Identify self interest/conflict theory.
there are a group of political philosophies that are in opposition to the existence of a government. anarchism and marxism are two of the more well known. philosophers and practitioners of this group call attention to a point that governments as well as private property began from the authority of warlords and paltry tyrants who conquered peoples and territories. they began exercising authority over their vanquished.
conservatism stresses a maintenance of established institutions, and prefer actions that generate gradual development as opposed to abrupt changes. in contrast with anarchists, conservatists generally see the government as a positive force. it brings order out of chaos, institutes laws to end the "war of all against all", encourages moral virtue while punishing vice, and respects tradition.
modern democracy and most forms of socialism are built upon it. it embraces a concept that governments are formed by people in order to provide for collective needs (such as education, public and private, and poverty) that cannot be properly fulfilled using purely individual resources.
this philosophy assumes that human beings are born with certain natural rights, and governments are established strictly for the purpose of protecting those rights. liberalism generally distinguish three or four fundamental natural rights:
a. a right to life
b. a right to liberty
c. a right to property
d. a right to the pursuit of happiness.