The big idea: Every state has a government, but they come in wildly different shapes — one ruler, a few, the many, or a holy book.
The deeper question isn't just 'who rules?' but 'what gives them the RIGHT to?' — their legitimacy. A government can have all the power and still not be legitimate.
Forms of government
Monarchy
Rule by one, usually by birth — a king or queen.
Oligarchy
Rule by a few — the rich, a party, or a small elite.
Democracy
Rule by the many — the people choose, usually by voting.
Authoritarian / totalitarian
Rule by force with little freedom; totalitarian control reaches into every part of life.
Theocracy
Rule in the name of a religion — a god or holy law as the final authority.
One · Few · Many · Total · Sacred
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A government can seize control by force, but that doesn't make its rule rightful. Legitimacy is the difference.
Obligations run BOTH ways: Legitimacy isn't a one-way street. You owe the state some things — obey fair laws, pay tax, don't take justice into your own hands. But the state owes YOU things too — protect you, treat you fairly, serve the common good, not just its rulers. When one side keeps its side of the deal, the other's duty is strong. When the state badly breaks its side, your duty to obey gets weaker.
Checkpoint — legitimacy: In one line: legitimacy is the accepted RIGHT to rule, not just the power to — and it comes with duties the state owes you in return. Hold that — next, what happens when a government loses it entirely?
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Two ideas test the limits: one asks when a bad state may be overthrown, the other asks whether we need a state at all.
Revolution
- A state that badly breaks its side of the deal can lose the right to rule
- For: Locke — if it attacks the rights it should protect, the people may replace it
- Against: revolutions risk chaos and a new tyranny; the bar must be high
Anarchism
- Maybe NO state is ever fully legitimate — all rule is coercion
- For: why should anyone have the right to force others at all?
- Against: with no state we may fall back into Hobbes's war of all against all
Go further — higher-level insight: Anarchism is more than 'chaos' — at its best it's a serious challenge: it asks the state to JUSTIFY its right to force people, rather than assuming it. Even if you reject anarchism, using it as the toughest test of legitimacy ('can the state answer the anarchist?') is a top-band move — it forces you to say exactly what makes rule rightful.
Checkpoint — the limits: In one line: revolution asks when bad rule may be overthrown; anarchism asks whether any rule is legitimate at all. Both press on what legitimacy really requires.