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Sir Robert Filmer traced political authority back to Adam's patriarchal rule, but legitimate government cannot rest on divine hereditary monarchy. Political power is distinct from the power of a father over children or a master over servants. It is the specific right to make laws with penalties up to death, solely to regulate and protect property and deploy community force against foreign injury.
Before governments form, all men inhabit a state of perfect freedom and equality, constrained only by the law of nature. Reason acts as that law, teaching that no individual ought to harm another in life, liberty, health, or possessions. Because no earthly superior exists to judge disputes, every person retains the natural right to execute natural law and punish transgressors.
Settled enmity and deliberate design against another person's life puts the aggressor into a state of war with their victim. When someone attempts to bring another under absolute power without consent, that attempt constitutes a declaration of war. Where no common judge with authority exists on earth, actual force creates a state of war that persists until the aggressor offers peace and reparation.
Natural liberty means being free from any superior power on earth, subject only to the law of nature. Man cannot contract himself into absolute slavery, because no one possesses the right to give away their own life, which belongs ultimately to God. Drudgery under agreement differs from true slavery, which is nothing but the state of war continued between a lawful conqueror and a captive.
God gave the earth to humankind in common, yet every person holds an exclusive property in their own body and labor. Gathering acorns under an oak or picking apples from trees mixes personal labor with common goods, converting them into private possessions without needing universal consent. Money later allows individuals to accumulate wealth beyond what spoils, transcending the natural limits of personal consumption.
Parental control arises from the obligation to preserve children while their reason develops, not from an inherent right of absolute dominion. Children are born to equality, though not in it, and require guidance only until age opens their understanding. Once a person reaches the age of discretion, parental authority ceases, leaving the adult fully free under the law of nature and civil law.
Conjugal society and household management do not constitute political society, because a master lacks legislative power over the lives of members. Civil society exists only where individuals relinquish their executive power of natural law into the hands of the community. Absolute monarchy is incompatible with civil society, as an absolute ruler remains in a state of nature relative to subjects.
Men are naturally free and equal, so no one can be subjected to political power without personal consent. When individuals agree to build a single body politic, they submit to the determination of the majority as the driving force of the commonwealth. Express consent makes a person a full member of a society, while tacit consent binds anyone who enjoys possessions or travels within its jurisdiction.
Life in the state of nature is uncertain and exposed to invasion, making the enjoyment of property unsafe. People join together into commonwealths primarily to preserve their lives, liberties, and estates under established, known laws. By entering society, individuals sacrifice their private powers of judgment and punishment to secure an impartial judge and reliable enforcement.
The form of a commonwealth depends entirely on where the majority places supreme legislative power upon joining together. Placing legislative authority in elected officials creates a democracy, while placing it in the hands of a few select men forms an oligarchy, and in one man a monarchy. A commonwealth signifies any independent community united for common good, regardless of its specific government structure.
The legislative is the supreme power of the commonwealth, established by the consent of the society to preserve its members. Legislative authority cannot be arbitrary over the lives and fortunes of citizens, nor can it rule by extemporary decrees instead of standing laws. The supreme power cannot seize any man's property without consent, nor can it transfer the power of making laws to any other hands.
Legislative power creates laws, but because those laws can be framed quickly, the legislature does not need to sit continuously. Executive power must remain constantly active to enforce standing laws within the society. Federative power handles international relations, managing war, peace, leagues, and alliances with foreign nations and people outside the commonwealth.
The legislative power is supreme within the government, yet it remains a fiduciary power acted for specific ends. If the legislature acts contrary to the trust placed in it, the community retains supreme power to remove or alter the legislative body. Executive power held by a single person who shares in legislation is subordinate to the law, holding authority only as a trustee of the public good.
Executive prerogative is the power to act according to discretion for the public good without the prescription of law, or even against it in emergencies. Strict adherence to fixed laws can harm the public when unforeseen events occur or laws prove too rigid. Prerogative remains lawful only so long as it serves the preservation of the community rather than private advantage.
Paternal power stems from nature for the care of immature children, ending when they reach reason. Political power arises from voluntary compact to preserve property and life, existing only where citizens consent. Despotic power is absolute, arbitrary dominion over another, gained only when an aggressor forfeits their life in an unjust war, stripping them of property and freedom.
An aggressor who wages an unjust war can never acquire legitimate sovereignty over a conquered people. Even in a just war, a conqueror gains power only over those who actively raised force against him, not over innocent citizens, wives, or children. The conqueror gains no title to the property of the conquered, except to satisfy damages and costs of the war, leaving inheritance intact for descendants.
Conquest is an external invasion, whereas usurpation is a domestic takeover of authority without right. A usurper takes possession of what another person has a right to, without changing the laws or form of the commonwealth. Power seized through usurpation becomes legitimate only if the community voluntarily consents to confirm the new ruler in office.
Tyranny is the exercise of power beyond right, where a ruler uses force not for the good of subjects, but for private gratification. Wherever law ends, tyranny begins if the magistrate exceeds authority to harm citizens. Resistance to illegal force is justified, because unlawful violence dissolves the obligation of obedience and allows self-defense.
Governments dissolve from within when the legislature is altered without authorization, or when rulers act contrary to their trust by invading property. When rulers attempt to destroy or steal the life and property of the people, they forfeit their power and enter a state of war with society. The ultimate judge of whether a government has breached its trust is the community itself, which holds the right to establish a new legislative power.
A foundational argument for natural rights, individual consent, and government limited by the rule of law.