The Call for a World Constitutional Convention: An Application of John Lockes Theory of Revolution :: Philosophy Philosophical Essays

The Call for a World Constitutional Convention: An Application of John Locke's Theory of Revolution ABSTRACT: A movement led by an organization called "One World" is advocating the idea of "Direct Democracy," whereby individuals everywhere would have the opportunity to elect delegates to a world constitutional convention. In theory, any document drafted by this convention would be returned to individuals throughout the world for their approval. The assumption of the Direct Democracy movement is that individuals throughout the world have the right to bypass existing governments in order to establish the rule of law on a global level. Leaders of this movement believe that the Direct Democracy movement is consistent with democratic ideas, including those articulated by Locke. Two questions are at issue. First, do individuals have the right to bypass existing governments in order to establish an international government? Second, is it desirable to establish world government? I conclude that, according to Locke, sovereign power rests with individuals—not governments. Individuals have the right to delegate a portion of their power from one government to another and, when they do so, revolution ensues. Revolution of this sort would be desirable because national governments cannot provide security in the nuclear age. So individuals should transfer some power from the national to the international level. The call for a world constitutional convention is a call for a peaceful revolution that could abolish war. Do People Have the Right to Bypass Existing Governments? According to John Locke, governments derive their power from the consent of the governed. The power of government is the sum of the of the rights that government is given by the individuals in the society it governs. As Locke states it the power of government is "that power which every man, having in the state of nature, has given up into the hands of the society, and therein to governours."(1) Having given up some rights to national governments, do individuals retain control of those rights so that they can transfer rights to an international government? Here we seem to confront a puzzle in Locke. Rights must be alienable in order for individuals to give rights to governments, yet citizens retain rights that allow them the right of rebellion. There are passages in Locke that suggest that rights can be permanently alienated, such as when Locke discusses a person who performs an act that "deserves death" such as one who initiates a state of war.