Thomas Hobbes and the Constituent Power of the People

Abstract

The paper examines Hobbes's doctrine of representation and argues that implicit in this doctrine is the modern notion of the people as the constituent power of the state. Attention is focused on the progressive evolution of Hobbes's ideas about the multitude, the people, and the constitution of political unity, and on the connection between his doctrine of political representation and his concept of personality. The paper ends by assessing the compatibility of Hobbes's concept of the people as constituent power and his concept of the commonwealth by acquisition.