Discussions of the three writers mentioned previously suggest that during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries (in Europe), the concept of sovereignty had been discussed in three forms, namely, national sovereignty (Bodin), popular sovereignty (Althusius) and external sovereignty (Grotius). Furthermore, we find that the concept of natural law played important role both in terms of supporting the supremacy of the sovereign power as well as putting limitations on it. Our survey and analysis of the three Contractualist writers—Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau—will continue this discussion. It is interesting to see how ‘Hobbes starts where Bodin had stopped’ and by removing the limitations on the sovereign put by him, Hobbes created his Leviathan. Similarly, Locke continued the two-contract tradition of Althusius, and Rousseau to an extent.
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