summarize the political philosophy of john locke.

The judges interpret and apply laws, but, apart from the Supreme Court, all courts of the general government depend for their jurisdiction and for their very existence upon the Congress, and for the execution of their decrees upon the President. The President alone commands the armed forces, but what those forces consist of and how they are equipped depends on congressional provisions, as does the very declaration of the wars in which such forces may be used. Thus, Congress can enact laws alone, but it is easier to do so in collaboration with the President how the judges will understand and how the President will execute these laws must be anticipated. Virtually everything that may be done by any branch of that government must take account, if it does not require the immediate cooperation, of the other two branches. The general government is limited in still another critical respect by the separation of powers, which makes the Constitution seem far less simple than it really is. (Although the civil war and its reconstruction amendments had effects upon the original constitutional dispensation, these amendments are consistent with, if not the natural culmination of, the initial dedication of the Constitution to liberty and equality.) But, by and large, the states are left fairly autonomous, however republican they are required and helped to be under the Constitution. In addition, the states are obliged by the Constitution to respect various legal determinations in other states. Various restrictions are placed upon the states, primarily with a view to preventing interferences by them with the proper activities of the general government. Otherwise, the Constitution, once ratified, depends upon the states for relatively few things in order to permit the general government to function within its appointed sphere.

The states play vital parts in the periodic choices of United States senators, representatives, and presidential electors. Even the states formed pursuant to the Constitution automatically assumed, upon admission to the Union, virtually all of the prerogatives (or states ' rights) of the original thirteen, including the status of being largely independent of the other states and in many respects independent of the general government. The very existence of the states and many of the things they do are taken for granted they do not depend upon the Constitution. The general government is limited in that much is left to the states to do, to the extent and in the ways the states choose to act. And this in turn is said to reflect a realistic opinion both about the nature of man and about the purposes and risks of government. It is a commonplace that the Constitution provides for a limited government, one that depends upon a system of checks and balances.

Summarize the political philosophy of john locke.