Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Social Contract, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Human Freedom and Society
Sovereignty, Citizenship, and Direct Democracy
Government and the Separation of Powers
National Longevity and Moral Virtue
Summary
Analysis
Rousseau declares that this Book 1s an attempt to determine if governance can have “any legitimate and sure principle” under it, considering “men as they are and laws as they might be.” In his inquiry, he wants to combine considerations of what is right and what is in people’s best interests—or, put differently, justice and utility. Rousseau admits that he is no “prince” or “legislator,” but rather merely a “citizen” trying to fulfill his responsibility to learn about “public affairs” and make informed voting decisions in his beloved country, Geneva.
Rousseau emphasizes that his project is theoretical, not empirical, in nature: he wants to know what would make a state legitimate, not if there is any legitimate state in the real world. In fact, he has already done the empirical part—although only speculatively—in an earlier work, the Discourse on Inequality. He also points out the inherent conflict between justice, which requires protecting citizens’ rights and therefore limiting the state’s power, and utility or the public interest, which requires the state to be able to sometimes unfairly suspend people’s rights. The question of how to strike this balance is one of the great unresolved problems in Rousseau’s thought: some commentators see his dedication to the common good as totalitarian, while others think his insistence on direct citizen participation in politics would lead to anarchy. Again, he argues that his writing is itself part of his political duty as a citizen. This reflects the sense in which his understanding of politics revolves around the idea that public deliberation and discussion by engaged citizens are the best ways to improve a state and its laws.
Themes
