From Self-government to Right to Revolution (Foundations and Conditions of the Dissolution of Government in John Locke’s Political Theology)

How the government is formed is one of the important themes about the phenomenon of government.  Yet more important is the issue of the dissolution of government.  This paper studies the dissolution of government from the viewpoint of John Locke as one of the greatest political philosophers in the modern world.  The main research questions are, what are the foundations in Locke’s political theology that can explain the dissolution of government? and what conditions should be met in order to concede the possibility of the dissolution of government or confer on citizens the right to it? Locke believes that in the state of nature, human beings have rights as well as the ability to govern themselves.  Human beings enter the political society with some rights, the most important of which is the right to judge the performance of rulers.  Moreover, they have the right to dismiss or even penalize rulers whenever they do not fulfil their obligations, and if rulers go against the popular will, people can resort to force and revolution.  For Locke, revolution is not the worst thing in politics but in the despotic politics.  In Locke’s viewpoint, revolution is necessary to ensure rulers’ adherence to their obligations.  More importantly, revolution is both the foundation of freedom and the greatest manifestation of humans’ self-government.