Political Science 1020E Chapter Notes -John Locke, Civil Society, Bourgeoisie
1 May 2013
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The government exercises the sovereign power of the state; it is not itself the state. Although hobbes prefers monarchy for pragmatic reasons, it now makes no difference what the form of government is, mixed or otherwise, for the government is entirely distinct from the state. The state creates society and remains a sovereign entity above society and beyond the claims of any social grouping for political authority apart from the state. Hobbes" theory of state sovereignty legitimized monarchical absolutism, and more powerfully than earlier doctrines of ruler sovereignty that were under increasing attack. Hobbes had put sovereignty more absolute and indivisible than bodin"s beyond the power of any group to control or limit. The prevailing justification for absolutism was divine right, a concept of ruler sovereignty premised upon religious assumptions. He argues that the sovereign authority cannot and need not interfere in all aspects of life.
