Great Political Theorists

That shaped America…and Canada too.

Thomas Hobbes• 1588-1679• Witnessed times of

chaos, __________• Government was a

___________ force.• Governments must rule

over people because people are _______ and in ___________.

John Locke• 1632-1704

• People are ________ and __________.

• All laws need to fulfill a certain element of “cosmic justice.”

• Laws are _________ and must be enforced ________

• A true _________ government is a government by consent of the people.

• The more communication the less need for ____________.

Hobbes v. Locke• Hobbes

– No such thing as a “state of _____” this “state” is one of chaos, war, and ignorance.

– Religious Freedom: Government is man made, government creates rights, government did not create _____so religion and politics are _________.

• Locke– Believed that “state of

nature” is the core: Human laws must observe a certain _________ __________.

– Not only were the Founding Fathers meeting their human potential, but they were restoring this notion of cosmic justice or “God’s law.”

Who won the debate?

• They both did!• The Founding Fathers credit most to Locke, but

did not forget Hobbes.• They took a Hobbesian view that the _________

they and the people were creating would live or die on human merits, and in doing so raised the bar for what human ____, what ___________, should accomplish.

• Hobbes=Human Merit Locke=Cosmic Justice

Baron de Montesquieu

• 1689-1755• The best government

has three _______ parts that represent each part of ________.

• _______ supports the idea of separate powers.

• Human reason and morality are the ____.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau• 1712-1778

• The people have _____ the power (_______ ________) and it is inalienable, society corrupts but government is needed to enforce _________ ______!

• The Social Contract: Published in 1762 (Founding Fathers Contemporary)

• People need to _____ the state and the state needs to _____ people.

Karl Marx• 1818-1898• The ______ are the only

ones capable of ruling! (The Proletariat/worker)

• Revolution will overthrow the ___________ (wealthy).

• Workers of the world unite!– V.I. Lenin– Mao Zedong

Writings you should know…

• Two Treatises of Government, Locke: Outlined a society based on natural rights and contract theory.

• The Social Contract, Rousseau: Man must abandon their natural rights and come together in a civil society based in the social contract.

• The Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu: A government should exist with three branches to represent each level of society.

• The Communist Manifesto, Marx: Outlines the struggle of the proletariat to free themselves from Bourgeois oppression. “Arbeiters des Weltes vereinigt!”