Popular sovereignty vs. democracy essays

Popular sovereignty vs. democracy essays Imagine a world full of chaos and disorder, where people do what they please with no regard to those around them. Imagine a society where only the strong survive, and the weak are left to wither in the dust. Imagine trying to live in this world, trying to succeed in this place where you are constantly competing with others just to survive. It would be next to impossible. Such an environment would exist without government. As humans, we are motivated by our own self-interests. Rarely will we make an effort that is not ultimately done for the indulgence of our own self-interests, and we almost never take the time to think how it could possibly hurt others. To us all that matters it the satisfying of our own pursuits. With this established, it becomes understandable why we have institutions and rules that coordinate how we interact with one another. These mediated relationships serve to help us peacefully and successfully live with one another. In Leviathan, Hobbes raises the question of how can societies of individuals live together without destructing that civilization. It is a question that has besieged civilization for centuries and has been the topic for intense debates. Hobbes argues that there must be a governing body or Sovereign who will rule the state and protect the people from violence, fear and aggression. He concludes, The only way to erect such a Common Power, as may be able to defend them from...the injuries of one another...is, to conferre all their power and strength upon on Man, or upon an Assembly of men that may reduce all their wills... Hobbes theory is still true, if not more pertinent, for us today. Looking at the size of the societies we live in it is naive to think that we could ever be able to come together as a whole to make laws. One could of course ask that if we have no government why should we have any laws in the first place, and my answer would be without laws there w...