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GROUNDS OF POLITICAL OBLIGATION

Why should individuals obey the state? In seeking answer to this question we should study various reasons or grounds of political obligation.

1) The simplest ground for obligation is the legal ground State possesses sovereign authority. Therefore it has the right to make laws and the citizens have the obligation to obey those laws.

It is a legal duty of the citizens to obey these laws, otherwise they will be punished by the state.

2) According to Bryce :-

Grounds of obligations are as follows.

A) Human tendency - i.e. desire to avoid trouble. It is a human tendency to follow the line of least resistance.

Most people comply with the command of the state because they wish to avoid trouble .They obey, not because they feel it is their bounden duty to do so, but to avoid trouble from the state authority.

B) Deference - i.e. respect for the head pf the state. In tribal and feudal societies deference for man in authority was the most stable basis of obedience . C) Sympathy – i.e. psychological group feeling towards

one another

D) Fear – i.e. . The fear of punishment by the state. The coercive force of the state, keeps men under check.

E) Reason – It means understanding that the conscious obedience of the laws of the state is for the good of the whole community.

3) The theoretical justification of political obligation:-

Political philosophers have advocated different theories of political obligation. Some of the prominent theories are:

1) The Divine theory – ground of divine right

2) The theories of social contract- ground of consent and contract

3) The theory of common good and utility of the state.

4) The Idealistic theory 5) The Marxian theory.

6) Ground of prescription 7) Theory of force.

1) The divine theory : - It insist that Divine Will is the ground of political obligation.

Almost all religious scriptures have propounded this theory. The state and King is regarded by them as a divine authority. King is the representative of God appointed to rule over the subjects. Hence to disobey a command of the king means disobedience to the will of God and it is sin. Divine Right of Kings and Divine Will is the main ground of political obligation. This ground of political obligation was the most popular in the age of monarchical state. But in the modern age this theory is rejected as it is not only unhistorical, unscientific but also undemocratic.

2) The theory of Social Contract and Consent -

According to this theory, people entered a contract and created a state (sovereign) whom they voluntarily obeyed. Consent of the people is the main ground of political obligation.

Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau were the three distinguished exponents of this theory. Thomas Hobbes in his works said that the state of nature in the absence of the existence of a state would be that of disorder and anarchy. In order to escape such a terrible existence people entered in a social contract by which they surrendered their rights to a single absolute and universal authority. This authority i.e. states would protect the interests of all citizens and prevent civilization from falling back to law of the jungle. He said the state is not a party to the contract but product of it, and hence citizens owed the monarch obedience.

Because the people themselves had consented to and entered the contract. The state would be a totalitarian (all – powerful) one wherein the monarch could demand the obedience of the people.

John Locke also believed that a contract was signed and a sovereign authority was created. But According to him the ruler has limited constitutional authority and that the people must obey him as long as he discharged his duties effectively. If the ruler failed to serve the masses, the people have the right to overthrow him and bring in a new ruler

Jean Jacques Rousseau said that state was the result of a contract by the people. He vested political authority in the General Will i.e. combination of the ideal will of the people. Thus according to Rousseau the state was created by a contract under which all people agreed to be tied and obligated to political authority . It the ruler acted arbitrarily and misused his authority, Rousseau gave the right of revolution to the people.

3) The theory of common good and utility of the state:-

This theory is advocated by the utilitarian who believe that the state is a means to secure the end of common good. Therefore we are obliged to obey the laws of the state. The state is organized and maintained to promote happiness or pleasure. In the words of Jeremy Bentham „the greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foremast concern of the state‟. The state achieves its purpose through laws, backed by coercive power, requiring individuals to obey laws and to contribute to the promotion of the common good.

4) The Idealistic theory:-

According to this theory the ground of political obligation is the human rationality.

This ground of political obligation is based on the assumption that man is a rational being who is aware of his strengths and weaknesses and tries to maximize his strengths and minimize his weaknesses. This theory assumes that every individual‟s goal is to

attain his highest self. An individuals can achieve this only as a part of society and state and not in isolation.

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and idealist thinkers like Hegel, T.H.

Green believe that an individual is obliged to obey the state because it is the state that enables him to live the life of a human being who realizes his potential. The rational individual knows that his best. Interest can be secured only within the state. Therefore individual willingly obeys its laws. According to Hegel “The state is the embodiment of reason, it is the march of God on earth”

Individual freedom lies in the perfect obedience the state. T.H.

Green said “ Will not Force, is the basis of the state. Thus according to idealist the source of the political obligation lies in the rationality of man.

5. The Marxian theory:-

According to Marxists, in the capitalist system an individual has the right to resist the state because the state is a bourgeois institution and represents the interest of that class alone. The oppressed working class has no obligation to the existing political order. But when the capitalist system is overthrown and the socialist system is established then state will become an institution of the whole people. Then there is no question of disobedience.

6. Ground of prescription (established conventions):-

Well – established customs, conventions is the ground of political