As for the point of calling the government the "popular sovereign", Locke is relevant in today's world of Arabic/Islamic revolutions. It is unlikely that in today's world any nation, let alone an Islamic nation, is capable of going the distance as America's Founders did, by making the sovereign the individual.
Jefferson and the other founders conceived that if the people (individuals taken as a single body politic) had the right to turn over to the government some of their rights, then the individuals were the actual sovereigns, because they cannot turn over what they do not already have. In other words, you can't give away what you don't have.
"Individual sovereignty was not a peculiar conceit of Thomas Jefferson: It was the common assumption of the day..." http://www.friesian.com/ellis.htm
This was carried through to the 20th century by Ayn Rand, who used many of the same phrases as the Founders:
"Individualism regards man—every man—as an independent, sovereign entity who possesses an inalienable right to his own life, a right derived from his nature as a rational being. Individualism holds that a civilized society, or any form of association, cooperation or peaceful coexistence among men, can be achieved only on the basis of the recognition of individual rights—and that a group, as such, has no rights other than the individual rights of its members."
http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/indivi…
However, this kind of thinking was rejected in the 12th century by the Muslims when they rejected the philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes) who fled to Spain to save his own life. Ibn Rusd didn't advocate individual sovereignty--it would take Americans to do that, by adapting to what Locke taught them. Locke learned from Aquinas who learned from Ibn Rushd and worked from many of the man's translations of Aristotle.
And so, in today's world it probably isn't possible to see another America rise from the ashes of any nation whether Western, Eastern, or Middle Eastern because the idea of individual sovereignty cannot return in the U.S. until the States take back their 10th Amendment rights, after which the people can then take back their 9th Amendment rights (notwithstanding the recent controversy that the 9th is also tied directly to States' rights).
Locke referred to "popular sovereignty". Thus, Madison wrote that "Individual rights and governmental powers were understood to be reciprocal—two sides of the same coin. As Madison wrote in a letter to Washington: 'If a line can be drawn between the powers granted and the rights retained, it would seem to be the same thing, whether the latter be secured[] by declaring that they shall not be abridged, or that the former
shall not be extended.'” http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/se… page 14
It seems however that they have been abridged, and that "the former" has been extended. Locke's "popular sovereignty" may be composed in any way the individuals of the nation wish to compose it. Turkey has had "popular sovereignty" since the Second world war and Iraq is now trying to follow in Turkey's tracks, both nations operating in the manner of the Arabs, not the way of Europeans; and of the Islamic nations now undergoing revolutions and convulsions, some may turn to Arab popular sovereignty.
It is unlikely, however, that any of them will turn to natural rights as fully as America did. They don't understand natural rights because that is what Ibn Rushd would have led to--an Islamic Locke (or Hobbes or Rousseau). Muhammad and Allah cannot allow western individualism which "regards man—every man—as an independent, sovereign entity who possesses an inalienable right to his own life."
Jefferson and the other founders conceived that if the people (individuals taken as a single body politic) had the right to turn over to the government some of their rights, then the individuals were the actual sovereigns, because they cannot turn over what they do not already have. In other words, you can't give away what you don't have.
"Individual sovereignty was not a peculiar conceit of Thomas Jefferson: It was the common assumption of the day..." http://www.friesian.com/ellis.htm
This was carried through to the 20th century by Ayn Rand, who used many of the same phrases as the Founders:
"Individualism regards man—every man—as an independent, sovereign entity who possesses an inalienable right to his own life, a right derived from his nature as a rational being. Individualism holds that a civilized society, or any form of association, cooperation or peaceful coexistence among men, can be achieved only on the basis of the recognition of individual rights—and that a group, as such, has no rights other than the individual rights of its members."
http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/indivi…
However, this kind of thinking was rejected in the 12th century by the Muslims when they rejected the philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes) who fled to Spain to save his own life. Ibn Rusd didn't advocate individual sovereignty--it would take Americans to do that, by adapting to what Locke taught them. Locke learned from Aquinas who learned from Ibn Rushd and worked from many of the man's translations of Aristotle.
And so, in today's world it probably isn't possible to see another America rise from the ashes of any nation whether Western, Eastern, or Middle Eastern because the idea of individual sovereignty cannot return in the U.S. until the States take back their 10th Amendment rights, after which the people can then take back their 9th Amendment rights (notwithstanding the recent controversy that the 9th is also tied directly to States' rights).
Locke referred to "popular sovereignty". Thus, Madison wrote that "Individual rights and governmental powers were understood to be reciprocal—two sides of the same coin. As Madison wrote in a letter to Washington: 'If a line can be drawn between the powers granted and the rights retained, it would seem to be the same thing, whether the latter be secured[] by declaring that they shall not be abridged, or that the former
shall not be extended.'” http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/se… page 14
It seems however that they have been abridged, and that "the former" has been extended. Locke's "popular sovereignty" may be composed in any way the individuals of the nation wish to compose it. Turkey has had "popular sovereignty" since the Second world war and Iraq is now trying to follow in Turkey's tracks, both nations operating in the manner of the Arabs, not the way of Europeans; and of the Islamic nations now undergoing revolutions and convulsions, some may turn to Arab popular sovereignty.
It is unlikely, however, that any of them will turn to natural rights as fully as America did. They don't understand natural rights because that is what Ibn Rushd would have led to--an Islamic Locke (or Hobbes or Rousseau). Muhammad and Allah cannot allow western individualism which "regards man—every man—as an independent, sovereign entity who possesses an inalienable right to his own life."
© Curtis Edward Clark 2011
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