Question

Which form of government did Hobbes think could best maintain social order?

Answer 1

A monarchy or one that has a King.

Answer 2

Answer:  Absolute monarchy

Explanation:

Thomas Hobbes pointed to the social contract as the source of a government's authority, saying that a ruler got his power from the people over whom he ruled, not directly from God. But Hobbes' argument still supported a strong monarch style of government for the sake of a country's security and stability.  Whoever was put in charge of government needed to have absolute power, in his view.  Thomas Hobbes published his political theory in Leviathan  in 1651, following the chaos and destruction of the English Civil War.  He saw human beings as naturally suspicious of one another, in competition with each other, and evil toward one another as a result.  Forming a government meant giving up personal liberty, but gaining security against what would otherwise be a situation of every person at war with every other person.  So once the people gave power to a monarch, then that ruler needed to have absolute authority in order to maintain security and stability in the social order.