Ideology And Politics Essay Research Paper Ideology

Ideology And Politics Essay, Research Paper

Ideology and politicsThe purpose of this paper is to treat the similarly and differences of liberalism. Iwill use John Locke and Adam Smith to represent classical liberals. John Stuart Mill andJohn Maynard Keynes will be used to show contemporary liberals. John LockeIn John Locke s Second Treatise of Government he develops a theory ofgovernment as a product of a social contract, which when broken justifies the creation ofa new government for the protection of life, liberty and property. He begins his argumentby developing a theory of the state of nature which is…what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedomto order their actions and dispose of their possessions and persons as theythink fit, within the bounds of the law of nature, without asking leave ordepending upon the will of any other man.1The state of nature includes the …law of nature to govern it, which obliges everyone;and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind who will but consult it… 2 The stateof nature also includes inequality…since gold and silver, being little useful to the life of a man in proportionto food, raiment, and carriage, has its value only from the consent of men,whereof labour yet makes, in great part, the measure, it is plain that menhave agreed to a disproportional and unequal possession of the earth.3In Locke s state on nature there are also three distinct problems.First there is no established settled known law. As each man consults his own law ofnature he receives a slightly different interpretation. Secondly there no known and indifferent judge. Which creates the problem of trying todecide which is the correct law of nature which will be followed in an impartial manor. Thirdly there is insufficient force of execution. This is the problem of how to carry outthe decision of the law of nature on another when he has a different interpretation ordoesn t consult the law of nature. Locke states that the three problems in the state of nature would be best solved bycoming together to form a new government to protect there property. The great and chief end therefore, of men s coming into commonwealths, and putting themselves under government, is the preservation of their property…4And goes further into what this new government should be empowered to dofirstly…established, settled known law, received and allowed by commonconsent to be the standard of right and wrong, and the common measure todecide all controversies between them…secondly…there wants a knownand indifferent judge, with authority to determine all differences according tothe established law…thirdly…There often wants power to back and supportthe sentence when right, and to give it due execution. They who by anyinjustice offend, will seldom fail, where they are able, by force to make goodtheir injustice…5In Locke s government men only give up the right to the above mentioned things,to create the law for themselves, to judge the law for themselves, and to execute the lawfor themselves. These are the only rights that the government has the right to interfere inas it is the only reason that people entered into a commonwealth. Locke also explains thenew social contract that the new government should operate under. The first point of thecontract is that the people agree to form a body politic, in which the majority rule.Second the body politic selects a government of the day. (elects people on a regular basisto the government to legislate the law)Locke laid out who should be allowed the right to vote, who shouldn t be allowedto vote and gives his reason why. …all men as members for the purposes of being ruled and only men of estateas members for the prepossess of ruling. The right to rule (more accurately,the right to control any government) is given to the men of estate only: it isthey who are given the decisive voice about taxation, without which nogovernment can subsist. On the other hand, the obligation to be bound by lawand subject to the lawful government is fixed on all men whether or not theyhave property in the sense of estate, and indeed whether or not they have madean express compact.6Johns Stuart MillThere is no difficulty in showing that the ideally best form of government is thatin which the sovereignty, or supreme controlling power in the last resort, isvested in the entire aggregate of the community.7It is with this statement that Mill begins his augment in The Ideally Best Polityshowing his believe in Locke s democracy but saying that all people could be best servedby the government if everyone could vote. As this is the only way the government learnswhat it needs to know in order to govern. He comes to this concussion by saying thatparticipatory democracy is the best answer to the two questions that he poses as to whatmakes a good government. …namely how far it promotes the good management of the affairs of societyby means of the existing faculties, moral, intellectual, and active, of its variousmembers, and what effect in improving or deteriorating those faculties.8Mill believes that it is necessary to expand the role of government not only toprotect the people from the government but to promote liberty by putting limits on whatcan be expressed as public opinion against a minority, and to involve people in thegovernment so as to give them stimulation and help them develop. In Mill s writings he also discuses the idea of liberty and what limits government