# Locke and Prerogatives
## September 2nd, 2020
- So, discussion boards are still open and the weekly response is still due on Friday - stay on top of that! Don't wait!
- Next week, we will have NO class on Monday due to Labor Day; Wednesday morning is trickier
- On the schedule, we're supposed to try and have an in-person meeting to discuss the first exegesis assignment (in 129 Clough); the room can only hold ~1/3rd of the class
- If people don't feel comfortable coming to meet, of course, they don't have to; use your own judgement
- If enough people don't want to meet in-person, then we may forego meeting next week altogether; in any case, I'll have something posted for people who don't attend
- On the schedule for today:
- Review Locke's case for Commonwealths
- Locke's Separation of Powers
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- So last week, as we started reading Locke, we got some of his fundamental assumptions, like the State of Nature and Natural Law
- As Locke puts it, in the state of nature, everyone has the individual right to punish people who break natural law, and he believes people have a fundamental right to "property" (i.e. that which is their own)
- Locke then gives us his view of government, where settled judges rule according to established laws - making the state of nature more consistent, but still towards the same goal of
- However, Locke also starts to smuggle in the idea of a "public good," and it's not yet clear what he means by this
- Now, in today's reading Locke starts getting into something that should be quite familiar to us: the separation of powers in government
- In the state of nature, Locke says there's only so much power we have to enforce the law of nature; when we pool our power together into societies, though,
- Alright, let's talk about a passage that really requires you to put it into context (in the chapter and in the whole treatise) to understand what Locke's getting at
- This is basically a mini-exegesis assignment, where I give you a passage and just ask "What does this passage mean? How does it fit into Locke's overall argument?"
- So, look at Section 164:
'''
Prerogative can be nothing, but the peoples permitting their Rulers to do several things of their own free choice, where the Law was silent, and sometimes too against the direct Letter of the Law, for the publick good; and their acquiescing in it when so done.
'''
- So, define the key terms here ("prerogative", "publick good", etc.), find the arguments Locke makes in favor of this claim, and cite other passages in the text to support that. How does this section connect to the Treatise as a whole? Why does Locke spend a whole chapter just talking about "prerogative?" Keep asking questions and trying answer them, and try to give current examples of how this is relevant today
- For example, "rulers" seems to refer to those with EXECUTIVE power in the commonwealth (section 159)
- Another example: Governors issue orders in response to the COVID crisis without waiting for the state legislature to approve things
- So first, do that on your own:
- "Prerogative" means "the power to act according to discretion, for the public good, without the prescription of law" - since, as Locke points out, the lawmaking process is sometimes too slow or current laws don't anticipate present circumstances (sect. 160)
- This is extraordinary because Locke has been talking the whole time about the importance of societies FOLLOWING the law, and that societies are based around the consent of the people (sect. 158), and that having an absolute monarch is dangerous (Sect. 152)
- Furthermore, he's just finished harping about how executive power SHOULD be separate from legislative power to prevent corruption (sect. 143)
- So, Locke needs to justify that this really IS necessary sometimes, and goes on to clarify that this DOESN'T lead to injustice because the people have a right to react against prerogatives they don't agree with; in that sense, they can only make prerogatives the people tacitly agree with (sect. 162)
- "Law" here seems to refer to the laws made by the legislature, as opposed to the natural law (since the natural law should never be broken and is always in force)
- The "public good" - what is that?
- So, let's come back together, suggest a starting point, and then see where it goes
- Locke, back in chapter 12, starts introducing this idea of executive power as opposed to legislative power
- Sect. 143 (beginning of Chapter 12) has a brief summary of legislative power as "that, which has a right to direct how the force of the commonwealth shall be employed for preserving the community and the members of it" via laws
- Executive power, then, is discussed in section 143 as being necessary to enforce the law, and that it should be distinct from making laws to
- There's also FEDERATIVE POWER (section 146), which deals with those people "without the commonwealth" (in the sense of outside it) - essentially, dealing with foreign nations via making treaties, declaring wars, etc.
- In the U.S., this power is split among different branches as part of our checks-and-balances system
- How do these powers come to be? On what terms do they hold power? They all hold their power from the consent of the people to be governed (Sect. 150), using the term "fiduciary power" - power that is held by the trust given to you, in "good faith"
- Ultimately, the lawmaking power is thus the most important in the commonwealth, with the other powers deriving their duties from the law (section 150) - what Locke calls the "subordination of powers"
- BUT WAIT, why does Locke then say rulers can act with "prerogative" - AGAINST the law?
- Locke says that rulers can do this when the law is behind the times or when unexpected times occur that the legislature is too slow to react to (sect. 160) - under what right? Because "the end of government [is]...the good of the community", ultimately, and laws are just a means to that end
- There are obviously concerns that this depends on the chief executive acting rightly, and so where the people disapprove of the action and judge it not to be in concord with the public good they have a right to "appeal to heaven" (sect. 168) - and Locke says the people have a right to revolt if the executives abuse their power (sect. 155)
- One important question here: what does Locke mean by "the public good?"
- Remember, Locke believes the government is formed to protect property (broadly defined) - so it *seems* Locke thinks the public good is just the collection of private goods
- This is very different from Rousseau's definition of the public good, which we'll get to in a few weeks
- "Okay, it's 10:45 and I won't use my prerogative to keep you late, so goodbye!"