Rousseau Social Contract

child. Such authority has been extended through force and not by nature, hence political authority does not exist in nature. In the Social Contract, Rousseau explains that Grotius proposes the right of slavery between a king and his people. This social contract represents an agreement that the people must surrender their freedoms to the king. Rousseau argues that Grotius does not clarify what the people receive in return for their obedience. He explains that slavery does not equal human preservation and that the king lives well by taking advantage of the labour of others. The king isolates the country by hoarding all of the goods and offers little security for the people. Rousseau interprets this as an unequal exchange and that to give up freedom would be to give up our hopes for humanity. In a monarchy, slavery corrupts individuals by making the people slaves and destroying their rights and freedoms. In order to do so, he introduces the concept of the

He focuses on direct democracy as the form of government where the majority vote decides the general will of the people. Voting is also necessary since sovereignty depends on the outcome of the general will. Specifically, Rousseau considers the voting process as a means to gain the confidence of the people. Rousseau asserts that a majority vote would be required for more important matters such as creation of new laws. According to his theory, if a law does not express the genuine will of the public then it is considered illegitimate. However, if that law represents a product of the general will then the number of majority votes are not pertinent. Opponents would argue that Rousseau had weakened the voting threshold based on moral benefits. This reduces the incentive for the individual to vote in their interests, and have that single vote supersede the