Lesson Note on POL 221 Introduction to Modern Political Thought NCE 200L 2nd Sem. 2025

 

Lesson Note: POL 221 Introduction to Modern Political Thought

Course Description: This course explores the evolution of modern political thought from the 16th century to the present, analyzing the contributions of influential thinkers and their ideas on the nation-state, social justice, revolution, socialism, democracy, representation, civil rights, and sovereignty.

Course Outline:

Week 1: Introduction to Modern Political Thought

What is modern Political Thought

It is the age of individualism, whereby there is an increase in social autonomy and political self-determination. This is the time whereby people have the right to speak and to choose their leaders without being coerced. It is also an era of numerous progress and curiosity in political thinking. Modern Political thought finds new conceptions of political rationality and affection on how to think and feel about politics, both in and outside our territories, as well as the backwardness of such key concepts as equality and liberty of the state and civil society. This type of changes held much promise, in shaping institutions that seemed destined to improve on economic and social conditions for fast increasing populations. Yet this politics that ensued from such ‘modern’ thinking may sometimes prove disastrous: for instance, in the 20th Century people thought that they have fulfilled the promise of modernity but turns out to have been the most violent in history.

 Modern Political Thought refers to the body of ideas and theories about politics, society, and the state that emerged in Europe during the 16th to 19th centuries. This period saw the rise of new political ideologies, such as liberalism, conservatism, socialism, and nationalism, which challenged traditional notions of authority, power, and governance. The modern era was marked by significant social, economic, and political changes, including:

The Renaissance took place in (14th-17th centuries) and promoted a cultural and intellectual movement that revived classical learning and emphasized humanism. It is also the discovery of classical philosophy, literature and arts. This was a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth” following the Middle Ages. This was a time when the greatest thinkers, authors, statesmen, scientists and artists in human history thrived, and then opened up global exploration, lands and cultures of European commerce. The Renaissance is credited with bridging the gap between the Middle Ages and modern-day civilization. (https://www.history.com/topics/renaissance/renaissance) Furthermore, it is a period in European civilization that was marked by a revival of Classical learning and Wisdom. The Renaissance saw many contributions to different fields, including new scientific laws, new forms of art and architecture, and new religious and political ideas (https://www.britannica.com).

The Reformation was carried out in the 16th century; whereby religious movement that challenged Catholic authority led to the emergence of Protestantism (Protestants). This was seen as a Protestant Reformation (1517-1648) referring to the widespread religious, cultural, and social upheaval of Europe that broke the hold of the medieval Church, allowing for the development of personal interpretations of the Christian message and leading to the development of modern nation-states known as protestant reformation (https://www.worldhistory.org). This time was when there are the widespread religious, cultural, and social development. This reformation started by Martin Luther King, a German teacher and a monk, who brought about the Protestant reformation when he challenged the Catholic Church's teachings starting in 1517. The Protestant Reformation was a religious reform movement that swept through Europe in the 1500s. The cause of the reformation was a combination of several factors such as a century of dissatisfaction with the Catholic Church, whose popes and bishops were demonstrating an increasing abuse of spiritual power for political and material gain; it was the desire of Henry VIII’s to obtain a divorce from his wife Catherine of Aragon, because the king was desperate for a male heir, and also in love with Anne Boleyn whom he thought would give him a male child.  The Catholic Church refused to grant him divorce; that lead to the reformation. It was envisaged   that, there was the political undertone as Catherine of Aragon, was a renowned politician and the aunt of the Emperor Charles V of Spain (the Holy Roman Emperor) whose army surrounded Rome, probably that was why the Catholic Church refused to grant him divorce from his wife. 

In 1530, Henry VIII enlisted the support of an intelligent clergyman, Thomas Cranmer, who compiled documents arguing that, historically, the King of England had imperial power similar to that of the Holy Roman Emperors and was therefore not subject to the Pope’s jurisdiction.

Henry had to wait until the death of the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1532 before he could get the English clergy’s support for his judicial autonomy. Henry maneuvered successfully to make Cranmer the new Archbishop of Canterbury, thereby, obtained his required divorce and, in 1534, the Act of Supremacy was issued. It formalized the break with Rome, making Henry the Supreme Head of the now independent Church of England

( https://www.durhamworldheritagesite.com/learn/history/reformation).

The Enlightenment also known as age of reason (17th-18th centuries): It was a philosophical movement that emphasized reason, science, and individual rights. This era marked the European intellectual movement in which ideas concerning God, reason, nature, and humanity were synthesized into a worldview that gained wide assent in the West thereby instigated revolutionary developments in art, philosophy, and politics. Contrary to the Enlightenment thought were the use and celebration of reason, the power by which humans understand the universe and improve their own condition. The goals of rational humanity were considered to be knowledge, freedom, and happiness.

The Philosophers explored the powers and uses of reason of the ancient Greece. The Romans adopted and preserved much of Greek culture, notably including the ideas of a rational natural order and natural law. Despite the turmoil of empire, however, a new concern arose for personal salvation, and the way was paved for the triumph of the Christian religion.  The majority of the Christian thinkers gradually found uses for their Greco-Roman heritage. They inculcated the system of thought known as Scholasticism, culminating in the work of Thomas Aquinas, who resurrected reason as a tool of understanding. The presentation of Thomas Aquinas provided Aristotle the method for obtaining that truth which was ascertainable by reason alone; Whereby Christian revelation contained a higher truth, Thomas placed the natural law evident to reason subordinate to, but not in conflict with, eternal law and divine law which was allowed to flow freely without any interference.

The Christianity intellectual and political edifice, seemingly impregnable in the Middle Ages, fell in turn to the assaults made on it by humanism, the Renaissance, and the Protestant Reformation. Humanism bred the experimental science of Francis Bacon, Nicolaus Copernicus, and Galileo and the mathematical investigations of René Descartes, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, and Isaac Newton. Much of the Renaissance, rediscovered Classical culture and revived the notion of humans as creative beings, and the Reformation, directly but in the long run no less effectively, challenged the monolithic authority of the Roman Catholic Church. For Martin Luther King, as for Bacon or Descartes, the way to truth lay in the application of human reason. Both the Renaissance and the Reformation were fewer movements for intellectual liberty than changes of authority, but, since they appealed more to different authorities, they contributed to the breakdown of the community of thought. Received authority, whether of Ptolemy in the sciences or of the church in matters of the spirit, was to be subject to the probing of unfettered minds (https://www.britannica.com/event/Enlightenment-European-history).

The Scientific Revolution started 6th-17th centuries. This was a period of major scientific discoveries that transformed understanding of the natural world. It was the name (Scientific Revolution) given to a period of drastic change in scientific thought that took place during those centuries. This replaced the Greek view of nature that had dominated science for almost 2,000 years. It was also characterized by an emphasis on abstract reasoning, quantitative thought/reasoning, an understanding of how nature works, the view of nature as a machine, and the development of an experimental scientific method.

The quick emergence of new information during the Scientific Revolution called into questioning religious beliefs, moral principles, and the traditional scheme of nature. It also strained old institutions and practices, necessitating new ways of communicating/interaction and disseminating information. Prominent innovations included scientific societies (which were created to discuss and validated new discoveries) plus scientific papers (which were developed as tools to communicate new information comprehensibly and test the discoveries and hypotheses made by their authors) (https://www.britannica.com). Furthermore, the Scientific Revolution was a series of events that marked the emergence of modern science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology and chemistry transformed the views of society about man and nature (Wikipedia).

The Rise of Nation-States also took effect at the same 16th century but lasted 16th-19th centuries. This also brought about the emergence of centralized, sovereign states that replaced feudalism and absolute monarchies.  A nation-state is a sovereign government (i.e., a state) ruled in the name of a group of citizens who identified themselves as a nation. The right to self-determination of a core national group within the state (which may include all or only some of its residents) underpins a nation-authority state’s control over a territory and the people who live there.  The core national group members believed that the state is theirs and that the approximate territory of the state is their homeland. As a result, of this they demanded that other organisations, both internal and external to the state, recognise and accept their authority. Nation-states, as defined by American sociologist Rogers Brubaker in Nationalism Reframed: Nationhood and the National Question in the New Europe are “states of and for certain nations” (1996).

The political model of the nation-state combines two principles: state sovereignty, which was first articulated in the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) and recognised states’ right to govern their territories without external interference, and national sovereignty, which recognises national communities’ right to govern them. National sovereignty is founded on the moral-philosophical premise of popular sovereignty, which holds that states belong to the people. According to the latter principle, legitimate state control necessitates some form of popular agreement. This requirement, however, does not imply that all nation-states are democratic. Indeed, many authoritarian rulers have presented themselves to the outside world and to the people they rule as ruling in the name of a sovereign nation. https://unacademy.com/content/upsc/study-material/general-awareness/nations-and-states-the-rise-of-the-nation-state/

 Before there were nation-states, there was also the feudal system of government. As this form of government was phased out, nation-states emerged and took control of their place. After the Thirty Years War in the fifteenth century, the Peace of Westphalia was established. This series of treaties created the environment that nation-states were able to rise out of. Up until now Nation-states still exist today and are partially responsible for the way we view ourselves as citizens of our countries. Nation-states exist when a sovereign power rules over land with a defined boundary and the people of the land have a shared experience. This experience can be language, culture, ethnicity, or religion affiliation. The people will feel a kinship based on this shared identity. People living in a nation-state sacrifice some personal freedoms in exchange for the nation's stability. (https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/history/modern-world-history/emergence-of-nation-states/#:~:text=of%20nation%2Dstates.-,The%20Emergence%20of%20Nation%2DStates%3A%20A%20Summary,borders%20and%20a%20sovereign%20ruler). Nation-state is defined as a territorially bounded sovereign polity that is., a state that is ruled in the name of a community of citizens who identify themselves as a nation. The concept of a Nation  is a cultural entity that binds people together on the basis of culturally homogenous ties – common or related blood, a common language, a common historical tradition, common customs and habits (Rodee et al, 1976). The legitimacy of a nation-state is a rule over a territory and over the population inhabiting its stems from the right of a core national group within the state (which may include all or only some of its citizens), to self-determination. Members of the core national group see the state as belonging to them and consider the approximate territory of the state to be their homeland. Accordingly, they demand that other groups, both within and outside the state, recognize and respect their control over the state.https://www.britannica.com/facts/nation-state

State: The central authority that exercises power over a defined territory and population. It is also a nation or territory considered as an organized political community under one government.  It is a political organization of society, or the body politic, or, more narrowly, the institutions of government. The state is a form of human association distinguished from other social groups by its purpose, the establishment of order and security; its methods, the laws and their enforcement; its territory, the area of jurisdiction or geographic boundaries; and finally, it is sovereignty. The state consists, most broadly, of the agreement of the individuals on the means whereby disputes are settled in the form of laws. In such countries as the United States, Australia, Nigeria, Mexico, and Brazil, the term state (or a cognate) also refers to political units that are not sovereign themselves but subject to the authority of the larger state/country, or federal union. https://www.britannica.com/topic/state-sovereign-political-entity.Historical conceptions of a state in Greek and Roman precedents by various renowned Authors

The history of the Western state begins in ancient Greece. Plato and Aristotle wrote of the polis, or city-state, as an ideal form of association, in which the whole community’s religious, cultural, political, and economic needs could be satisfied. This city-state, characterized primarily by its self-sufficiency, was seen by Aristotle as the means of developing morality in the human character. The Greek idea corresponds more accurately to the modern concept of the nation i.e., a population of a fixed area that shares a common language, culture, and historical background; whereas, the Roman res publica, or commonwealth, is more similar to the modern concept of the state. The res publica was a legal system whose jurisdiction extended to all Roman citizens, securing their rights and determining their responsibilities.

 

Machiavelli and Bodin

 

The modern concept of a state emerged in the 16th century. According to the writings of Niccolò Machiavelli (Italy) and Jean Bodin (France), state was viewed as the centralizing force whereby stability might be regained. In The Prince, Machiavelli gave prime importance to the durability of government, sweeping aside all moral considerations and focusing instead on the strength the vitality, courage, and independence of the ruler. For Bodin, his contemporary, power was not sufficient in itself to create a sovereign; rule must comply with morality to be durable, and it must have continuity i.e., a means of establishing succession. Bodin’s theory was the forerunner of the 17th-century doctrine known as the divine right of kings, whereby monarchy became the predominate form of government in Europe. It created a climate for the ideas of the 17th-century reformers like John Locke in England and Jean-Jacques Rousseau in France, who began to reexamine the origins and purposes of the state.

 

Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau

For Locke and Rousseau, as well as for Locke’s English predecessor Thomas Hobbes, the state reflected the nature of the human beings who created it. The “natural condition” of man, said Hobbes, is self-seeking and competitive. Man subjects himself to the rule of the state as the only means of self-preservation whereby he can escape the brutish cycle of mutual destruction that is otherwise the result of his contact with others.

Locke viewed the state as, that human condition is not so gloomy, but the state again springs from the need for protection in this case, of inherent rights. Locke said that: “the state is the social contract by which individuals agree not to infringe on each other’s “natural rights” to life, liberty, and property, in exchange for which each man secures his own “sphere of liberty.”

Rousseau’s ideas reflect an attitude far more positive in respect of human nature than either Hobbes or Locke. Rather than the right of a monarch to rule, Rousseau proposed that the state owed its authority to the general will of the governed. For him, the nation itself is sovereign, and the law is none other than the will of the people as a whole. Influenced by Plato, Rousseau recognized the state as the environment for the moral development of humanity. Man, though corrupted by his civilization, remained basically good and therefore capable of assuming the moral position of aiming at the general welfare. Because the result of aiming at individual purposes is disagreement, a healthy (no corrupting) state can exist only when the common good is recognized as the goal.

Hegel

The 19th-century German philosopher George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, saw the sphere of liberty as the whole state, with freedom not so much an individual’s right, but rather, a result of human reason. Freedom was not the capacity to do as one liked but was the alignment with a universal will toward well-being. When men acted as moral agents, conflict ceased, and their aims coincided. Subordinating himself to the state, the individual was able to realize a synthesis between the values of family and the needs of economic life. To Hegel, the state was the culmination of moral action, where freedom of choice had led to the unity of the rational will, and all parts of society were nourished within the health of the whole. However, Hegel remained enchanted with the power of national aspiration. He did not share the vision of Immanuel Kant, his predecessor, who proposed the establishment of a league of nations to end conflict altogether and to establish a “perpetual peace.”

Bentham and Marx

For the English utilitarian’s of the 19th century, the state was an artificial means of producing a unity of interest and a device for maintaining stability. This benign but mechanistic view proposed by Jeremy Bentham and others set a precedent for the early communist thinkers like Karl Marx for whom the state had become an “apparatus of oppression” determined by a ruling class whose object was always to maintain itself in economic supremacy. He and his collaborator, Friedrich Engels, wrote in The Communist Manifesto that, in order to realize complete freedom and contentment, the people must replace the government first by a “dictatorship of the proletariat,” which would be followed by the “withering away of the state,” and then by a classless society based not on the enforcement of laws but on the organization of the means of production and the fair distribution of goods and property.

 

Contemporary views

In the 20th and early 21st centuries, concepts of state ranged from anarchism, in which the state was deemed unnecessary and even harmful in that it operated by some form of coercion, to the welfare state, in which the government was held to be responsible for the survival of its members, guaranteeing subsistence to those lacking it.

In the wake of the destruction produced by the nationalistically inspired world wars, theories of internationalism like those of Hans Kelsen and Oscar Ichazo appeared. Kelsen put forward the idea of the state as simply a centralized legal order, no more sovereign than the individual, in that it could not be defined only by its own existence and experience. It must be seen in the context of its interaction with the rest of the world. Ichazo proposed a new kind of state in which the universal qualities of all individuals provided a basis for unification, with the whole society functioning as a single organism. https://www.britannica.com/topic/state-sovereign-political-entity/Hegel

 

Social Justice: The idea that individuals and groups should be treated fairly and have equal access to resources and opportunities. Social justice may be broadly understood as the fair and compassionate distribution of the fruits of economic growth.”
United Nations

“Social justice is the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities. Social workers aim to open the doors of access and opportunity for everyone, particularly those in greatest need.”

National Association of Social Workers

“Social justice encompasses economic justice. Social justice is the virtue which guides us in creating those organized human interactions we call institutions. In turn, social institutions, when justly organized, provide us with access to what is good for the person, both individually and in our associations with others. Social justice also imposes on each of us a personal responsibility to work with others to design and continually perfect our institutions as tools for personal and social development.”

Center for Economic and Social Justice

• Equal rights
• Equal opportunity
• Equal treatment

Having these core values in mind, we can define the phrase: Social justice as means of equal rights and equitable opportunities for all.

Furthermore, on Social justice; refers to political and philosophical theory that focuses on the concept of fairness in relations between individuals in society and equal access to wealth, opportunities, and social privileges in a society. The concept of social justice first emerged in the 19^th century, as there were wide disparities in wealth and social standing perpetuated through the social structure of that time.

There are five main principles of social justice that are paramount to understanding the concept better. Namely:

v  Access to Resources,

v  Equity,

v  Participation,

v  Diversity,

v  and Human Rights.

 

 

v  Access to Resources

Access to resources is an important principle of social justice which refers to the extent to which different socioeconomic groups receive equal access to give everyone an equal start in life. Many societies offer a multitude of resources and services for their citizens, such as healthcare, food, shelter, education, and recreational opportunities. However, unequal access to such services often exists. For example, individuals from wealthy households among the upper and upper-middle classes are often better able to afford to attend good schools and access post-secondary education, which leads to a greater chance of obtaining jobs with higher income in the future. In contrast to this, those from the lower classes face fewer opportunities. It, in turn, limits access to education for future generations and continues the cycle of facing disadvantages.

v  Equity

Equity refers to how individuals are given tools specific to their needs and socioeconomic status in order to move towards similar outcomes. It contrasts with equality, where everyone is offered the same tools to move towards the same outcome. As such, often, things that are equal are not equitable due to the more advanced needs of some individuals and groups. Social justice, integrated with addressing equity issues, might include advancing policies that provide support to overcome systemic barriers.

v  Participation

Participation refers to how everyone in society is given a voice and opportunity to verbalize their opinions and concerns and have a role in any decision-making that affects their livelihood and standard of living. Social injustice occurs when a small group of individuals makes decisions for a large group, while some people are unable to voice their opinions. For instance in Nigeria today a lot of people is facing hardships as a result of small group of individuals (Politicians) making decisions for a large group of people without considering their individual differences.

v  Diversity

It is very important to understanding diversity and appreciates the value of cultural differences these are to be considered, especially important because policymakers are often better able to construct policies that take into consideration differences that exist among different societal groups. It is important to recognize that some groups face more barriers in society, and by considering the inequities, policymakers and civil servants will be in a stronger position to expand opportunities for marginalized or disadvantaged groups. Discrimination in employment on the basis of factors such as race, gender, ethnicity, sex, age, and other characteristics are constant issues in society, and enforcing policies to countermand discriminatory practices are one way in which diversity is taken into consideration.

v  Human Rights

One of the most important principles of social justice is Human rights and form a foundational part of the concept. Human rights and social justice are interrelated, and it is impossible for one to exist without the other. Human rights are fundamental to societies that respect the civil, economic, political, cultural, and legal rights of individuals and governments, organizations, and individuals must be held responsible if they fail to ensure the upholding of these rights. They are extremely important in many societies and are recognized internationally through institutions such as the International Criminal Court and the United Nations Human Rights Council. Social justice encompasses a wide range of issues and advocates for the fair treatment of all people, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, ability or socioeconomic status. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/esg/social-justice/#:~:text=The%20five%20main%20principles%20of,%2C%20diversity%2C%20and%20human%20rights.

 The most pressing social justice issues include:

·         Economic inequality: The gap between the rich and the poor is growing wider in many countries. This is a major social justice issue, leading to a lack of opportunity for the poor marginalized.

·         Racial injustice: People of color are disproportionately affected by poverty, crime and violence and face discrimination in employment, housing and education.

·         Gender injustice: Women and girls have historically been denied the same rights and opportunities as men and face discrimination in the workplace, in education and in politics.

·         Disability injustice: People with disabilities are often denied the same rights and opportunities as people without disabilities and face discrimination at work and in their communities.

·         Environmental injustice: People of color and low-income communities are often disproportionately affected by environmental pollution and the impacts of climate change. https://www.sdfoundation.org/news-events/sdf-news/what-is-socialjustice/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CSocial%20justice%20is%20the%20view,Social%20justice%20encompasses%20economic%20justice.

 

History and Evolution of Social Justice

The concept of social justice first arose in the 19^th century during the Industrial Revolution as attempts were made to promote more egalitarian societies and reduce the exploitation of certain marginalized groups due to the vast disparity between the rich and poor at the time. Social justice initially focused on issues such as the distribution of capital, property, and wealth due to the extreme levels of inequality and economic distress prevalent at the time, resulting from the European social class structure.

Today, social justice has shifted towards a stronger emphasis on human rights and improving the lives of disadvantaged and marginalized groups that have historically faced discrimination in society. Many of these groups have been discriminated against on the basis of factors such as sex, age, wealth, ethnicity, heritage, social status, religion, and others. Social justice often leads to efforts to redistribute wealth to some of the underprivileged groups through providing income, jobs, and education support and opportunities.

Revolution: A fundamental change in the political, social, or economic order of a society. : a sudden, radical, or complete change. b.: a fundamental change in political organization. especially: the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed (https://www.merriam-webster.com>dictionary>revolution).

In political science, a revolution (Latin: revolutio, 'a turnaround') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements at their core: (a) efforts to change the political regime that draw on a competing vision (or visions) of a just order, (b) a notable degree of informal or formal mass mobilization, and (c) efforts to force change through non institutionalized actions such as mass demonstrations, protests, strikes, or violence."

Revolutions have occurred throughout human history and varied in their methods, durations and outcomes. Some revolutions started with peasant uprisings or guerrilla warfare on the periphery of a country; others started with urban insurrection aimed at seizing the country's capital city.  Revolutions can be inspired by the rising popularity of certain political ideologies, moral principles, or models of governance such as nationalism, republicanism, egalitarianism, self-determination, human rights, democracy, liberalism, fascism or socialism.

A regime may become vulnerable to revolution due to a recent military defeat, or economic chaos, or an affront to national pride and identity, or pervasive repression and corruption. Revolutions typically trigger counterrevolutions which seek to halt revolutionary momentum, or to reverse the course of an ongoing revolutionary transformation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution#:~:text=revolutions%20entail%20not%20only%20mass,the%20struggle%20for%20state%20power.

Socialism: An ideology that advocates for collective ownership and control of the means of production.  It can also be defined as a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. (Oxford dictionary). Socialism is an economic system in which major industries are owned by workers rather than by private businesses. It is different from capitalism, where private actors, like business owners and shareholders, can own the means of production (https://simple.wikipedia.org>wiki>socialism).

Socialism is a populist economic and political system based on collective, common, or public ownership of the means of production. Those means of production include the machinery, tools, and factories used to produce goods that aim to directly satisfy human needs(https://www.investopedia.com>terms>socialism).

Democracy: A system of government where power is held by the people, either directly or through elected representatives. Democracy is a system of government in which laws, policies, leadership, and major undertakings of a state Studies of contemporary nonliterate tribal societies and other evidence suggest that democracy, broadly speaking, was practiced within tribes of hunter-gatherers in prehistoric times. The transition to settled agricultural communities led to inequalities of wealth and power between and within communities and hierarchical nondemocratic forms of social organization. Thousands of years later, in the 6th century BCE, a relatively democratic form of government was introduced in the city-state of Athens by Cleisthenes.

 or other polity are directly or indirectly decided by the “people,” a group historically constituted by only a minority of the population (e.g., all free adult males in ancient Athens or all sufficiently propertied adult males in 19th-century Britain) but generally understood since the mid-20th century to include all (or nearly all) adult citizens. https://www.britannica.com/question/What-is-democracy

Representation: The idea that individuals or groups can represent the interests of others in the political process. Representation, in government, method or process of enabling the citizenry, or some of them, to participate in the shaping of legislation and governmental policy through deputies chosen by them.

The rationale of representative government is that in large modern countries the people cannot all assemble, as they did in the marketplace of democratic Athens or Rome; and if, therefore, the people are to participate in government, they must select and elect a small number from among themselves to represent and to act for them. In modern polities with large populations, representation in some form is necessary if government is to be based on the consent of the governed. Elected representatives are also less likely to reflect the transitory political passions of the moment than are the people, and thus they provide greater stability and continuity of policy to a government. (https://www.britannica.com/topic/legislature)

Civil Rights: The fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed to individuals by a state or society. Civil rights, guarantees of equal social opportunities and equal protection under the law, regardless of race, religion, or other personal characteristics.

Examples of civil rights include the right to vote, the right to a fair trial, the right to government services, the right to a public education, and the right to use public facilities. Civil rights are an essential component of democracy; when individuals are being denied opportunities to participate in political society, they are being denied their civil rights. In contrast to civil liberties, which are freedoms that are secured by placing restraints on government, civil rights are secured by positive government action, often in the form of legislation. Civil rights laws attempt to guarantee full and equal citizenship for people who have traditionally been discriminated against on the basis of some group characteristic. When the enforcement of civil rights is found by many to be inadequate, a civil rights movement may emerge in order to call for equal application of the laws without discrimination. Members of the movement may also engage in identity politics ( https://www.britannica.com/topic/civil-rights).

 

Sovereignty: The supreme authority of a state or monarch over its territory and population. sovereignty is the concept for the highest, independent power in a given territory. Stroud's Judicial Dictionary defines sovereignty as a form of government that has administrative control of a state and has not been subordinated to another state. Or in other words, a sovereign state is one that has its own mode of self-control; it is not under the control of another power, and it is not out of control. Moreover, the idea of sovereign authority is supreme within a given territory. So while individuals and organizations, for instance, a social club, may be able to make their own rules, they are not sovereign if there is some source that has more authority to overrule their proceedings. https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-sovereignty-definition-meaning-quiz.html#:~:text=To%20state%20it%20briefly%2C%20sovereignty,been%20subordinated%20to%20another%20state.

Individualism: The idea that individuals have their own rights and interests that should be protected. individualism, Political and social philosophy that emphasizes individual freedom. Modern individualism emerged in Britain with the ideas of Adam Smith and Jeremy Bentham, and the concept was described by Alexis de Tocqueville as fundamental to the American temper. Individualism encompasses a value system, a theory of human nature, and a belief in certain political, economic, social, and religious arrangements. According to the individualist, all values are human-centered, the individual is of supreme importance, and all individuals are morally equal. Individualism places great value on self-reliance, on privacy, and on mutual respect. Negatively, it embraces opposition to authority and to all manner of controls over the individual, especially when exercised by the state. As a theory of human nature, individualism holds that the interests of the normal adult are best served by allowing him maximum freedom and responsibility for choosing his objectives and the means for obtaining them.

The institutional embodiment of individualism follows from these principles. All individualists believe that government should keep its interference in the lives of individuals at a minimum, confining itself largely to maintaining law and order, preventing individuals from interfering with others, and enforcing agreements (contracts) voluntarily arrived at. Individualism also implies a property system according to which each person or family enjoys the maximum of opportunity to acquire property and to manage and dispose of it as he or they see fit. Although economic individualism and political individualism in the form of democracy advanced together for a while, in the course of the 19th century they eventually proved incompatible, as newly enfranchised voters came to demand governmental intervention in the economic process. Individualistic ideas lost ground in the later 19th and early 20th century with the rise of large-scale social organization and the emergence of political theories opposed to individualism, particularly communism and fascism. They reemerged in the latter half of the 20th century with the defeat of fascism and the fall of communist regimes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. https://www.britannica.com/summary/individualism#:~:text=Individualism%20encompasses%20a%20value%20system,all%20individuals%20are%20morally%20equal.

Liberty: The idea that individuals should be free to make their own choices and decisions. Liberty, a state of freedom, especially as opposed to political subjection, imprisonment, or slavery. Its two most generally recognized divisions are political and civil liberty. Civil liberty is the absence of arbitrary restraint and the assurance of a body of rights, such as those found in bills of rights, in statutes, and in judicial decisions. Such liberty, however, is not inconsistent with regulations and restrictions imposed by law for the common good. Political liberty consists of the right of individuals to participate in government by voting and by holding public office. Since the proletarian and socialist movements and the economic dislocations after World War I, liberty has been increasingly defined in terms of economic opportunity and security. In Anglo-American countries liberty has often been identified with constitutional government, political democracy, and the orderly administration of common-law systems.

In a more particular sense, a liberty is the term for a franchise, a privilege, or branch of the crown’s prerogative granted to a subject, as, for example, that of executing legal process. These liberties are exempt from the jurisdiction of the sheriff and have separate commissions of the peace. In the United States a franchise is a privilege, the term liberty not being used in such cases. The concept of liberty as a body of specific rights found in English and U.S. constitutional law contrasts with the abstract or general liberty enunciated during the French Revolution and in the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. However, modern liberty involves, in theory, both the support of specific rights of the individual, such as civil and political liberty, and the guarantee of the general welfare through democratically enacted social legislation.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/liberty-human-rights

Social Contract: The idea that individuals agree to form a society and obey its rules in exchange for protection and security. It is an agreement between members of society, community or organization that spelt out the obligation, functions and right of each person agreeing to the contract. When two people or parties join in social contract, they are essentially starting their roles and how they intend to uphold their duties. Most often used within the context of politics and rule, the social contract means how citizens are expected to comply with the rules of governmental authority in exchange for state protection. Citizens are under social contract by default just by deciding to reside in a certain place. On the other hand when the social contract fails to uphold its end of the bargain and leaves its citizens in a state of despair, the government faces the risk of revolution.

Socrates is considered the founder of the social contract theory. He stated that living in a place essentially signifies that you agree to the laws of that land and the repercussions for breaking those laws. If you choose to live in a place, you voluntarily choose to obey the stated laws. At the same time, he also believed that the relationship between citizens and the laws of the government should not be a forced relationship that can easily be broken by simply moving elsewhere. John Locke's social contract was called the 'State of Nature'. He believed that humans will not harm one another because they are bound by natural morals; however, they do need a government to protect them from others who would try to injure or enslave them. Social contracts are implicit agreements between citizens who are expected to comply with the rules of governmental authority in exchange for state protection. The agreements spell out the obligations, functions and right between the members of society, community or organizations. https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-a-social-contract-definition-examples.html#:~:text=A%20social%20contract%20is%20simple,social%20contract%20are%20different%20things.

The history of political thought is a field of study which explores past ideas and writings concerning politics that can cover a whole range of issues including democracy, freedom, constitutionalism, and political obligation etc. As the name suggests, it is technically a subs discipline of history and consequently, many practitioners emphasizes on the commonality in terms of subject matter, approach, and methodological techniques with other branches of history. Moreover, the history of political thought also shares much in common with other disciplines and sub disciplines including philosophy (particularly ethics and political philosophy); politics, political science, and political theory; intellectual history, cultural history, and even literary history. However, some of those who have made important contributions to the history of political thought are more comfortable describing themselves as political scientists or political philosophers than historians of political thought.

 

Whereas, scholars from different disciplines can and do work together and build on each other's findings, they have sometimes approached the study of past political thought with rather different purposes in mind. Taking for instance some of those concerned with the study of politics or government have presented their own ideas against the background of accounts by previous writers, dating back to Plato and beyond. Still, in these cases, the study of these texts and ideas is viewed from the perspective of the present concerns. The same thing has also been true of philosophers interested in political and ethical issues. Such scholars tend to focus on a canon of key texts or figures that are effectively seen as exploring the same issues and as engaging in dialogue with one another. In supporting these arguments, others in these fields have challenged the relevance of past discussions of political issues in favor of an empirical social science approach that focuses on how politics operates today or a philosophical analysis of political concepts exploring the grammar underpinning their current use. Set against these various trends (as well as against those historians who downplay the relevance of political thought or even ideas more generally, to historical enquiry) is the orientation of those historians who have been interested in the history of political thought?

 

Also even, among those who consciously study the history of political thought there is no single approach to the subject. But rather a number of different methodologies have been developed. Consequently, the remainder of this article will focus on three approaches that have proved particularly dominant over the past 50 years and remain so till date: the Straussian approach that takes its lead from the work of Leo Strauss; that of the Cambridge School, the leading figures of which are J.G.A. Pocock and Quentin Skinner; and Begriffs geschichte or Conceptual History that was pioneered by the German scholars Otto Brunner, Werner Conze, and Reinhart Koselleck.(https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/political-thought#:~:text=Political%20thought%20refers%20to%20the,intellectual%20history%2C%20and%20other%20disciplines).

Influential Thinkers:

 Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527): Italian philosopher and politician who wrote "The Prince" (1513). Wrote about how to gain and maintain power.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679): English philosopher who wrote "Leviathan" (1651). He argued that a strong central government is necessary to maintain order.

John Locke (1632-1704): English philosopher who wrote "Two Treatises of Government" (1689).  Believed that individuals have natural rights to life, liberty, and property.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778): French philosopher who wrote "The Social Contract" (1762).  Argued that individuals are inherently good, but society corrupts them.

Jeremy Bentham (born 15^th February, 1748-1832): English philosopher, Economist, and a theoretical jurist who developed modern utilitarianism an ethical theory holding that actions are morally right if they tend to promote happiness or pleasure (and morally wrong if they tend to promote unhappiness or pain) among all those affected by them. (https://www.britannica.com) He also advocated for the rational revision of the legal system, a restructuring of the process of determining responsibility and of punishment, and a more extensive freedom of contract. He believed that this will favour the development of the community, and the personal development of the individual.

Edmund Burke (1729-1797): Irish philosopher and politician who wrote "Reflections on the Revolution in France" (1790). He was a proponent of underpinning virtues with manners in society and of the importance of religious institutions for the moral stability and good of the state. This he expressed in the Vindication of Natural Society (1956). His political ideology was Conservatism (Edmund Burke Conservatism). His view was that Enlightenment philosophers and revolutionaries had over inflated the supposed metaphysical rights of humans, and that in the natural world, humans gravitated toward those in power and accepted their authority.

Georg Wilhelm Hegel (1770-1831): German philosopher who wrote "The Philosophy of Right" (1820).

Karl Marx (1818-1883): German philosopher and economist who wrote "The Communist Manifesto" (1848) and "Das Kapital" (1867). He believes that human beings intrinsically strive toward freedom, and we are not really free unless we control our own destiny. Marxism justifies and predicts the emergence of a stateless and classless society without private property.