Lockean constitutionalism represents an important dimension of his critique of Filmer's divine right absolutism. In response to Filmer's charge that communities and/or individuals lack the moral capacity to generate sovereign political power, Locke maintains that the principle of natural liberty indicates not only that the people can institute sovereign power, but that the people are the only true repository of sovereignty. The chief postulations that flow from Locke's argument are the delegation theory of sovereignty and the notion of the dissolution of government. Together these principles affirm that inasmuch as all political power derives from the natural power of individuals, political power can and does, in the event of abuse of power, devolve to the people. Moreover, Locke affirms that the people may delegate their natural sovereign power to whichever arrangement of institutions they wish. In order to understand the main features of Lockean constitutionalism, we will first have to examine Locke's treatment of the origins of political society.

The Origins of Political Society

Locke's discussion of the origins of political society logically follows from his account of the state of nature. This is a state of perfect freedom and equality, but because of the individual natural right to execute the law of nature, the state of nature always either is or hovers dangerously close to the state of war.