JOHN

LOCKES
JUSTIFICATIO
N OF
DEMOCRACY

John Lockes Justification

of Democracy
In the state of nature, according to
Locke, there is a natural law that
governs the actions of the people
who are themselves rational,
free, and equal with one another.
As rational beings, people know
the articles of the natural law.

John Lockes Justification

of Democracy
As free beings, they can do
anything they want in accordance
with the natural law. No one
among them is a master, no one is
a slave all are equal.
Everything is like a paradise in the
state of nature. However, the
state of nature is short of being
perfect.

THERE ARE
THREE THINGS
LACKING IN THE
STATE OF
NATURE

First, there is no written

law in the state of nature.
The articles of the natural law are
too broad to be applied to specific
cases.
Aside from that, not everyone is
capable of discovering the articles
of the natural law.
There is, therefore, a need for an
established written law that
commands specific obligations.

Second, there is no rational judge

who is empowered to decide on
controversies
While people are rational (capable
of knowing the articles of the
natural law and capable of
determining what is right or
wrong), they are not always
objective and impartial in their
judgment especially when they
themselves or their relatives or
friends are involved in

Second, there is no rational judge

who is empowered to decide on
controversies
Because of this, there is a need
for an impartial judge tasked to
resolve controversies among the
people.

Third and last, there is no common

power to execute the articles of the
natural law.
People may know the articles of
the natural law and they may
decide on controversies
impartially, but individually they
have no power to enforce what is
right.
There is a need for a common
power to obligate people to abide
by articles of the natural law.

 Because of these inconveniences, the state

of nature that seems to be a paradise at
first has become a state of war similar to
that of Hobbes.
Because of this, according to Locke, there is
a need for the people to enter into a
political society in order to address these
inconveniences.
And because people are free in the state of
nature, no one can be made to enter into
the political society without his/her
consent.

THE PEOPLE
HAVE TO GIVE
THEIR
INDIVIDUAL
CONSENT TO
TWO SOCIAL
CONTRACTS

First Social Contract

The first social contract is a
contract among the people
themselves to establish a political
society (people must give their
expressed or implied consent to
establish a political society) to
address the three inconveniences
in the state of nature.

First Social Contract

The political society is, then,
established to form a government
tasked to:
a) enact written laws (legislative
power),
b) settle actual controversies
among the people (judicial
power), and to
c) enforce written laws (executive

Second Social Contract

The second social contract is
between the people and the
government.
The people agree to obey
government on the condition that
it protects their rights to life,
liberty, and property.
The government, on the other
hand, agrees to protect peoples

Second Social Contract

This second social contract places
the people and the government on
equal footing.
Breach of the second contract on
the part of the people will mean
deprivation of their life, liberty, or
property.

Second Social Contract

Breach of the second contract on
the part of the government will
mean removal from positions of its
officials or removal of the
government itself.
Thus, the second contract
recognizes the powers of the
people being the true sovereign
ones.

 The government is just an institution

created by the people to protect their
rights.
Its officials then are simply because
representatives to whom they entrust some
of their powers and who are accountable to
them.
As the people are the true sovereign in
Lockes political society, they have the right
to revolt against a tyrannical government.

LOCKES
POLITICAL
SOCIETY IS THE
OPPOSITE OF
HOBBES
POLITICAL
SOCIETY
While Hobbes justifies
totalitarian society and
authoritarian government,
Locke justifies democracy.

But what is democracy?

Democracy
Democracy as a form of society is
best defined as one by which
sovereignty resides in the people
and all government authority
emanates from them (Article II,
Section I, Philippine Constitution of
1987).
As a form of government, it is
popularly defined as the

Totalitarian Society
In totalitarian society, sovereignty
(the supreme power to govern)
resides in the government or in its
ruler who is a dictator.

Democratic Society
In democratic society, the real
sovereign, the ones who possess
the supreme power, are the
people as a whole.
Since the people in the
democratic societies are the real
sovereign, they have the ultimate
power to define the economic,
cultural, social, and political

 The economic and political systems of a

particular society depend on the will of the
people.
The government, therefore, should embody
the ideals and aspirations of the people and
should not govern against their will.
A government that rules against the will of
the people can always be changed or even
destroyed by the people themselves.

A democratic society is
one that abides by the
rule of law.
Ours is a government of laws and
not of men aptly describes
democratic societies.
It means that although
sovereignty resides in the people
it does not mean that the people
and their representatives can
govern arbitrarily.

A democratic society is
one that abides by the
rule of law.
Laws have to be enacted in order
to guide the actions of both the
people and government officials.
An action may be good but if it is
not legally allowed it should not
be resorted to.
The government may have good
policies but if they are not backed
up by laws they should not be

A democratic society is a
society of free people.
People enjoy various kinds of
liberties which are protected by
the constitution, the supreme law
of the land.
These liberties include the liberty
of thought, liberty of expression,
liberty of religion, liberty to own
private property, liberty of abode
and travel, liberty to enter into

A democratic society is a
society of free people.
It is the primary obligation of the
government to protect these
liberties and no person shall be
deprived of life, liberty, or
property without due process of
law (Article 3, Section 1, The New
Philippine Constitution).
Due process of law is another
right of the people under a

A democratic society is a
society of free people.
It is the process that presumes the
accused to be innocent until
proven otherwise.
It is popularly known as the
process that hears before it
condemns.