<span>John Locke - Second Treatise on Civil Government Thomas Hobbes - Leviathan William Blackstone - Commentaries on the Laws of England Jean Jacques Rousseau - The Social Contract
Fun fact to add to the basic answer you requested: John Locke's <em>Second Treatise on Civil Government </em>is referred to often in our modern political studies. In the <em>Second Treatise, </em>he laid out his plan for representational government of the sort the American founding fathers sought to set up, based on his advice. Locke's <em>First Treatise on Civil Government </em>doesn't get much attention anymore, but it was also a very good book. The purpose of his <em>First Treatise </em>was to debunk the idea of divine right monarchy -- the notion that hereditary dynasties of kings have received their authority and position by appointment from God. That notion of government had to be taken out of the way philosophically before a new plan could be built (as was then done in the <em>Second Treatise</em>). </span>
