PYQ Vault · Paper 1 · Western Political Thought
Comment on the Locke’s Social Contract in 150 words.
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
contract argues for limited, consent-based government, not absolute power men quit a moral state of nature (freedom /equality under natural law, not Hobbes's war) only for its inconveniences
Body flow
state of nature + inconveniences (no settled law / no impartial judge / weak enforcement) → chief end = life, liberty, property → distinctive two-stage split of society and government → unanimous community, then government as trustee → society prior to government, delegated power only → limited surrender (legislate / execute / judge) with natural rights retained → consent (express / tacit), unanimity then majority rule
Counter-view
Hobbes's single-stage contract → absolute sovereignty, against Locke's consent- based, revocable trust (Waldron: rights held as trust cannot pass to arbitrary power → absolutism ruled out)
Conclusion routes
government a conditional fiduciary trust; breach dissolves the government, not society contract becomes the foundation of constitutional, accountable, limited rule
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
