: Making value judgments about what constitutes "good" or "just" governance.
: A foundational idea from thinkers like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, exploring the agreement between individuals and the state to ensure security, rights, and order.
: From Plato’s ideal of a balanced society where individuals fulfill roles suited to their nature, to John Rawls’s modern "justice as fairness," which advocates for social and economic inequalities only if they benefit the least advantaged.
: Established by Plato and Aristotle, focusing on the nature of the state and citizenship.
: Introduced concepts of individual rights, secularism, and government by consent.
Political theory revolves around several core pillars that have evolved from ancient to modern times: