Assignment Three - Locke's Liberal Democracy and the Monarchy

Imagine a world where one person was able to make the rules, enforce the rules and then judge, in a ad hoc fashion, who followed, and who did not follow the rules. Their judgement could result in imprisonment and even death. It's not a form of government that many people would want to live under. And yet a quick study of American history shows that when the Colonists fought King George III during the revolutionary war - that, a Monarchy, was the form of government they were rebelling against. In addition to having complete or ad hoc power, history tells us that King George's behavior was erratic. A recent film titled, 'The Madness of King George' ventures into this discussion which, among the various maladies, included the reputed fact that during these episodes of madness, his urine turned blue. He would also speak for great lengths of time "until foam ran out of his mouth." Not pleasant and certainly not the behavior that we actively seek in our leaders today, ahem. Recently Britain's national media company, the BBC, discussed this very issue.

The human reaction to being enslaved by those with power is as old as history itself. Both Plato and Aristotle discussed this in their individual writings ~3500 years ago.

Our own American ideals, expressed largely in Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence were in fact based upon the ideas of numerous others including England's John Locke.

For this assignment we want to examine Locke's ideas on liberal democracy. You can read his Second Treatise on Government, here.


For this assignment students want to:

1. Define what is meant by 'Locke's ideas on liberal democracy. To simply read his Second Treatise will probably not help the student understand all the concepts. Student's might want to source other online sites to get a clearer definition of what this phrase means.

2. Now that you understand what Locke's liberal ideas were, contrast them to the ad hoc power of a Monarch. Discuss in your essay (more on that below) what the difference between a liberal democracy and an oligarchy or monarchy are.

3. Tie-in your knowledge and experience of our trip to the U.K. to elaborate on this discussion. What did you learn, which sites did you visit, what stories did you discover that help you better understand why Locke, and later Jefferson pursued these ideas? Bring the discussion out of the sphere of academia and into the sphere of critical thinking and better understanding of what it means to live in a free society - such as the United Kingdom or the United States.

Your essay should be four, double spaced pages long and include a bibliography of sources used. Be certain that this work is based upon your learning experience and that your essay is in your words. You can quote websites, tour guides, your instructor or other credible academic and historical sources. Use APA citations in your paper including in-line cites. Finally, if you would like to include photographs from your excursion, as an addendum to your submission, you are encouraged to do so. Also, if you have any comments which you would like to share with future participants in this Study Abroad program, please email them to the Bellevue University, Study Abroad coordinator (studyabroad@bellevue.edu) and myself (rick.galusha@bellevue.edu). Please know that your quotes are provided for use in marketing efforts and that in regard to these quotes, provided outside of the assignment process, waive FERPA protection (in other words, we can use them without violating your rights to privacy as a student. Your assignments WILL have FERPA protections but the quotes your choose to share will not.)

4. Finally, in the closing paragraph of your essay, please includes any constructive comments so that we can continue to improve upon this trip. Fair criticism is encouraged since, although we cannot control all aspects, all the time, it is fair criticisms and concerns that help us improve.

Finally, Thank-You for joining us on this journey of exploration and discovery. If you enjoyed it, please tell everyone you know, if you did not enjoy the trip, please tell all the folks you really don't like.