WGU C963 American politics and US Constitution Questions and Answers Already Graded A

Social Contract An agreement between people and government in which citizens consent to being governed so long as the government protects their natural rights. Natural Rights the idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to life, liberty, and property State of Nature A theory on how people might have lived before societies came into existence. is a condition in which all of us live individually and solitarily, prior to the existence of society. We are physically and mentally capable of achieving our own survival. Montesquieu () contribution in The Spirit of the Laws (1748) regards the structure of political institutions. He argues for a separation of powers: legislative, executive, and judicial. Each will serve as a check on the power of the other, limiting the harm each might do. separates power to offset the power of different social interests: ordinary people, the aristocracy, and the monarch. Thomas Hobbes (): One of the first individuals to contribute to the idea of the social contract was a pre-Enlightenment English philosopher. Hobbes argues that society is not something natural and immutable, but rather it is something created by us. We do this to resolve problems we collectively face, to make our lives better. State of Nature: it's "a war of all against all." Basically, the state of nature is a pretty nasty place where lives are perpetually insecure. John Locke () we are autonomous individuals, capable of using reason, and are driven to advance our personal interests. Our primary interest is survival, which we want to make secure and comfortable. To achieve this security and comfort, we acquire property. Two Treatisesof Government, disagrees, saying the state of nature is a relatively decent place. All its inhabitants are rational people, mindful of the basic law of nature t