Social contract theory basically says that all individuals are born equal, and provided a god given right to consent to be governed. American Government is based of this
Thomas Hobbes and John Locke said that we are selfish, individualistic, and constantly at war with each other, therefore we need to be controlled.
Government is defined as the legitimate use of force to control human behavior within territorial boundaries, here comes in Hobbes and Locke.
Hobbes takes the part about controlling human behavior. While Locke takes the part of legitimate use of force, since force is not legitimate unless there is consent of the people.
There are basically 3 goals of the government: 1) Maintain Order by protecting life and property. 2) Providing public goods, those which are typically not provided by the public sector, such as roads and education. 3) Promote Equality be it political, opportunist or outcome equality.
Since America is all about freedom and rights, other countries may look at that and see that America is a good country. In my opinion, America has pretty decent laws and a fine voting system. Others will see that as well.
sentence 3 should be revised.
ALL OF THE ABOVE. The Massachusetts Body of Liberties places a lot of government authority in the hands of magistrates, maintains that life or property cannot be taken away unless it's done through the process of law, and guarantees that citizens cannot be arrested or punished unless they have broken the law.
