The concept of the model system of checks and balances in the political and legal teachings of John Locke

Abstract

The article analyzes John Locke’s political and legal views on the system of checks and balances, which is reflected in the thinker’s concept of the distribution of power. It is noted that in modern conditions of active modernization of political and legal processes, the study and generalization of experience in the field of public administration is of great importance. Considerable attention is paid to the characteristics of the evolution of political and legal views of the New Age, in particular, political and legal teachings in England. On the territory of England in the 17th century. absolutist theories justified the rule of the «Divine Rights of Kings», revived the ideology of royalism, which criticized the revolution in the name of the foundations of absolutism, referring to traditions and the old constitution of England, which the parliament wanted to abolish. In the course of these changes, the main role was played by the act of the English Parliament of 1689 on limiting the rights of the king, commonly known as the «Bill of Rights». The ideological justification of this act was the doctrine of the famous philosopher John Locke. The article describes certain positions of John Locke set forth in his landmark work «Two Treatises of Government» (1690), thanks to which he is considered the father of political liberalism. This work is divided into two parts, it is in the second part that the author reveals a number of important questions and judgments, starting with the image of the so-called «state of nature», where people are not obliged to obey each other, but everyone decides for himself what he requires law of nature John Locke also reveals his own system of views regarding the origin of the state, its role and significance in society. To study the contribution of John Locke to the political and legal sphere of England at the time and the world, in particular, modern political and legal science, one should stop at the study of part of the doctrine of John Locke, namely the foundations of the implementation of the system of checks and balances, which were laid by him in the concept of the concept of the separation of powers. This article also discusses the fact that the goal of the system of separation of branches of power, as a political and legal phenomenon, is the implementation of preventing the concentration of power in a certain state body by organizing and ensuring the operation of the system of checks and balances.