ABSTRACT
Efforts to build covenantally based polities reached their apogee during the Reformation, when repeated attempts were made to reach a new synthesis of liberty, equality, and community informed by the new religious spirit of Reformed Protestant Christianity. Althusius emphasizes that one of the principal rights of a commonwealth is the communication of rights by the citizens among themselves. A political scientist properly teaches what the sources of sovereignty are and enquires to determine what may be essential for the constituting of a commonwealth. The commonwealth, following the fifth commandment, is charged with the responsibility of protecting the system's goods, their use, and ownership. The commonwealth is also charged with the regulation of commerce and contracts, and is responsible for providing an adequate system of coinage. In this respect, the commonwealth is charged with overseeing the means necessary for procuring advantages for social life.
