Summary Of John Locke's Second Treatise Of Government

John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government contains Locke’s view on government and citizens of a government. Locke describes the relations between people and the government and the way the government should be run. In Chapter 12 of Second Treatise of Government, Locke describes the legislative, executive and federal powers in a commonwealth. The ideas expressed in Chapter 12 had an influence on the founding fathers of the United States and can be seen in today’s America. Chapter 12 of Locke’s Second Treatise of Government describes when the legislative and executive branches should be in session, why they should be separate, and how interstate relations should be handled. The reason Locke wrote this chapter is to insure the rights of the citizens are not violated by the government. By explicitly stating when the legislative and executive should be in session, Locke makes sure only necessary laws are made and the laws are constantly enforced; however, one person (or group of people) cannot do both jobs because they may view themselves as above the law they create and not enforce it on themselves. Locke then explains that interstate relations should be handled so that the state is viewed as one
The American legislative branch has the power to create laws and the executive branch has the power to enforce the laws. The same system is described by Locke in chapter 12 when he explains that the legislative power does not enforce the laws because people who have the power to make and enforce laws “may exempt themselves from obedience to the laws they make” (Morgan, 2011, p-750). By making the law making power separate from the law enforcing power, Locke believes no one will be exempt from the laws. This results in the legislative and executive powers being separated which can be seen in America’s current system by having congress separated from the