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The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Political thinkers have always shown concern in the state, its purpose, evolution, and

organization. They have created theories such as social contract theory, evolutionary theory and

the divine right theory to explain the origin of the state. Jean-Jacques Rousseau chose to explain

the origin of the state and its purpose from a social contract perspective and recorded his ideas in

a book entitled The Social Contract. Being a social contract theorist, he argues that the

experience in the states of nature forced people to relinquish part of their freedom to form a

sovereign. Jean-Jacques Rousseau's The Social Contract is about the best way to establish a

political community in the face of commercial community problems. Rousseau was against the

idea that monarchs had divine power to legislate. The Social Contract aimed at deciding whether

a true political authority was possible because Rousseau preferred people in the state of nature to

those that had formed a society. He believed that the state did not have the power to conquer and

control and that the people were not obligated to obey those in authority. The book is responsible

for stimulating the political revolutions in Europe, especially in France.

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The social contract made the society and its individuals complete. It instilled human

personality to individuals and protected them from dependence and dominance as it was

controlled by the General Will. According to Rousseau, freedom is enhanced by the obedience of

the laws, which is actually the obedience of ones will since human beings are responsible for

making the rules. However, they only give their consent to obey laws that enhance freedom from

assault by others or following their will. The Free State was supposed to be characterized by

participatory and consensual democracy. The general will's agent is the government according to

Rousseau. He believed the role of the legislature was among the most important reasons for the

success of a republic. The legislature had succeeded in creating people who are capable of

constituting the General Will in the ancient past. It was capable of transforming and changing

their nature, as well as amending the constitution in the favor of the general good of the

community.

According to Rousseau, a political state can be established under two conditions; the state

and the governed do not need to depend on each other as individuals are only supposed to obey

themselves. Forming a society requires people to give up their natural liberty in exchange for

civil liberty because man is born free. The solution to the issue of illegitimate authority

according to Rousseau is the social contract in which people join their efforts to survive and

attain the protection of their property. Consequently, they create a state's ultimate authority

known as sovereign, whose central interest is the common good as opposed to personal interests

or individual will. Individuals remain free as they were in the state of nature as their freedom is

guaranteed by the universal conformity to the general will and the fact that sovereignty belongs

to the community people.

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Rousseau rejected the idea that moral improvement was brought by technology and

civilization. The human society did not become enlightened due to the emergence of technology

but instead became unhappy. Civilization made people intelligent and drove them out of the state

of nature to mix with the entire society. Consequently, an imbalance was created between needs

and the ability to satisfy them, as people desired to fulfill their needs, failure to which they

became unhappy and unequal. The creation of the state ensured that men did not threaten the

existence of one another.

Rousseau's ideas influenced the enlightenment in the eighteenth century. He was against

the monarchy and the other forms of government that only gave power to a few people. He

advocated for freedom because men are born free. They should have the liberty to make their

own laws and should not be forced to obey laws they did not make. The government has the

mandate to enforce the rules that people make for a society to be efficient. The laws guide

people's behavior and dictate punishments for the lawbreakers. This ensures that people do not

hurt each other once they disagree but instead reports their matters to the government officials to

intervene.

According to Rousseau, the political aspect of a society should be divided into two parts;

a sovereign that represents the general will consists of the whole population and also is the state's

legislative power. The second division is that of a clear distinction between the sovereign and the

people. Some matters such as the application of the law are not possible for the sovereign lest it

ruins its legitimacy. The people have the power to abolish a government that exceeds the

boundaries that they have put in place and create a new one. The strength of a government is

determined by the strength of the people. Family forms the first form of society with the father

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being the ruler. However, the political society is very different from the family set up as the ruler

tends to command the governed, something that a father can never do.

Rousseau was not against all forms of inequality as he advocated for natural inequality

and reward inequality. He was okay with inequality between the old and the young, tall and

short, weak and strong as well as the inequality that occurs when people who provide their

services are rewarded. He was against differences in ability as the sole justification for inequality

and advocated for equality of opportunities. According to Rousseau, the powerful and the rich

employed immoral and unethical business practices to become wealthier. Their gifts and talents

did not get them to their wealthy status since human beings get to the top by climbing over each

other, a process that might take time. Their status was achieved by exploiting other people.

Rousseau calls for equal opportunities for individuals to gain wealth.

The social contract puts a restraint on people's behavior thus making it possible for them

to live in a community. People in the state of nature were physically free and did not have any

restraints to their behavior. They had to give up their physical freedom to gain civil freedom as

well as the ability to think rationally. Giving up part of people's freedom is not selling

themselves to slavery since subjects do not depend on the government but the government

depends on them. There is no way human beings would have agreed to give up their freedom just

to have their property taken from them. Rousseau denies the claims that war victors have the

right to make the subjects of the conquered states their slaves because wars are between states,

not individuals. The can take the assets of the states if they feel like and leave the individuals to

enjoy their freedom.

People create communities to join efforts to confront the obstacles in the state of nature

which become too much for an individual to handle on their own. The biggest challenge is how

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an individual can retain their liberty in this situation. The political body they form in this case

has a will and a life. The individuals gain freedom that is equivalent to the one that they lose

because giving up their rights to a sovereign is not particularly giving it to an individual.

Consequently, they gain the force they require to protect their lives and their property.

A civil society does not only guarantee freedom but also morality and rationality. The

society offers people peace and protection. Human beings are capable of anything in their efforts

of fulfilling their selfish needs. The society prevents them from hurting each other while trying to

fulfill their selfish needs. It provides laws that punish wrongdoers to keep people from doing

wrong to others.

Entering into a social contract has its own flaws as some of the interests of the sovereign

contrast with those of the sovereign thus leading to conflicts. The society has the authority to

compel those individuals who do not want to obey the General Will to do so. This assertion has

brought mixed reactions among Rousseau's readers because some believe that he ignores the

rights of the individuals and supports tyranny. In his response, Rousseau differentiates several

types of freedom. Natural freedom gives individuals the liberty to do everything that they please.

This is the kind of freedom that a person gives up when they accept the social contract and gains

civil freedom in exchange. Civil freedom is more beneficial compared to natural freedom, which

is why Rousseau advocated for the force to be used to enhance civil freedom for the good of the

community. The law must be universal for people to obey it, something that links freedom to

equality. Breaking the law creates inequality between the law-abiding citizens and the law-

breakers. Therefore, it is necessary for the state to use force to ensure that everyone obeys the

law so as to enhance equality.

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Rousseau acknowledges the existence of groups of people within a political organization

whose shared beliefs or opinions differ from that of people who are not members of that

particular group. Expression of the general will becomes difficult when people form partial

associations. He urges voters to make independent voting decision without allowing to be

influenced by their fellows. This isolation helps people to consider the common good when

making voting decisions. Rousseau's argument is against the belief that discussions might help a

voter to make a decision that is in line with the common good. To him, such decisions distort the

general will once people band together. He adds that the best interests of a state are enhanced by

the common good, even though some individuals might not benefit from the policy. Therefore,

the state's well-being should come first, thus individuals should abandon their self-interests for

the common good of the state.

Moreover, the people of society would definitely cease to have moral obligations if the

sovereign decided to transfer its authority to an individual or a group because they have to

abolish the social contract in order to give up legislative authority to a group or an individual. A

person must give up his or morality and humanity in order to give themselves up to someone

else.

Rousseau defines a law as a decision that the entire populace makes and that affects the

entire populace. A law and decree differ in that a decree applies to a particular group of people

while a law applies to the entire population. The legislation aims at benefiting the entire

population, protecting liberty and promoting equality. The laws that the people make might have

some flaws because the common citizen is not fully aware of his needs, can easily be

manipulated and at times can be shortsighted. A legislative process requires a legislator to

correct such flaws while keeping the sovereignty with the people. Moreover, the legislator is

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responsible for helping people prioritize the general will, thus he or she must possess qualities

such as intelligence and the ability to persuade. His duty is to clarify the short-term and long-

term risks and ensures that the laws that people make benefit the entire community. He or she

ensures that short-term goals do not influence long-term goals in any way. That way, the

legislator can easily effect moral change in the society. People cannot handle the process of

lawmaking without the help of a legislator.

However, finding such as legislator is not easy because leaders nowadays are elected on

tribal and racial grounds, not on merit. Voters do not take time to vet their leaders to ensure that

the ones that they elect possess qualities that would make the society a better place.

Moreover, individuals' feelings towards a law should not determine their obedience

because it is their obligation. In addition, conditions should be put in place under which people

are supposed to legitimately claim the property. For instance, one could claim a piece of land if it

is meant for subsistence and it is inhabited. Also, one could legitimately possess a piece of land

once they cultivate it or just provide their labor. A legitimate political authority was essential as

people's interactions were going out of hand. Life was different from the way it was in the state

of nature, where people did not engage in conflicts.

The law only enhances moral transformation of some individuals who have reached a

certain point of maturity. However, Rousseau does not state clearly the determining factors that

show that one is ready to be subjected to the law. He adds that effective governance depends on

the size of the state. The larger the state, the independent it is since it has the capability to resist

foreign nations. However, too large nations are impossible to administer. Rousseau does not tell

the exact size of a state that qualifies it to be defined as large, but he is against too large states

because the equal application of the law in the different states and regions is almost impossible,

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administering them is costly and the people do not have a sense of civic pride. The economic

organization of a state should be determined by the natural resources available. A state should

maximize on producing the products whose raw materials are available then exchange them for

those that they do not produce. The legislation that every nation creates should be appropriate to

the situation of its citizens.

According to Rousseau, people have the legislative power but exercising executive power

is a mistake as it does not deal with general concerns but particular acts. Mixing the two can lead

to inequality among the citizens. Every action is a result of the cooperation of legislative and

executive power. The moral cause of an action is compared to legislative power, while the

physical cause of an action is compared to the physical cause of an action. Executive power is

essential in addition to the legislative authority to ensure that the general will is implemented. It

could be an aristocratic, democratic or monarchical form of government depending on the needs

of the society as well as the population size.

An agent must always have the desire to carry out an action and must be physically able

to perform it without strain. Although the social contract requires people to take part in the

legislative process, it does not give them the right to force others to do something that they

cannot do themselves. This means that the execution of the law should not be done by the same

people who make it, which is where the government comes in. The government should take the

responsibility of executing the laws since it is the mediating agent between the sovereign and the

subjects. The people do not have any contract with the government, which is why they have the

power to do away with a government that does not meet their interests. They employ some of

their own to hold positions in the government and entrust them to carry out the general will using

the state power. Although the government has some measure of authority, the general will should

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always come before the government's interest which Rousseau refers to corporate will. The

government has no right to decide the destiny of the people because they cannot transfer their

ultimate right to it. The popular sovereignty cannot be alienated or divided.

The government is a representative of the people that the sovereign employs to carry out

the general will. The sovereign has the power to change the type of government to fit the

populace needs. The type of government depends on the size of the population. For instance, a

monarchy is the best fit for a large population, democracy is the best fit for smaller states and

aristocracy works best for the middle-sized population. A conflict must exist between the

sovereign and the government as it tries to take power and to solve it, people should be allowed

to participate in forming the government. However, the chances of the state's failure are very

high as the government has to take power from the people, who were used to be free. It is the

duty of the citizens to keep the state alive. The purpose of hiring representatives is not to uphold

the general will because transferring sovereignty is not possible.

Rousseau prefers the aristocratic form of government to the rest because of its ability to

take both the elective and hereditary forms. Pure democracy cannot be effective because it does

not strictly separate executive and legislative powers. Private interests corrupt legislation when

people consider some acts. A monarchy allows for the interests of the king to be distinct from

that of his people. He uses favoritism to appoint people to occupy higher ranks in the

government thus ending up hiring unqualified people. Also, he spends too much on himself at

the expense of his subjects who continue to sink in poverty. In a hereditary aristocracy, the

sovereign cannot make laws that affect only particular individuals because it is a violation of the

social contract. It does not enhance legitimate polity due to its nature of naming a single family

or class to rule, which encourages inequality among the citizens. Moreover, its choice of leaders

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is unethical as it does not consider their intelligence or talent, which is against the interests of the

state. An elective aristocracy is the best fit as it chooses the best people to hold senior positions

in the government and considers the general will in its governance as opposed to corporate will.

A free society depends on the natural resources available. The climatic factors determine

whether a country is suited for a good polity, barbarism or despotism as it influences the

production of a country. The geographic region in which certain people live might make them

incapable of behaving morally because such climate might limit liberty. He bases his argument

on the circulation of tax in the society. Every citizen is obligated to give tax to the government

after which it spends it on the people to meet their needs. Some forms of government such as the

monarchy spends less on the people and more on the king. According to Rousseau, a performing

government is indicated by its population increase. Although he does not tell why, it is so

obvious that the increase in agricultural production is the reason behind the high population.

Rousseau argues that maintaining freedom is not easy thus people should make it their

duty to promote the health of the state and protect themselves from the government. There

reaches a point when tension develops between the government and the sovereign when the

government begins to abuse the power that people gives it and claims sovereignty for itself. The

separation between legislative and executive power does not really exist. The government tends

to cross the boundaries all the time, a problem that every state faces. When this happens, people

should resist the government by safeguarding legislative power. Body politic members should

declare during public assemblies whether the government best serves the common good and

whether they approve the current state of affairs. The best way to keep the executive on the

check is to organize public assemblies periodically. The constitution alone is not enough to keep

the executive on track but periodic intervention is necessary. Gathering the members of the state

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might seem like a lot of work but that does not mean that it is impossible. It is the only way to

preserve the freedom of the state.

Rousseau encourages citizens to fulfill their obligations to the state. He was against the

use of money to avoid civic responsibilities because it took the freedom of the people. They

should participate in political activities to preserve the sanctity of a state and enhance equality. A

state that accepts money from its citizens to exempt them from carrying out their civic duties can

easily be bought or sold to the powerful members of the society who control it in their favor. The

entire populace should take part in the implementation of the law so as to express their general

will instead of relying on their representatives to do so. People should put their personal

businesses on hold and avail themselves in the assemblies in order to take part in major decision-

making processes.

However, modern political trends cannot allow for such things to happen. People are very

busy nowadays thus they cannot make time to the assemblies to take part in the lawmaking

process, which is why they elect representatives to do so. Nevertheless, people have no excuse

for avoiding civic duties. It is only fair if everyone participates because some of them cannot

afford to pay.

Rousseau argues that a dictator should assume power in time of crisis and the law should

be suspended. At this point, the dictator becomes the sole decision maker to save the state.

Rousseau bases his argument on the fact that saving lives is more essential than the social

contract, which is why someone has to step up to preserve the state. However, his view of

dictatorship is different from the most dictators in history; the sort of Adolf Hitler. For instance,

in the Roman Empire, dictators relieved themselves of the dictatorial duties as soon as the crisis

was over because to them being in that position was a huge burden. Rousseau assumes that

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people who hold such positions do not use them as an opportunity to pursue their personal

interests but treat it as an unwanted position that they cannot wait to get rid of. On the contrary,

those leaders do not exist. Nowadays people put their personal interests before the general will

and once put in such a position, they will do everything in their power to maintain it.

At the end of The Social Contract, Rousseau brings up the idea of civil religion in which

he establishes a set of beliefs that every citizen should share. His intentions were to solve the

dilemma that separation of the church and state had created. It is impossible for people to

become good citizens and devout Christians at the same time, something that gave man

competing duties. Although the sovereign is supposed to ensure freedom of religion, it should

prescribe a code of values for righteous citizens. The civil creed establishes moral and religious

unity in the state. However, critics find it an opening for a tyranny as the government takes the

advantage to manipulate the civil creed thus attacking the liberty of individuals. Furthermore,

Rousseau supports censorship as a way of preventing the corruption of public opinion thus

maintaining public morality. Public judgment helps people decide what is good and what is bad,

which is why changing public opinion helps to reform morality.

Rousseau's social contract is important in the modern day society as it is the basis of

popular sovereignty. Leaders are supposed to represent the General Will of the people and not

the needs of the selfish few. The power is in the hands of the public, not the leaders as they can

always vote out leaders who do not represent their interests. In addition, they can participate in

referendums to make the rules that are supposed to govern their behavior. However, elections are

not always free and fair following the many rigging cases, especially in the developing countries.

The corrupt and underperforming leaders always find their way into senior positions in the

government. They own the government machinery, which makes it difficult for the voters to

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remove them from office. Also, the people's representatives amend the constitution to meet their

needs at the expense of the needs of the many.

Moreover, Rousseau reveals the basis of democracy and justifies revolution against

arbitrary rule. For instance, the French people were motivated by Rousseau's works to organize a

revolution against the French Monarch. Rousseau was against divine power as it interfered with

man's freedom. The people should take part in forming the government and making legislation to

guide their behavior, something that a monarchy denied them. Since all men were born equal,

they should be granted equal opportunities to hold positions in the government. A democratic

government is the best choice in the free world, for it is a government that the public make to

serve their needs. They are able to participate in the governance process. According to Rousseau,

the people are justified to revolt against a government that does not allow the majority rule.

However, nowadays democracies have turned to be dictatorial forms of government. The leaders

control all sectors of life and do not let the public voice their concerns. They use threats and

bribes to silence activists and whistleblowers.

Competition is the primary cause of conflict in the modern society as it was back then.

People began to compete for the scares resource when the population increased and as a result,

they were forced out of the state of nature. Also, the natural resources got depleted thus they

were forced to cultivate their own food to sustain themselves. Consequently, they began to own

private property since the state of nature could not allow them to share the available natural

resources. People became greedy and began to commit crimes such as theft to meet their needs.

They began to harm each other following disagreements on property ownership. In the

contemporary world, people still compete for the scares resources. The powerful take everything

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from the weak and the poor thus leaving them with nothing, something that forces them to use

illegal means such as theft, drug dealing and prostitution to make a living.

Critics argue that the idea of General Will is not the solution to every problem. General

will does not guarantee the will of all and it is not meant for the common good because men have

their own selfish needs. The General will is not always right as it can give absolute power to the

people of the community. Human beings are by nature selfish and always try to fulfill their

personal needs before they think of the needs of the community. A contradiction between the

general will and the selfish will shuts off any chances of a sufficient authority. Instead, it favors

anarchy which makes it dangerous. Moreover, human beings have unlimited needs. They is no

way their needs will be fulfilled to satisfaction as fulfilling one need gives rise to another thus

leading to an endless chain.

Also, Rousseau does not give a timeline when the social contract was made. He only

explains the state of nature as a primitive period of time when men lived in a utopia. The

population was scarce, which means that there were few individuals in the world. They never

interacted with each other since the chances of even meeting were minimal. Most importantly, he

believes that men in the state of nature were equal because there was no private ownership of

property. He makes the state of nature look so perfect and too good to be true. But again, there is

no way historians can prove his claims because just like the other social contract theorists, he

does not tell when exactly people lived in the state of nature. Moreover, he does not give

evidence that man behaved as he says in the state of nature.

In conclusion, Rousseau's social Contract clearly states the obligations of the public to

ensure that life continues as it used to be in the state of nature. Obedience to the law is not

optional but a must since people commit themselves to means of the social contract, not just the

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end. Voting decisions should be made according to general will but not their personal interests.

Once a law passes, it means that it is in accordance with the general will. Unanimous approval of

the law is not possible, but this does not mean that those who vote against it lose their freedom.

They just happened to be wrong in their assessment of the general will. Elections should be

carried out by the entire populace so as to appoint leaders who represent the general will and not

government puppets. People are free and equal since they give equal amounts of freedom to form

a government. They have the right to choose the laws that would govern their activities since it is

ridiculous for people to surrender their freedom to slavery. Freedom is paramount to enhance the

smooth functioning of the state.

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Work Cited

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. "The social contract, 1762." (1964): 43.

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