 Welcome to Unit 2 of Western Political Thought. We think of the great Greek philosophers that we learned about in Unit 1 as the forefathers of political theory. They more or less set the standard for the way we've thought about ideal forms of governance and citizenship for centuries and centuries. But more contemporary political thinkers have sort of descended from the ivory tower to think less about the ideal city-state and more about how humans actually behave in different political circumstances. What are the governing strategies that should be in place? How should real leaders actually use power? Nicole Machiavelli was one of the first political theorists to think along these lines. He argued the government should consist of a leader who rules swiftly, effectively, and in a calculated way. He came up with the idea of politics as an art or a strategic game. Thomas Hobbes, who we'll study next, took notes from Machiavelli, but imagined Machiavelli's approach on an even larger scale. He believed the state should be sovereign, in complete control at all times, and that citizens should give up pretty much all of their rights to do what they want to do in exchange for the security that the government would in turn offer. Of course, lots of later thinkers had a lot to say about that. For example, John Locke, the final thinker we'll learn about in Unit 2, pushed back on Hobbes' vision for the all-powerful, all-controlling government by proposing the idea of constitutional government. In a constitutional government, the political leaders and the citizens need to agree to the rules and principles outlined in a written constitution and agree to uphold their ends of the bargain. These three thinkers, Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Locke, represent the foundation of modern state theory, and we'll learn about their big ideas in this unit. This unit will take about 40 hours to complete, it's a lot of reading, so take notes, have fun, and we'll see you at the beginning of Unit 3.