Final answer:
John Locke proposed that ultimate governmental authority is based on the will of the people through a social contract. Locke emphasized that this social contract required governments to protect people's natural rights and allowed them to form a new government if their rights were violated. His ideas were foundational in the development of democratic principles and the American political system.
Step-by-step explanation:
John Locke, an impactful 17th-century philosopher, held a significant view on the concept of governance, particularly on the source of ultimate governmental authority. Locke theorized that government derived from a social contract established between the rulers and the ruled. This contract was indicative of a consensual relationship where people ceded some of their freedoms in exchange for the protection of their natural rights, namely life, liberty, and property. In his widely read Two Treatises of Government, he countered the prevalent belief in the divine right of kings by arguing that authority rested on the will of the people, through popular sovereignty. If a government violated this social contract by infringing on these natural rights or failing to fulfill its duty, the people had the right to withdraw consent and establish a new government.
Locke's political philosophy had a pronounced effect on shaping early American political thought, particularly in justifying the Glorious Revolution and influencing the American Revolution. His ideas emphasized the importance of a government limited by the consent of the governed and protective of individual rights, signaling a move away from absolute monarchy towards representative government. These notions of governance have since permeated various democratic constitutions around the world, underscoring the enduring influence of Locke's views on the legitimacy and role of government.
Through Locke's perspective, the legitimacy of government resided in the will of the people who, if necessary, could judge whether the rulers were acting contrary to the collective trust and respond accordingly. This principle laid one of the cornerstones of democratic governance and reaffirmed the concept of government as an entity designed to serve the citizenry, rather than to impose arbitrary power over them.