{"id":"92ea3c2bfe4d4ec3","state":"published","status":"done","result":{"mode":"single","question":"What is prerogative, and how far may the executive act without law?","as_of":null,"classification":{"topic":"rule_of_law","persons":[],"backstop":[],"classifier_ok":true,"policy_question":false,"modern_event_claim":false,"record_facts":[],"unverified_claim":false,"reason":"The question is about the scope of executive authority in general, without naming any specific modern person or referencing a specific modern event."},"answers":[{"person":"locke","display":"John Locke","question":"What is prerogative, and how far may the executive act without law?","as_of":null,"short":{"text":"John Locke defined prerogative as the executive's power to act for the public good without legal prescription, even against it, when necessary. He believed this power is justified when it serves the people's benefit and is not used for personal gain. However, he warned that unchecked executive power could lead to abuse. Confidence is high due to direct statements in his writings.","key_quotes":[{"n":1,"quote":"This power to act according to discretion, for the public good, without the prescription of the law, and sometimes even against it, is that which is called prerogative","date":"undated"},{"n":2,"quote":"prerogative is nothing but the power of doing public good without a rule.","date":"undated"}],"extrapolation":null,"built_by":"model synopsis (quotes and labels stripped by code)"},"disclosures":[],"answer_md":"## 1. WHAT HE SAID (the record)\n### Record ledger\n- **BELIEF** (undated): John Locke defines prerogative as the power of the executive to act according to discretion for the public good, even without the prescription of the law and sometimes against it. He argues that this power is necessary because laws cannot foresee all accidents and necessities, and because the law-making power is often too slow or not always in being. (key quote above) [1]\n- **BELIEF** (undated): John Locke defines prerogative as 'the power of doing public good without a rule.' He argues that the executive may act without law in cases where it is necessary for the public good and where no specific rule exists, but always with the trust that such power is used for the benefit of the nation. (key quote above) [2]\n- **BELIEF** (undated): John Locke argues that prerogative is the power of the executive to act without law in cases of necessity for the good of the people, but only when the law does not cover the situation and when it is done for the public good, not personal interest. [3]\n- **BELIEF** (undated): John Locke believed that if monarchy is of divine right, it is not to be bounded by human laws, and that such a belief undermines the Magna Charta. He argues that this belief is dangerous to the English government. \"If that be true, I am sure monarchy is not to be bounded by human laws; and the 8th chapter of 1 Samuel will prove ... the great charter of the royal prerogative; and our 'Magna Charta; ... is not in force, but void and null; because against divine institution.\" [4]\n\n### What cuts against it\n\n\n- **BELIEF** (undated): John Locke acknowledges that if the executive power is not checked, it may claim prerogative as a right to act for the harm of the people. \"he that will look into the history of England, will find, that prerogative was always largest in the hands of our wisest and best princes; because the people, observing the whole tendency of their actions to be the public good, contested not what was done without law to that end.\" [5]\n\n- **BELIEF** (undated): John Locke notes that the people may find it unnecessary to set bounds to the power of a good ruler, which could lead to abuse. \"for his own harm; (though, where he finds a good and wise ruler, he may not perhaps think it either necessary or useful to set precise bounds to his power in all things) prerogative can be nothing but the people's permitting their rulers to do several things, of their own free choice, where the law was silent, and sometimes too against the direct letter of the law, for the public good; and their acquiescing in it when so done.\" [5]\n\n- **ACTION** (undated): John Locke warns that if prerogative is claimed as a right to act for the harm of the people, it becomes a sign of arbitrary power and corruption. \"prerogative, (which is an arbitrary power in some things left in the prince's hand to do good, not harm, to the people) employed contrary to the end for which it was given\" [6]\n\n## 2. HOW IT APPLIES (reasoning; inference is marked)\n1. John Locke defines prerogative as the power of the executive to act according to discretion for the public good, even without the prescription of the law and sometimes against it. [1]\n2. He argues that this power is necessary because laws cannot foresee all accidents and necessities, and because the law-making power is often too slow or not always in being. [1]\n3. Prerogative is justified when it is used for the public good and not for personal interest. [3]\n4. Locke emphasizes that the people's acquiescence in the use of prerogative for the public good is what legitimizes it. [5]\n5. However, if the executive power is not checked, it may claim prerogative as a right to act for the harm of the people, which could lead to abuse. [5] (Inference)\n\n## 3. HIS TAKE\nRecord coverage: DIRECT\nJohn Locke directly addressed the question of prerogative and the extent to which the executive may act without law. He believed that prerogative is the power of the executive to act according to discretion for the public good, even without the prescription of the law and sometimes against it. He argued that this power is necessary because laws cannot foresee all accidents and necessities, and because the law-making power is often too slow or not always in being. Locke emphasized that the people's acquiescence in the use of prerogative for the public good is what legitimizes it. However, he warned that if the executive power is not checked, it may claim prerogative as a right to act for the harm of the people, which could lead to abuse.\n\nExtrapolation: John Locke believed that the executive may act without law when it is necessary for the public good and where no specific rule exists, but always with the trust that such power is used for the benefit of the nation. However, he warned that if the executive power is not checked, it may claim prerogative as a right to act for the harm of the people, which could lead to abuse.\n\nCompeting readings: One reading is that Locke believed in the necessity of executive discretion for the public good, while another reading suggests that he was concerned about the potential for abuse if the executive power is not checked. The record itself states the concern about abuse as a dated STATED REASON.\n\nConfidence: High, as the record directly addresses the question and provides clear statements on the nature and limits of prerogative.","sources":[{"n":1,"label":"S1","role":"supporting","id":"locke/works-of-john-vol-4-economic-writings-and-two-treatises-of-government/0014.105","person":"locke","citation":"The Works of John Locke in Nine Volumes: The Works of John Locke, vol. 4 Economic Writings and Two Treatises of Government (The Works of John Locke in Nine Volumes, (London: Rivington, 1824 12th ed.). Vol. 4.), p. 436. Document: OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. / BOOK II. / CHAPTER I.. Date: undated. Source type: old edited collection. Passage id: locke/works-of-john-vol-4-economic-writings-and-two-treatises-of-government/0014.105","doc_title":"OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. / BOOK II. / CHAPTER I.","authority":"old_edition","authored":true,"editorial":false,"fiction":false},{"n":2,"label":"S10","role":"supporting","id":"locke/works-of-john-vol-4-economic-writings-and-two-treatises-of-government/0014.108","person":"locke","citation":"The Works of John Locke in Nine Volumes: The Works of John Locke, vol. 4 Economic Writings and Two Treatises of Government (The Works of John Locke in Nine Volumes, (London: Rivington, 1824 12th ed.). Vol. 4.), p. 439. Document: OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. / BOOK II. / CHAPTER I.. Date: undated. Source type: old edited collection. 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