Political Science · Western Political Thought
UGC NET December 2014 Political Science
Who among the following defined civil power as 'the right of making laws with penalties for the regulating and preserving of property, and of employing the force of the community in the execution of such laws, all this only for the public good'?
ARousseau
BKarl Marx
CJohn Locke ✓ Correct
DJS Mill
Correct answer: (C) John Locke — This definition of civil power is John Locke's, opening his Second Treatise of Government.
Explanation
★This definition of civil power is John Locke's, opening his Second Treatise of Government.
★Locke defines political power as the right to make laws with penalties to regulate and preserve property.
★It includes using the community's force to execute the laws and defend the commonwealth from harm.
★He stresses that all such power exists only for the public good, marking it as a limited trust.
★This contrasts with Rousseau's general will, Marx's class power, and Mill's liberty principle.
★The definition frames Locke's whole theory of consensual, limited government.
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