
Harvey Mansfield on Locke, Aristotle, and the Spirit of Liberalism
Conversations with Bill Kristol
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Aristotle and Locke's Sovereignty
In Locke, we see that sovereignty needs a steady consent. A single consent is not enough and doesn't provide sufficient protection for individual rights. And society needs balance and a check for ambition. He wants to liberate ambition, but also to check it. This requires him to change Hobbes's sovereignty to a government of separation of powers. The king stands for Machiavellian's no solo,. the king's prerogative, and parliament with its sovereignty stands for the right of legislation.
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