ABSTRACT
Until then, the conception of 'nationhood' was compatible with an individualist view of association, and the contractual analogy was not inappropriate for describing it. Membership of the nation-state so conceived might not be voluntary, but it might be thought of nevertheless in Locke's way, as essentially a collection of individuals pursuing private ends within a structure of rules, which provided the advantages of co-operation and eliminated mutual frustration in return for the acceptance of obligations.
