Thomas Hobbes’s political manifesto "Leviathan" (or, as it was originally titled: “Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiastical and Civil", 1651) holds that a commonwealth with a social contract is the ideal way to govern a body of people.

Hobbes argues that a sovereign power is best equipped to maintain peace and civic unity and that each of the nation’s citizens buys into a social contract that allows the sovereign power to act on behalf of safety and public defence. The central image of the philosophy is a leviathan or sea monster, with a body made of human constituents and a head representing the sovereign leader. According to Hobbes, this philosophy is the best in order to avoid civil war and maintain a unified nation. The manifesto is broken up into four sections, which build on this central idea.