Enlightenment

He was a 17th century English philosopher whose book "Leviathan" (1651) helped to clarify both the "social contract theory" of government.

Hobbes

He was a French Enlightenment philosopher and author of The Social Contract, which became one of the most influential works of political philosophy in the Western tradition.

Rousseau

This is an agreement between the governed and the government defining and limiting the rights and duties of each.

Social Contract Theory

This was a British philosopher who argued that governments only purpose was to protect man's natural rights.

locke

He was a French philosopher who developed a number of political theories in his Spirit of the Laws.

Montesquieu

This is a political theory that individuals have privileges that no government can deny.

Natural Rights

This is the belief that the ultimate power of the government rests on the will of the people themselves.

Popular Sovereignty

He was an 18th century Enlightenment philosopher from France whose is known for both his prose (1759's "Candide") and his defense of civil liberties.

Voltaire