The Social Contract

From an early pirated edition possibly printed in Germany

The Social Contract, Or Principles of Political Right (1762) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, is the book in which Rousseau theorised about social contracts.

Rousseau explained his belief that the ideal society was one in which man's contract was not one between men and government, but between fellow men. Like John Locke, Rousseau believed that a government should come from the consent of the governed. Rousseau claimed that a perfect society would be controlled by the "general will" of its populace. While he does not truly define how this should be accomplished, he seems to suggest that the general will be discovered through an assembly of the citizens, together constituting the "sovereign", acting as their own legislators:

"THE Sovereign, having no force other than the legislative power, acts only by means of the laws; and the laws being solely the authentic acts of the general will, the Sovereign cannot act save when the people is assembled."[Book III, 12. HOW THE SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY MAINTAINS ITSELF]

"Every law the people has not ratified in person is null and void — is, in fact, not a law." [Book III, 15. DEPUTIES OR REPRESENTATIVES]

"The legislative power belongs to the people, and can belong to it alone"[Book III, 1. GOVERNMENT IN GENERAL]

The Social Contract was in any case a progressive work that aided in the movement away from absolute monarchy in Europe.

The heart of the idea of the social contract may be stated simply: Each of us places his person and authority under the supreme direction of the general will, and the group receives each individual as an indivisible part of the whole...

The stated aim of the Social Contract is to determine whether there can be a legitimate political authority. "Man is born free but everywhere he is in chains." He says that such political authority is not available to us in the state of nature thus we must enter into a social contract. In this social contract, everyone should be free because everyone gives up the same amount of freedom and because human beings are only truly free when participating in a political process.

Rousseau seems to prefer a benevolent Tyrant over any other form of leadership (including a true democracy); however, he remains obscure on this point.

Rousseau posits that any administration, whatever form it takes, should be divided into two parts. First, there must be the sovereign (which could be the whole population if that is the majority's desire) who represents the general will and is the legeslative power within the state. The second division is that of the government, being distinct from the sovereign. This division must be since the sovereign cannot deal with particular matters (it is then acting as particular wills and not the general will--the sovereign is no longer whole and therefore ruined), like applications of the law. Therefore a government must be sperate from that of the sovereign body.

[Rousseau] claims that the size of the territory to be governed often decides the nature of the government. Since a government is only as strong as the people, and this strength is absolute, the larger the territory the more strength the government must be able to exert over the populace. In his view, a monarchal government is able to wield the most power over the people since it has to devote less power to itself, while a democracy the least. In general, the larger the bureaucracy, the more power required for government discipline. Normally, this relationship requires the state to be an aristocracy or monarchy. In light of all this, Rousseau seems to prefer a benevolent Tyrant over any other form of leadership (including a true democracy); however, he remains obscure on this point.

Main Idea

When people enter into a Social Contract it is to empower them; to be able to accomplish more with the help of others than in the state of nature. The elementary point is legitemate leadership and freedom.

The quintessential form of this Social Contract would be a democracy; however, unless, as Rousseau states, the population is one of Gods, this true democracy is impossilbe and, therefore, the state must be either an aristocracy or a monarchy, or a mixture of any of the three. The only duty of the sovereign is the embodiment of the general will, and when the general will fails to dictate the laws of the society, the sovereign has failed. To protect themsevles from this, the people should have an active role in the government election of officials and the passage of laws and must not pass their rights off to representatives. As an example of this, Rousseau gives ancient Rome with a monarch and the three lawfully convined assemplies known as comitia. Through these assemblies all citizens were represented; however, the emperor had much power in all. As for the discussion and voting in assemblies, people should vote not according to their personal interests but according to the general will. If the executive (government) goes against the general will, it breaks the social contract and should be dissolved. Rousseau furthers this idea and suggests that the sovereign, like those in Rome, should legislate clear times for assemblies to be held which cannot be posponed by the leader(s) of the state. This safeguards the people from a government that is acting not for the general will, but for its own, corporate will by trying to extend beyond its constitutional power and act only in the interests of the administrations longevity.

Interestingly, although Rousseau proves slavery unjust, he also posits that it maybe the only way for a society to be free. In otherwords in order to be free yourself, you must enslave another lest you both be slaves to someone else.

See also

• Social contract; the more general concept

External links

• The Social Contract at constitution.org
• Catholic Encyclopedia Critical article
• SparkNotes® entry on The Social Contract