While looking at this basic idea that the goal of government should be to provide for the public good, I find it necessary to first show how each of these political theorists embrace this idea personally. Thomas Hobbes in his book The Leviathan talks about the great Leviathan which is synonymous with that of a common-wealth or state. He believes this Leviathan to be but an “artificial man; though of greater stature and strength than the Naturall, for whose protection and defense it was intended”.(Hobbes p.1) What Hobbes I believe means by this is that the Leviathan, or government has been set up to protect and defend its public from harm. And if a government is supposed to protect and defend its public, it must be doing what it feel

Differences arise to even a greater extent when you start to look at how these political theorists apply their basic idea to the actual creation of a government. They all have basic guidelines that they feel a government must follow by to be a true government. It is this area that you can really see the differences between them. Thomas Hobbes writes that there are three different forms of common-wealth. The King, the Democracy, and the Aristocracy. The King is when government is ruled by one man. The Democracy is when government is made up of all that can assemble, and the Aristocracy is when government is ruled by only a part. Hobbes believes that these are the only true forms of common-wealth’s that can exist.

The fourth reason is along the same lines as the third. It states that a Monarchy is good a King cannot disagree with himself. This is a advantage because a confident leader will most likely be a good leader due to the fact that he does not ever have to second guess himself. There are also some inconveniences that arise from a Monarchial form of government. There is the fact that in a Monarch all the possessions of a subject can be taken away by one man if he chooses to. The idea of one ruler that might abuse his power is a scary thought. So Hobbes has laid down clearly the ideas about why he believes a Monarchy to be the best way to have a common-wealth provide for the public good.

So in the end I am left with determining which on of these comes closest to realizing the fact that government sole purpose is to act on behalf of the public good. I have come to the conclusion that John Locke comes closest to realizing the basic idea that governments main purpose is to provide for the public good. I say this because under Locke’s system of laws and punishments there are consequences and limits for government if they go to far against the public will. Also it allows the people to actually look at the written laws and see that they are entitled to a certain representation in their government. “Their power in the utmost bounds of it is limited to the public good of the society. It is a power that hath no other end but preservation, and therefore can never have a right to destroy, enslave, or designedly to impoverish the subjects;”(Locke p.75)

The second reason is because a King can receive information and advice whenever he pleases without having to have to wait for red tape and such things like that. He can here this advice from experts well in advice so that he can make his decisions in a timely, and proper fashion as to serve the public good as good as he can. The third reason is that with a Monarchy there is no problems with conflicting points of view that can arise from government with more than one. This is good because when there is a necessity for quick decision making in times of crisis or emergency having only one ruler will make the solution happen much quicker..

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