Locke Vs Tocqueville Analysis

The Primary objective of all leaders should be to control citizens. A society that allows authority to be challenged will never succeed. This source depicts an authoritarian or totalitarian view of what a governing body should look like. The author suggests that the primary objective of government should be the “control of the citizens”, and therefore that the individuals should entirely obey said government.

Federalist #10, written by James Madison, is a text that offers an alternative approach to America's democratic governmental institutions. Presenting the downfalls of American democracy, such as unequal representation, Madison advocates for a governmental structure that appeals to a wider variety of constituents. Conversely, Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville praises American democracy in its current form. Although Tocqueville concedes that American democracy is fallible, it presents American government as an exemplary model for countries ruled by aristocracies. Madison and Tocqueville present contradicting opinions concerning the way in which democracy often allows majority interests to influence the everyday workings of government.

Nonetheless, if the government fails to protect our property or rights, we can rebel against him and remove him from his place. Locke’s law creates a government, that can run the society peacefully, and the law of the society is based on practical reasons. Locke thinks the majority rules is the best system of government. Locke has a positive view of ‘human nature’. He thinks men are good, and they are born with natural rights.

In a segment of, Of the State of Nature in Document A, John Locke writes, “We must consider, what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions...within the bounds of nature.” In, Of the Dissolution of Government, one part of the segment is, “The people are at liberty to provide for themselves.” All of the evidence is from John Locke himself. He wrote both of the books, Of the State of Nature and Of the Dissolution of Government. Both segments of the document include people having the choice to their own

After the Renaissance, Europe began to enter into an age of reformation as several individuals strongly opposed of the church’s teachings. In particular, the Protestant Reformation was inspired by Martin Luther, a theologian and monk, that sought to reform the Catholic church with his Ninety-Five Theses along with the aid of the printing press. The main cause of the Protestant Reformation was the church practice of selling indulgences and Luther’s response to their practices. The rise of social revolutions like the Radical Reformation and the Peasants’ Revolt and new forms of Christianity such as Lutheranism and Calvinism resulted from the Protestant Reformation.

The price for attaining freedom and equality is often steep, and some individuals even give up their life in the cause of freedom. It is from some of these martyrs’ actions that John Locke’s renowned rights of life, liberty, and property are secured for everyone

He continues to discuss how people relinquish their rights to a central point of authority to retain other rights. In the second chapter, he discusses how it is the obligation of the people to punish anyone who chooses to harm the rights of others. Locke continues to discuss how when a government decides to overstep its limits, the people have a responsibility to overthrow such a government. This is another aspect of Locke’s ideas that are incorporated into the Declaration of Independence- “ That whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”

In Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville provides an analysis and critique of American civic life. During his travels across the country, he discovered how different America was from Europe, particularly France. While the majority of Europe consisted of aristocratic countries with hundreds of years of history, America was a young democratic country. Most notably, he observed that America was growing in equality. The growing equality becomes a presupposition of individualism and isolation, but despite this inevitable growth of equality, individualism and isolation can be minimized.

In analysing the "Speech to the Massachusetts General Court," John Winthrop states; " ...to man simply, hath liberty to do what he lists; it is a liberty to do evil as well as to [do] good"( Winthrop 77). In this quote, the reader sees that we are talking about the philosophy of John Locke and Tomas Hobbs. This is essentially the belief that, if men have the liberty of the government, they will revert back to their "nature" which is evil. In this sense, liberty continued in the English colonies as it began in England. The right to liberty roughly followed the incentive of The Glorious Revolution and John Winthrop, created a government of law based on the fear of "nature."

John Locke is an enlightened political philosopher whose explanations to his ideas remains profoundly influential. Locke believes people should have the right to do anything they want without the government enforcing them to do a task. In The Second Treatise, Locke discusses some vital concepts of his thinking, beginning with a discussion of the State of Nature. He explains that humans move from a state of nature characterized by perfect freedom and are governed by reason to a civil government in which the authority is vested in a legislative and executive power. In the State of Nature, men are born equal, to have perfect liberty to maintain.

Two Concepts of Liberty Summary of the essay: In this essay, the famous political theorist Isaiah Berlin tries to differentiate between the notions of positive liberty and negative liberty. Berlin briefly discusses the meaning of the word ‘freedom’. He says that a person is said to free when no man or body of men interferes with his activity. He makes reference to many philosophers in the essay, but there is more emphasis on the thoughts of J. S. Mill and Rousseau, the former being a firm advocate of negative liberty while the latter believes strongly in the ideals of positive liberty.

Locke’s ideas have given Frenchmen the courage to fight against the strict government. During the reign of Louis XIV, nobles’ power was strictly limited. By making the nobles live in Versailles, Louis could easily watch over his nobles. Later, Louis XVI took over the throne. He raised taxes then spent the money in whatever way he pleased (Doc 5).

While we can read about liberty and the state of nature in Rousseau and, at least implicitly, in Madison, we cannot necessarily determine where these views come from. Why does Rousseau view the state of nature as slavery to one’s instincts? Why does Madison think negative liberties are so important? While a possible explanation could refer to their views about human nature, this explanation is hard to support with Memorial and Remonstrance and On the Social Contract alone. More analysis of Rousseau and Madison’s other works could provide richer context for this particular disagreement, shedding light on the views of two tremendously influential thinkers about politics and

John Locke and Baron de Montesquieu were political philosophers that debated the question of who was best fit to control the government. Locke and Montesquieu shared similar political beliefs such as natural rights and the separation of government powers. However, both philosophers did, in fact, have their personal views that helped them accomplish important achievements. John Locke published “Two Treatises of Government” and “ An Essay Concerning Human Understanding,” which present a detail philosophy of the mind and thought. Locke’s “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding,” lays out his philosophical project.

De Tocqueville doesn 't view liberty as an attribute part of the democratic era. He believes that the only character that is associated with this era is equality. He explains in his theory that people of this era prize equality over liberty, although he doesn 't deny that democratic people value liberty, because everyone can take part in it and enjoy it effortlessly, as opposed to liberty where you have to "sacrifice" to achieve it (De Tocqueville, 1835). He holds that equality creates individualism, which means people separate themselves from one another, their ancestors and the future generations, that leads to tyranny and despotism. On the contrary, he claims that during the aristocratic ages, people were not selfish and careless about others ' needs because "aristocracy links everybody, from peasant to king" (De Tocqueville, 1835).