Second Treatise of Government, Chapter 19 summary

What happens

1. Locke distinguishes conquest that destroys society from internal failures that dissolve government.
2. He identifies unauthorized legislative changes, interference with elections, foreign subjection, and abandonment of law enforcement as causes of dissolution.
3. Rulers also forfeit authority when they attack the lives, liberty, or property entrusted to their protection.
4. Against objections about rebellion, Locke argues that people tolerate many faults and that rulers using unlawful force are themselves rebels.
5. He examines Barclay’s concessions about resistance and rejects restrictions that prevent effective self-defense.
6. He concludes that the people judge breaches of trust and recover legislative authority when its term expires or its holders forfeit it.

In this chapter

What to notice

The community appoints its political trustees and therefore judges whether they honor their responsibilities. This grounds the right to remove rulers who betray their trust.

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