Rousseau added to the social contract tradition the idea of government based on the general will Ancient Greek political ideologies emphasized the importance of consolidating political power in the hands of a virtuous ruler or group of rulers while also looking to design second-best models of government, usually…

Hobbes and Locke developed the idea of the state of nature, wherein individuals are thought of as interacting in the absence of a ruling government. Hobbes and Locke both argued that governments should be judged according to what individuals in a state of nature would have freely consented for government to be.

political ideologies — consciously held ideas about both how political life is structured and how it should be structured. social contract — according to Hobbes, an agreement among the people to give power to an authority that can ensure that everyone follows the laws of nature and can punish those who do not. state of nature — a term used by thinkers such as Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau to describe what they suppose life would be like if there were no government ruling over the people. natural rights — according to Locke and other thinkers, rights that individuals have as a consequence of the natural law.