Hannah Arendt outlines a strong critique of the modern political theories and the inclusion of economy within the State’s affairs with the emergence of political economics. According to her, along these lines of modern thought the reasons that explain the current political crisis can be found; a crisis represented by the emergence of the twentieth century totalitarianisms and the current political apathy of the masses. This article will present the arguments through which Hannah Arendt criticizes contractarian thinking, taking Thomas Hobbes and John Locke as models to rethink the concept of modern freedom and along with this, the concepts of power and authority. A rethinking that will give a theoretical answer to the question of the true meaning of the political in its action thesis. Likewise, the thought of James Buchanam will be presented as a counterexample to what Arendt outlines as the meaning of the political and of the freedom through which men start participating in the political community.
