The political theory of some of the most important thinkers of the modern era –Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Burke, Tocqueville, Mill, Marx– is analysed in relation to the intellectual and socio-political context in which it was developed. In this way, fundamental issues of modern political theory, from the 16th to the 19th century, are examined, with an emphasis on becoming familiar with the primary texts and their argumentation.