Aristotle
Separated the study of policy’s from the study of philosophy
Nicole Machiavelli
-Emphasize the use of empirical knowledge to help develop state craft and help rulers stay in power
- right and wrong irrelevant
Thomas Hobbe
Social contract = people should completely surrender liberties to powerful states and exchange for law and order
John Locke
-Private property essential to individual freedom and prosperity
- favored a weak state
Baron de Montesquieu
Separation of powers
Jean Rousseau
People = noble savages corrupt by civilization
Communal rule / pure democracy
Karl Marx
Politics driven by economic forces
Capitalism / democracy will collapse and be replaced by communism
Government eventually unnecessary once quality is established
Max Weber
State = organization that maintains a monopoly on violence within a defined territory