russo's social contract theory key concepts social contract theory is a political philosophy that questions the origins of society and the legitimacy of governmental control over individual people it is an argument that all men have an obligation to do unto others as you would have them do unto you in what follows i will briefly sketch the key concepts of russo's model of social contract theory russo begins the social contract with the most famous words he ever wrote men are born free yet everywhere are in chains from this provocative opening russo goes on to describe the myriad ways in which the chains of civil society suppress the natural birthright of man to physical freedom to rousseau the collective grouping of all people who by their consent enter into a civil society is called the sovereign and this sovereign may be thought of metaphorically at least as an individual person with a unified will this principle is important for while actual individuals may naturally hold different opinions and once according to their individual circumstances the sovereign as a whole expresses the general of all the people rousso defines this general will as the collective need of all to provide for the common good of all russo describes the ideal form of this social contract and also explains its philosophical underpinnings to russo the collective grouping of all people who by their consent enter into a civil society is called the sovereign and this sovereign may be thought of metaphorically at least as an individual person with a unified will this principle is important for while actual individuals may naturally hold different opinions and once according to their individual circumstances the sovereign as a whole expresses the general will of all the people russo defines this general will as the collective need of all to provide for the common good of all for rousseau the most important function of the general will is to inform the creation of the laws of the state these laws though codified by an impartial non-citizen law giver must in their essence express the general will accordingly though all laws must uphold the rights of equality among citizens and individual freedom russo states that their particulars can be made according to local circumstances although laws owe their existence to the general will of the sovereign or the collective of all people some form of government is necessary to carry out the executive function of enforcing laws and overseeing the day-to-day functioning of the state russo writes that this government may take different forms including monarchy aristocracy and democracy according to the size and characteristics of the state and that all these forms carry different virtues and drawbacks he claims that monarchy is always the strongest is particularly suitable to hot climates and may be necessary in all states in times of crisis he claims that aristocracy or rule by the few is most stable however and in most states is the preferable form russo acknowledges that the sovereign and the government will often have a frictional relationship as the government is sometimes liable to go against the general will of the people russo states that to maintain awareness of the general will the sovereign must convene in regular periodic assemblies to determine the general will at which point it is imperative that individual citizens vote not according to their own personal interests but according to their conception of the general of all the people at that moment as such in a healthy state virtually all assembly votes should approach unanimity as the people will all recognize their common interests furthermore russo explains it is crucial that all the people exercise the sovereignty by attending such assemblies for whenever people stop doing so or elect representatives to do so in their place the sovereignty is lost foreseeing that the conflict between the sovereign and the government may at times be contentious russo also advocates for the existence of a tribunate or court to mediate in all conflicts between the sovereign and the government or in conflicts between individual people as we can see rousseau's central argument in the social contract is that government attains its right to exist and to govern by the consent of the governed today this may not seem too extreme an idea but it was a radical position when the social contract was published russo discusses numerous forms of government that may not look very democratic to modern eyes but his focus was always on figuring out how to ensure that the general will of all the people could be expressed as truly as possible in their government he always aimed to figure out how to make society as democratic as possible at one point in the social contract russo admiringly cites the example of the roman republic's commissioner to prove that even large states composed of many people can hold assemblies of all their citizens