Political science

Thomas Hobbes and John Locke articulate and defend different visions of social contract theory. Identify significant theoretical commitments shared by both philosophers and major points of divergence between them. In your view, which of these accounts is more compelling and why? If you find neither compelling, explain why.
Original final paper topic proposals must be submitted for instructor approval one week in advance. If you propose to extend and deepen an early course paper, your proposal should explain how you plan to do that; if you propose to write an entirely new paper, your proposal should identify the main theorists you plan to engage with, the particular problem, puzzle, issue your paper will investigate, and ideally, the specific thesis you plan to defend. Specifications: 2000-2500 words (longer is okay but not necessary), normal fonts and margins, double-spaced, etc. Give references as appropriate including page citations for direct quotations and key paraphrased ideas; any citation style is perfectly fine, just be consistent throughout. For this assignment, your paper should significantly engage with at least one text beyond our course readings, and perhaps more than one, depending on your topic proposal. Your proposal need not identify all the texts you will cite in your paper, but the more details you can give in your proposal, the better.