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John Locke On The Extent Of The Legislative Power
Locke on Politics, Religion, and Education- chap. 1
JOHN LOCKE
ON THE EXTENT OF THE LEGISLATIVE POWER
It is easy to see where the philosophy behind our country’s system of government was derived from when you read any of Locke’s essays on civil government. In fact if you have read our own Declaration of Independence it is possible to recognize the similarity between it and Lock’s writings. In many cases it almost seems as though we took from him word for word the passages written in our nations most treasured documents:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…….”
(Source: http://www.bookstore-cool.com/A_Declaration.html)
Indeed, John Locke’s philosophy had a great impact on the early formation of our nation; it serves as a basis on which we have built this great nation that we live in today. By looking at Locke’s philosophy on the extent of any given legislature’s power it is interesting to compare his ideas to our actual practices.
Long ago “man” lived in what Locke called a state of Nature before entering into, or forming, a society. In this State of Nature men where naturally free, equal, and independent. No one could be subjected to a political power without his/her consent. Societies or communities are formed when men/women come together and agree to join or unite in order to further their interests as well as the community's. When men and women join a community and agree to form a legislature they give their individual power up to the community. Locke believes that the power given to the legislator or assembly can be no more than the amount of power possessed by the individual people in their prior state of Nature. For nobody can transfer to another more power than he has in himself, and nobody has an absolute arbitrary power over himself, or over any other, to destroy his own life, or take away the life or property of another.” (Locke). Therefore although the legislature may be the supreme power in every commonwealth, it is not, nor can possibly be, absolutely arbitrary over the lives and fortunes of the people.” (Locke).
Locke believes the power that is given to a legislature is limited to the public good of the society, and that power is used only to preserve what is good for the society. Therefore the power we give to our legislatures should never be used to destroy, enslave, or impoverish us it should only be used to further the interests of us all and to preserve those interests. Here Locke points out that, “the obligations of the law of Nature cease not in society……..Thus the law of Nature stands as an eternal rule to all men, legislators as well as others. The rules that they make for other men’s actions must, as well as their own and other men’s actions, be conformable to the law of Nature-i.e. to the will of God, of which that is a declaration, and the fundamental law of nature being the preservation of mankind, no human sanctions can be good or valid against it.” (Locke). This is not to say that we should govern ourselves strictly by God’s will. To the contrary, we must write laws, authorize judges, and determine individual’s rights. The law of Nature is unwritten and exists only in our minds; it is foolish to think that one's interpretation will not be disputed by another. Without written laws governing us our ability to gain peace, protect our property, and our personal safety would be as uncertain as it was in the state of Nature.
The United State’s system of government is based on the very same reasoning; at least it was set out that way in the beginning. We give our power to officials, elected by us, in hopes that they will represent our interests. Our government does not have the power to enslave, destroy, or purposely impoverish us or take away our property without just cause. Sounds a lot like what Locke was trying to say, but the politics of modern-day America are much more complex.
Does the “Law of Nature” still exist in modern America? Of course there are examples of laws that represent what anyone would consider the will of God such as murder, rape, theft, and adultery. What about all those other millions of codes, statutes, and ordinances we are forced to adhere to. Should the Government have the authority to impose status offences or speed limits? Going strictly on my readings of Locke’s philosophy on the extent of a legislature’s power I believe I could argue both yes and no. One could say “yes” because speed limits and drinking age limitations help further the public good of the society. One could argue “no” because in a state of Nature a person never had to conform to anything because of his/her age. Locke believed that the legislative, “being but the joint power of every member of the society given up to that person or assembly which is legislator, it can be no more than those persons had in a state of Nature before they entered into society, and gave it up to the community.” (Locke). The complexities of the current United States legislature are abundant. It is hard to simplify its actions into Locke’s perception of what a legislature’s powers are. Has our legislature deviated from its purpose? According to Locke a legislature's purpose being simply the preservation of our society. I wouldn’t say it has deviated from this but I think it has gone further than this. The question is how far should the legislature be allowed to deviate from its initial purpose.
Word Count: 984
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