In modern times, the familial–political analogy broke down with the emergence and ascendance of liberalism. The collapse of that traditional analogy, it is contended, dissociated the two realms and required new argumentations, definitions, and justifications for the relationships and structure inside each. With the collapse of the analogy, it is argued, the traditional political meaning of the family changed and its standing as a social institution became eroded. Consequently, the political meaning of the family and its relation to justifications for the state and its authority became a fundamental challenge for modern liberal societies. The focus in this chapter is the endeavors of John Locke to define anew parental authority and political authority as unparallel phenomena