Under what circumstance could a new social contract be instituted, according to John Locke?

Under what circumstance could a new social contract be instituted, according to John Locke?

• A. If a government failed to compel obedience
• B. If a government violated people's natural rights
• C. If a government failed to protect people from economic inequality
• D. If a government entered into alliances with foreign governments

Answer: (B)

Under Locke, governments exist to protect people’s natural rights—life, liberty, and property—through the consent of the governed. If a government directly violates those rights or fails to protect them, the social compact is broken, and the people acquire the right to dissolve or alter the government and establish a new one that will safeguard those rights. This is why the circumstance described—when a government violates people’s natural rights—is the condition under which a new social contract could be instituted. Choices that focus on obedience, economic inequality, or foreign alliances don’t fit Locke’s criteria, since they don’t strike at the fundamental purpose of government as a protector of natural rights.

Under Locke, governments exist to protect people’s natural rights—life, liberty, and property—through the consent of the governed. If a government directly violates those rights or fails to protect them, the social compact is broken, and the people acquire the right to dissolve or alter the government and establish a new one that will safeguard those rights. This is why the circumstance described—when a government violates people’s natural rights—is the condition under which a new social contract could be instituted. Choices that focus on obedience, economic inequality, or foreign alliances don’t fit Locke’s criteria, since they don’t strike at the fundamental purpose of government as a protector of natural rights.