Question

According to Locke, what is the source of a governments right to rule?

Answer 1

Locke argued that a government's right to rule came from the people, who were born with certain natural rights.

Answer 2

For Locke, both the ruler and the form of government would be subject to the yoke of the members of the pact, it being incumbent upon them to rebel against the rulers who failed to fulfill the functions for which they had been assigned, that is, to guarantee the natural rights. At the moment when the ruler fails to guarantee natural rights, putting at risk the condition of equality and freedom between individuals, they return to the state of war against the ruler, dissolving the state and proclaiming a new state of nature from which it could be born a new political contract.