Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Second Treatise of Government, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Nature, War, and Civil Society
Consent of the Governed and the Role of Government
Power and Absolute Monarchies
The Dissolution of Government
Summary
Analysis
As the very reason one enters into a society is to benefit from the established laws, Locke contends the fundamental law of all common-wealths is the establishment of the legislative power. The main goal of the legislative power is the preservation of society and everyone in it. The legislative power is supreme, and once it is decided upon by the people, it cannot be altered by the hands in which is placed. No one within a common-wealth can force a law that has not been sanctioned by the legislative power, as all laws must exist with the consent of the people. Everyone living in a common-wealth has the obligation to obey the supreme legislative power, and no foreign or domestic oath can release them from that obligation.
Here, Locke specifically outlines the limitations of the power of government over the people. Just because power is handed by the people to the legislative does not give that body of power free reign, as in an absolute monarchy. The fact that no one can be exempt from the law of a common-wealth again excludes absolute monarchies from civilized society. An absolute monarch is not subject to any law or regulation, and they are the supreme power and executor of the law.
Themes
However, Locke argues, the legislative power is limited and may not rule arbitrarily over the people. The legislative power can have no more power than that which was imbued in them by the people, as no one can transfer to another more power than they have themselves. Since no one has arbitrary power to take their own life, or the life or property of another, neither does the legislative power. A common-wealth imbues the legislative with enough power to preserve the life and property of humankind—nothing more and nothing less.
This again speaks to the illegitimacy of absolute monarchies, which is one of Locke’s chief arguments. In absolute monarchies, the king is the legislative power, and he is not limited in his power. Locke says such power over another isn’t free to have under any circumstances, save for a state of war. Unless a king’s subjects consent to enter into a state of war with the king, he has no claim to rule over their lives.
Themes
The power of the legislative is limited to “the public good of the society,” which means this power does not have the right to destroy, enslave, or impoverish the people. The legislative power may not rule by arbitrary decree, and it must dispense justice using known and understood laws and authorized judges. To submit to absolute and arbitrary power without established laws, Locke contends, is worse than a state of nature, where one at least has the right to defend their person and property. The legislative power is also not permitted to take anyone’s property without consent, as the legislative’s true aim is to preserve one’s property. This, Locke argues, also assumes that one has a basic right to property in the first place.
Locke implies here that an absolute monarchy is worse than a state of nature, as subjects of an absolute monarchy are not permitted to resist in any way. In that vein, when someone’s property is unjustly seized by the king to add money to the king’s coffers, there is no impartial judge to which the subject can appeal, and they have no right to resist or protect their own property, which effectively makes an absolute monarchy even worse than nature. Subjects of absolute monarchies are often stripped of land, thus Locke’s remark about one’s right to land in the first place.
Themes
In governments where the legislative is in one continuous assembly that is always in session, or in the hands of an absolute monarch, said government is in danger of thinking itself above those it rules over, and it will eventually be inclined to increase its own power and wealth by taking it from the people. People in a common-wealth have the right to secure and regulate their property through legislative laws. To submit to absolute power is to risk being left without property. However, Locke says, it is worth noting that absolute power, when it is necessary, is not arbitrary just by nature of being absolute.
Locke seems to imply here that absolute power is at times necessary. In cases where marital law must be enacted to ensure the preservation of the common-wealth against some force would be an example for Locke’s argument. Again, the United States government greatly draws from Locke’s theories. In the US, the Constitution demands that Congress meet at least once a year, and representatives are elected for two-year terms.
Themes
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Locke admits that running a government is expensive, so he argues that everyone in a common-wealth is responsible for paying their share of taxes in proportion to their estate; however, even this cannot be done without consent. Without the consent of the majority, the legislative power cannot increase taxes or levy new taxes. The legislative power is also not permitted to transfer the power of the common-wealth to any other body. Since the legislative power gathers its strength from the people, this power cannot be transferred without consent.
Locke again argues that even the supreme power of the legislative is limited. Locke is not against paying one’s fair share of taxes—he sees this as an obligation to the common-wealth—but one still must consent to such taxes. All of Locke’s theories boil down to consent and the fact that no one can consent to give away more power than they have.
Themes
