In Leviathan, Hobbes asserted that human beings that were rational, free, and more or less equal would enter into agreements or social contracts with one another for the purposes of safety and protection. Moreover, they would agree to limit their personal liberties under a governing authority that could utilize force to compel peace. The reason that people would agree to this was because the alternative was a far worse possibility.
The State of Nature
The state of nature is a hypothetical situation that Hobbes devised to create a frame of reference between a world of societies and a world without them. In the state of nature, human beings exist without social bonds (with certain familial exceptions) to other human beings. As such, they have the limited right to preserve their lives.
However, as the sole judge of what is necessary to preserve one's own life, it becomes a kind of free for all in which all is permitted. Anyone can take whatever they see as necessary to survive. This state, with no central authority, would be, according to Hobbes, little more than a state of constant warfare. As such, the aforementioned rational, free, and equal human beings would enter into social contracts and willingly limit their right to exercise judgment in favor of safety.
The Social Contract
Hobbes identifies two forms in which these social contracts can establish authority. "Sovereignty by institution" comes about when people enter into an agreement to obey a common authority; generally out of fear of their neighbors. "Sovereignty by authority" usually comes about when a foreign aggressor forces people in a particular area to band together for mutual defense and they agree to obey an authority for that purpose.
Once this authority has been established, Hobbes contends that the only way for it to be a truly functional governing authority is if it has absolute authority over all aspects of life from the judicial, to the military and even the ecclesiastical components of society. To do otherwise is to dilute the ability of government to execute its sole purpose: protection.
By concentrating all power into one body, there is no disagreement between a parliamentary body and a monarch or a court and a policing force. Justification and authority rest in one place. To do otherwise is to invite civil war onto a society and a return to the state of nature. This is the ultimate failure of a society, by Hobbesian standards.
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