Social Contract And Political Power
The idea of the social contract is one of the foundations of the American political system. The definition of the social contract explains that it is a theory that the government has only the authority accorded it by the consent of the governed. In other words the government only exists to serve the people, and they are the source of all its political power. Society can choose to give or withhold this power. Although the social contract theory attempts to validate government power, there have those that have shown that this power is still improperly granted.
In rejecting the ruling authority of the monarchs, America’s founders drew from new thinking in the enlightenment that men in a state of nature are equal and have certain rights by
virtue of their existence. John Locke in his Second Treatise on Government tells us that these men can then join together to form governments to protect natural rights: “The only way whereby anyone divests himself of his natural liberty, and puts on the bonds of civil society, is by agreeing with other men to join and unite into a community, for their comfortable, safe, and peaceable living one amongst another, in a secure enjoyment of their properties, and a greater security against any that are not of it.”
Lysander Spooner later refuted the validity of the social contract in his essay “No Treason No VI” by pointing out that the wording of the constitution only bound the people that actually consented to be bound by the social contract: “It is plain, in the first place, that this language, as an agreement, purports to be only what it at most really was a contract between the people then existing; and, of necessity, binding, as a contract, only upon those then existing.”
A government's power and authority over its people is based on their consent. “People agree to subject themselves to that power because the government agrees to act in the best interests of the people.” (Social) According to Locke, people have the right to revolt and overthrow the government if one is abusing its authority. These acts make the contract invalid, returning the people to their natural rights of right to life, liberty and property. “Everyone is equal in the state of nature, the people are free to defend themselves against the tyrant.”(Social)
In rejecting the ruling authority of the monarchs, America’s founders drew from new thinking in the enlightenment that men in a state of nature are equal and have certain rights by
virtue of their existence. John Locke in his Second Treatise on Government tells us that these men can then join together to form governments to protect natural rights: “The only way whereby anyone divests himself of his natural liberty, and puts on the bonds of civil society, is by agreeing with other men to join and unite into a community, for their comfortable, safe, and peaceable living one amongst another, in a secure enjoyment of their properties, and a greater security against any that are not of it.”
Lysander Spooner later refuted the validity of the social contract in his essay “No Treason No VI” by pointing out that the wording of the constitution only bound the people that actually consented to be bound by the social contract: “It is plain, in the first place, that this language, as an agreement, purports to be only what it at most really was a contract between the people then existing; and, of necessity, binding, as a contract, only upon those then existing.”
A government's power and authority over its people is based on their consent. “People agree to subject themselves to that power because the government agrees to act in the best interests of the people.” (Social) According to Locke, people have the right to revolt and overthrow the government if one is abusing its authority. These acts make the contract invalid, returning the people to their natural rights of right to life, liberty and property. “Everyone is equal in the state of nature, the people are free to defend themselves against the tyrant.”(Social)