PYQ Vault · Paper 1 · Western Political Thought
John Locke is the father of liberalism. Explain.
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
Locke at centre of modern liberal thought → Seliger: first to elaborate liberalism as a complete system rights + consent + limited govt + property + toleration + resistance, bound into one frame → set against divine-right rule → title earned
Body flow
reject Filmer / divine right → authority on consent, not inheritance → moral state of nature, not Hobbes's war → natural rights (life, liberty, property) prior to state → government as fiduciary trust → society prior to government → only delegated power (make, execute, judge) under natural + standing law – liberty under law ("No law, no liberty") → property as fruit of labour + toleration (conscience) + right to revolt → liberal frame complete
Counter-view
Macpherson: possessive individualism / Laski: negative state → yet Macpherson still locates Locke at the fountainhead of liberalism
Conclusion routes
contract theory shifted from absolute sovereignty → constitutional rule → liberty under law, power under trust rights, consent, limited govt, toleration, resistance in a single system → why Locke remains the father of liberalism
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
