The second branch of government is the executive branch,
which carries out the laws passed by the legislature. The execu
tive branch also has the responsibility for the protection of the
state from foreign foes. The federative branch sees to the state’s
relations with foreign countries, treaties, trade agreements, and
all other international concerns. The whole of this structure of
government is meant to provide, through separation of powers,
a governmental structure meant to serve, not dominate, the
people. There is, however, an interesting exception to this
government of laws, with the prohibitions placed on each
branch. It is called the prerogative power.
The prerogative power is the power which enables the king or
prince to act when there is no law covering a particular situation.
Not all conditions can be foreseen, nor can there be laws passed
for all contingencies in advance, nor can a legislature always act
with the speed that some emergencies require. Thus, a king in
certain very special cases can act in the absence of law, or even
against the existing law, for the public good. The action must
always be for the common good, never for the particular interest
of the king, or against the common good. If the executive
exercises this power, it is left to the people to decide if the action
was justified. If the legislative or executive branch abuse their
power, they are answerable to the people.
Locke’s next important concept follows logically. The people
decide whether the government is serving the best interests of the
majority. If the people determine that the government is, for
whatever reason, failing in its responsibility, the people have the
right to “alter or abolish” it. In a moral sense, when a government
fails to serve the desires of the people, it has no moral rights and
the contract of consent is, in effect, abolished. Locke, while
considered the philosopher of the right to revolution, does not
imagine that the right will produce the event. He thinks that
people are more disposed to try to change existing problems
peacefully, or bear the inconveniences, rather than to rush to the
the barricades. The United States’ Declaration of Independence
echoes Locke’s sentiment in this regard by stating, “govern
ments long established should not be changed for light and
transient reasons.”
On the issue of religion in society, Locke, once again, differed
with Hobbes. Hobbes required that the sovereign establish one
168 Political Theory: The Relationship of Man and the Stale