During the 17th century, Europe was the center of two different types of government; absolutism and constitutionalism. Absolutism is the idea that only one ruler should see over the country and establish power. Constitutionalism is the idea that the people in society have just as much power as the king and that they have their rights by nature. John Locke and Jean Domat both have their own opinions on how a government should be run.
Jean Domat is a person who favors the idea of absolutism. He believes that people are given a certain rank in society, in other words, a type of predestiny. It was believed God assigned these ranks and picked a sovereign to rule over the people with divinity. The creator had given individual different status and roles in society to help one another. Within natural equality, each person has a different purpose in life which makes their status unequal; thus, a government is necessary to make everything fall into place. The first difference between people is seen within a relationship between a parent and child. It leads to sort of a government within a family where a child is indebted to the parents who are the leaders. Another difference among people is their type of employment. Both high and low-wage workers are important in society because they depend on each other.
God gives a sovereign the power to govern the people so he can represent the will of their Creator. Domat mentions in his essay, Since government is necessary for the public good, and God Himself has established it. A sovereign who was selected by God should be compliant and society should obey the government. An person should also respect the sovereign the same way he/she does for God. If a sovereign doesn’t follow the rules himself, then his government will have its down fall. A person who rules the government should know the purpose of Gods will and incorporate the divine power given to him.
John Locke is a self-taught philosopher and believes in a government that all men need their natural rights preserved. Locke first talks about how men are born equal to one another and have perfect liberty to maintain and order their lives and property. They are governed by reason and seek the preservation of mankind. When man digresses from the laws of nature and uses force against one another, society has the right to punish him in order to preserve order and make an example of him to deter future crimes. Locke insist that people in society should have just as much power to run the government than the sovereign people. Locke states that a sovereign who is the one true ruler doesn’t have the intention to protect people in society. The sovereign will abuse his power and do things for his own selfish intentions. Locke isn’t saying that that democracy is the key to a civil society but, he is saying that absolute monarchy doesn’t preserve peace due to the ruler not having limited power. Which is why he strongly believes that people should have the right to choose whether or not to be governed. They shouldn’t be forced to do anything because then people give up their own rights and freedom to judge what is best.
To conclude, both Domat and Locke have different views on how a government should rule their society. They both seek the best however to keep peace. Which is why Domat thinks having people follow one absolute ruler and not to question him as if he were god’s equal. Will lead to a prosper society and less war. Locke however sees the flaws in absolutism and wants to put it to an end. To have government judged by the people and because only the people who aren’t higher in the ranks of society knows what is best for them and know what is going to help them in the long run to have peace.