POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS AS BASIC FUNDAMENTAL PROTECTION OF MAN

John Locke is among the most influential political philosophers of the modern period. In the Two Treaties of Government, he claimed that men by nature and free and equal against the “divine right theory” claims that God had made all people naturally subject to a monarch. Locke argued that people have rights, such as the right to life, liberty, and property that have a foundation independent of the laws of any particular society. The social contract, where in the people in the state of nature agrees to transfer some of their rights to the sovereign such as the government to insure of protection of their properties, lives, and liberties. According to him if the government fails to promote the public good, it can be resisted and replaced with a new government by revolution. Locke also defends the principle of majority rule and the separation of legislative and executive powers.

Man is considered as a human being; therefore he/she has the capacity to exists as rational and free within their expected societal acceptance. By nature man is capable of understanding the “causes and effect” of their actions, as Lock claimed that “all men by nature are equal”, that is to say that everyone has an equal right to his / her own freedom without being subjected to the will or authority of another. We are all governed by “the law of reason”, in which “Law” is not so much limited as the direction of a free and intelligent agent to his proper interest. Thus self-government according to the law of reasons is necessary for human freedom. This freedom of man, and the liberty of acting according to his own will is grounded on his having reason, which able to instruct himself in “Law”. As men multiply, there is a need to for us to create a vital form of control in setting up societies, various institutions in order to preserve peace, liberty, justice. The political institutions as the basic fundamental institutions for man’s survival, we must support and utilize it in a proper manner. Man needs political institutions to exist as rational and free, because it is need to protect the basic fundamental rights of people, property, and etc. Without the existence of political institutions, man will lead to chaos and revolution. Man could live rational and free by nature, but if where are living in the group or society, we need as a set of institutionalized form of control such as laws, that will our protect and preserve our “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.” In order, to balance the competing the interest, institutions are created for fair and justifiable lifestyle. But in the modern world, as there is the existence of society such as state, must need institutional form of control.

Reference:

1) Curtis, Michael (1976) The Great Political Theories V2. Haper Collins.

2) Santiago, Miriam Deffennsor (2003) History of Philosophy: The Great Political Thinkers (Philosphy Series, Vol 1) Central Professional Books, Inc: Quezon City

3) Eisenstein, Great Political Thinkers

Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to Facebook

A successful Ruler in Machiavelli’s Eyes

Machiavelli is considered one of the great early modern analyzers of political power. For Machiavelli, a prince must have the following characteristics such as deceit, cunning and expedient in order to be a great leader. He believes that man must control his own destiny, not God(s) or society. In doing so, man is in effect now allowing “nature” to dictate his fate. He treats morality and religion simply as “a means to political ends.” One of his famous claims is that “the end justifies the means”, in which he says that in order for a prince / ruler to attain his goals for the “common good”, he must sacrifice something like people (war, violence), land, and etc. From Machiavelli's point of view, a prince's attitude toward power must be based on an understanding of human nature, which he perceived as basically self-centered. Political activity, therefore, could not be restricted by moral considerations. The prince acts on behalf of the state and for the sake of the state must be willing to let his conscience sleep. Machiavelli believes that in order to be a great leader, one must be too kind or generous, liberality, clemency, and mercy, for he might be think of one as weak. Machiavelli’s principles and ideals can be consolidated into three main mindsets. 1.) Men should either be caressed or crushed, 2.) You must be prepared to act immorally when it becomes necessary, and 3.) It is better to be feared than loved.

At present, the contemporary state of politics is more democratic and civilized. There is not much chaos as what Machiavelli present. His idea of an ideal ruler is still viable in our government; however some ideas presented needs to be changed. Although, some politicians use his political blueprints for success, but they never cease to be effective. An example would be President Bush’s application of “the ends justifies the mean” when he sent troops to Iraq. His actions might have stopped some atrocities that the terrorist might make, but it leads to more violence, conflict and etc. Indeed, only a part of the “ideal ruler” will work today, since it’s not as chaotic as Machiavelli presented in the “The Prince”. However, the “ideal ruler” is what we need today, in order to correct corrupt and abusive practices in the government. If a leader wants to follow what Machiavelli’s idea of a ruler, the leader must be take things at a time in order to become the ideal ruler. The “ideal ruler” that others perceived today might be the same and sometimes different from Machiavelli’s. They might perceive a great leader as just, “god-fearing”, charismatic, optimistic and etc. Although we have had some leaders that possess those qualities that Machiavelli said that a leader should have, they are not using this to be a great leader, but use their skills and abilities for their own interest only. “The Prince” would be nice training handbooks for future leaders; the ideas presented would help them be a great leader in a lot of ways. Using it might be great for countries that doesn’t have a strong government or have been The truth is Machiavelli is only being honest with what he have observed consistently to be true. The effect of his writing are still found today.

Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to Facebook