The Three Traits of Tyranny

According to John Locke and the American Founders


The American founders who drafted and signed the Declaration of Independence grounded their case for separating from Great Britain on a philosophy of government derived from the writings of John Locke: especially from Lockean notions of legitimate government vs. illegitimate government, i.e. tyranny.

In his Two Treatises of Government, Locke wrote:

Political power, then, I take to be a right of making laws with penalties of death, and consequently all less penalties, for the regulating and preserving of property, and of employing the force of the community, in the execution of such laws, and in the defence of the common-wealth from foreign injury; and all this only for the public good.”

Here, Locke defined “political power” as power within right, i.e., legitimate government.

For Locke, the opposite of legitimate government (“political power”) is “power beyond right,” which he called “tyranny.”

“…tyranny is the exercise of power beyond right, which no body can have a right to. And this is making use of the power any one has in his hands, not for the good of those who are under it, but for his own private separate advantage. When the governor, however intitled, makes not the law, but his will, the rule; and his commands and actions are not directed to the preservation of the properties of his people, but the satisfaction of his own ambition, revenge, covetousness, or any other irregular passion.”

In these two passages, we can see Locke’s criteria for distinguishing legitimate government from tyranny.

  1. Rule of Law vs. Rule of Man: Legitimate government involves “making laws” and “the execution of such laws.” Tyranny is “When the governor, however intitled, makes not the law, but his will, the rule…” In modern terminology, this is the distinction between “the rule of law” and “the rule of man.”
  2. Public Good vs. Private Advantage: Legitimate government is “only for the public good.” Tyranny is the use of power “not for the good of those who are under it, but for his own private separate advantage.”
  3. Rights Protection vs. Rights Non-Protection: And the whole purpose of government, according to Locke, is the protection of “rights”/“property,” by which he means rightful ownership of possessions as well as one’s own body. Thus, tyranny is when a ruler’s “commands and actions are not directed to the preservation of the properties of his people, but the satisfaction of his own ambition, revenge, covetousness, or any other irregular passion.”

According to the American Founders, in each of the above three regards, the British government was behaving tyrannically. Thus the Declaration of Independence and thus the Revolution.

Watch Michael Boldin of the Tenth Amendment Center discuss this article:

This article was originally published on Dan Sanchez’s Substack publication “Letters on Liberty.”

AUTHOR

Dan Sanchez

Dan Sanchez is the Director of Content at the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) and the editor-in chief of FEE.org.

RELATED ARTICLES:

17 Benjamin Franklin Quotes on Tyranny, Liberty, and Rights

My Father’s Role in the Fall of Fascism: The True Story behind the 2017 Bestseller ‘Beneath a Scarlet Sky’

EDITORS NOTE: This FEE column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

1 reply
  1. Royal A Brown III
    Royal A Brown III says:

    Examples of current Administration exhibits of tyranny:

    Rule of Law vs. Rule of Man:

    Ignoring existing immigration laws allowing an invasion of millions of illegal aliens including criminals and terrorists endangering the safety of our citizens and allowing the free flow of deadly drugs and establishing sanctuary cities for illegal aliens; declaring law abiding citizens who disagree with them politically as “threats to our Democracy”
    Biden ‘ignoring’ federal law with sweeping executive orders, Texas AG Paxton says | Fox News
    Biden border policies have allowed drugs to flood into US as overdose deaths hit new record: Angel mom | Fox News
    Remarks by President Biden on the Continued Battle for the Soul of the Nation | The White House

    Public Good vs. Private Advantage:

    We are becoming a “surveillance state” https://gellerreport.com/2022/10/biden-executive-edict-allows-spying-on-americans-to-assess-political-instability.html/ ;
    review whole issue of money trail of funds from Ukraine and Communist China funneled to the Biden cabal;
    Biden Corruption Runs Through Ukraine, Russia, and China (townhall.com) Hunter Biden: What was he doing in China and Ukraine? – BBC News

    Rights Protection vs. Rights Non-Protection:

    Biden wants to ban all semi-auto firearms and high capacity magazines and is for warrantless confiscation of firearms in violation of 2nd and 4th amendment rights. Biden calls for more gun control before GOP takes House, says ‘sick’ to allow semi-automatic weapon sales | Fox News ; Biden’s Dept of In-Justice and its use of the FBI to intimate parents speaking out at School Board Meetings; unprecedented raids on political opponents including POTUS Trump looking for “process” crimes; arrest and detention of J6 political prisoners without Due Process or humane treatment; then there is the whole of the COVID Hoax involving mandatory mask wear, lockdowns, CDC treatment protocols, etc. etc and the impact on 2020 election which amounted to an unnecessary tradeoff of liberty for safety.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *