Theories of Political Obligation

Kings once claimed a god-given right to rule; philosophers later claimed people had quietly agreed to be ruled; Marx claimed the whole question was a smokescreen for class power. This topic is the map of that historical argument before the module opens each theory up in detail.

In two minutes

The historically important theories of political obligation covered in this module are the Divine Right theory of kings, the Social Contract or Consent theory, the theory of Force, the theory of Prescriptive Possession, and Karl Marx's view that political obligation is an ideological mask for class interest.

The rest of this chapter

The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Political Science – II: Foundations of Political Obligation on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.