4.2: Origins of the State
This article compares competing theories of state formation. Some propose that the institution of the state stemmed from developments in agriculture, was a response to the frequent waging of war, or came as a result of rationalization and bureaucratization. Which theory do you find most convincing?
Watch these lectures, in which Smith discusses Enlightenment thinker John Locke's Second Treatise on Civil Government, which was an extremely influential work that shaped political philosophy and provided a basis for later political doctrines, such as those set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.