What is the role of legitimate government? What can it do, what can it NOT do? Be specific. The role of a legitimate government is to ensure that laws and decisions govern with the consent of the governed. Consent is necessary because for a government to exist, individuals must voluntarily give up some of the freedom they would possess if they existed in the “state of nature.” Citizens will give up some freedom to create a government that allows them to prosper. Citizens must agree with government actions at all times, which gives them the right to abolish governments that do not benefit them. Locke realized that this was impossible in any society of this size and so he relied on the idea of ​​a “general will” expressed by the majority. 3. Explain the impact of Locke & Rousseau on Thomas Jefferson. Give examples from the text. The idea of ​​inalienable rights. It is the idea that there are certain rights that are absolutely fundamental and that no government or political body has the right to change them. This idea is expressed in one of the most often cited passages of the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain rights inalienable, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." This last passage quotes Locke almost directly, from a passage in his 1690 publication Two Treatises, in which he defines "natural rights » men like “the right to life ».,