WGU C963 - Learning Checks & Quizzes with 100% Questions with
Verified Answers (Correct Update)
Question 1: What is it called when people make an agreement between themselves and the
government?
Answer: A social contract
Question 2: According to the social contract theory, what is the origin of society?
Answer: Society is the product of human desire and effort
Question 3: Which of the following did John Locke view as the most important protections
under the social contract?
Answer: Liberty and property
Question 4: Which of these accurately describes John Locke's view on the state of nature?
Answer: The state of nature was peaceful and consisted of rational human beings
Question 5: According to John Locke, how much authority should society have over its citizens
under the social contract?
Answer: Limited authority, the social contract should provide a society in which the society has no
more power than is necessary to regulate the natural rights and co-existence of its citizens
Question 6: Describe the characteristics of a social contract.
Answer: A social contract is a collective expression of a collectively shared interest, a definition of
human nature, and a specification of natural rights.
Question 7: In what way is the state of nature important for constructing a social contract?
Answer: Society should be a reflection of what it means to be human, and natural rights must be
acknowledged and protected in a social contract.
Question 8: Why is it important to know what the quality of life is like in the state of nature?
Answer: How bad or good life is in the state of nature will guide the need to cooperate with others,
and the subsequent social contract will help overcome the drawbacks experienced in the state of
nature.
Page 1
, Question 9: What is the purpose of a social contract?
Answer: Social contracts are created to acknowledge and protect natural rights.
Question 10: What is an important weakness of a social contract?
Answer: Social contracts require consensus, which is difficult to obtain in any society.
Question 11: What do natural rights let you do?
Answer: Natural rights let you do what you need to survive and be secure, and they impart an equality
of all people.
Question 12: What did the Enlightenment philosophers used the state of nature for?
Answer: Enlightenment philosophers used the state of nature to define human nature and argued for a
proper society and government based on that nature.
Question 13: What conditions are required for a social contract to work?
Answer: The conditions needed for a social contract to work include consensus among those involved
in the social contract and a uniformity of ability and purpose among those who agree to it.
Question 14: What does the theory of a social contract acknowledge?
Answer: The social contract acknowledges that the people are in relationship with the government and
there are obligations the citizens have to a society.
Question 15: What are social contracts constructed to be compatible with?
Answer: The social contract recognizes both human nature and natural rights and when constructed,
natural rights are a central part because they are too important to our individual lives.
Question 16: What natural right was explicitly protected in the Declaration of Independence?
Answer: Liberty. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence based on the ideas of John
Locke who argued that one of our most important natural rights is liberty.
Question 17: Which Constitutional principle, suggested by Montesquieu, lessens the potential
harm of the national government over the people?
Answer: Separation of Powers. By separating the legislative, executive, and judicial power and
placing each branch into the control of different political actors this would prevent government
tyranny over the people by limiting the harm any one branch might do on its own.
Page 2
Verified Answers (Correct Update)
Question 1: What is it called when people make an agreement between themselves and the
government?
Answer: A social contract
Question 2: According to the social contract theory, what is the origin of society?
Answer: Society is the product of human desire and effort
Question 3: Which of the following did John Locke view as the most important protections
under the social contract?
Answer: Liberty and property
Question 4: Which of these accurately describes John Locke's view on the state of nature?
Answer: The state of nature was peaceful and consisted of rational human beings
Question 5: According to John Locke, how much authority should society have over its citizens
under the social contract?
Answer: Limited authority, the social contract should provide a society in which the society has no
more power than is necessary to regulate the natural rights and co-existence of its citizens
Question 6: Describe the characteristics of a social contract.
Answer: A social contract is a collective expression of a collectively shared interest, a definition of
human nature, and a specification of natural rights.
Question 7: In what way is the state of nature important for constructing a social contract?
Answer: Society should be a reflection of what it means to be human, and natural rights must be
acknowledged and protected in a social contract.
Question 8: Why is it important to know what the quality of life is like in the state of nature?
Answer: How bad or good life is in the state of nature will guide the need to cooperate with others,
and the subsequent social contract will help overcome the drawbacks experienced in the state of
nature.
Page 1
, Question 9: What is the purpose of a social contract?
Answer: Social contracts are created to acknowledge and protect natural rights.
Question 10: What is an important weakness of a social contract?
Answer: Social contracts require consensus, which is difficult to obtain in any society.
Question 11: What do natural rights let you do?
Answer: Natural rights let you do what you need to survive and be secure, and they impart an equality
of all people.
Question 12: What did the Enlightenment philosophers used the state of nature for?
Answer: Enlightenment philosophers used the state of nature to define human nature and argued for a
proper society and government based on that nature.
Question 13: What conditions are required for a social contract to work?
Answer: The conditions needed for a social contract to work include consensus among those involved
in the social contract and a uniformity of ability and purpose among those who agree to it.
Question 14: What does the theory of a social contract acknowledge?
Answer: The social contract acknowledges that the people are in relationship with the government and
there are obligations the citizens have to a society.
Question 15: What are social contracts constructed to be compatible with?
Answer: The social contract recognizes both human nature and natural rights and when constructed,
natural rights are a central part because they are too important to our individual lives.
Question 16: What natural right was explicitly protected in the Declaration of Independence?
Answer: Liberty. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence based on the ideas of John
Locke who argued that one of our most important natural rights is liberty.
Question 17: Which Constitutional principle, suggested by Montesquieu, lessens the potential
harm of the national government over the people?
Answer: Separation of Powers. By separating the legislative, executive, and judicial power and
placing each branch into the control of different political actors this would prevent government
tyranny over the people by limiting the harm any one branch might do on its own.
Page 2
