community, any
government that breaks the compact
can and should be replaced. The
community has a moral obligation to
revolt against or otherwise replace any
government that forgets that it exists
only for the peoples benefit. Locke felt
it was important to closely examine
public institutions and be clear about
what functions were legitimate and
what areas of life were inappropriate
for those institutions to participate in

or exert influence over. He also

believed that determining the proper
role of government would allow
humans to flourish as individuals and
as societies, both materially and
spiritually. Because God gave man the
ability to reason, the freedom that a
properly executed government
provides for humans amounts to the
fulfillment of the divine purpose for
humanity. For Locke, the moral order of
natural law is permanent and selfperpetuating. Governments are only
factors contributing to that moral
order.
Ultimately Locke identified the basis of
a legitimate government. According to
Locke, a ruler gains authority through
the consent of the governed. They
duty of that government is to protect
the natural rights of the people, which
Locke believed to include Life, Liberty,
and Property. If the government
should fail to protect these rights, the

citizens would have the right to

overthrow that government.