TITLE:
Can Hobbes’ Justification for Absolute Sovereignty Be Applied to Contemporary Democratic States?
AUTHORS:
Chi-Fai Lo
KEYWORDS:
Hobbes, Social Contract, Absolute Sovereignty, Contemporary Democratic States
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Philosophy,
Vol.15 No.3,
August
4,
2025
ABSTRACT: This paper has critically examined the question: “Can Hobbes’ justification for absolute sovereignty be applied to contemporary democratic states?” in the context of Hobbesian democracy. Hobbesian democracy refers to contemporary democratic states in which under a rule of universal suffrage those people to whom the sovereign power is entrusted are elected by secret ballot. The sovereign’s right to rule and the citizens’ duty to obey is thus the result of consent and consensus of the self-interested, yet rational, individuals. By analyzing the development of Singapore during the era of Lee Kuan Yew, it has been demonstrated that the answer to the question is seemingly affirmative and argued that Hobbes’ political philosophy is of immediate relevance to contemporary democratic states.