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Book 3, Chapter 15
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 reiterates that the legislative (sovereign) and executive (government) powers must be separate, so that there is a clear distinction between laws themselves and actions taken to implement the laws. But what creates this relationship between the sovereign and the government? Is there a contract, as some have argued? Rousseau concludes that there is not. First, the sovereign has “supreme authority,” but a contract would mean it gives up some of its power to the government, which is “absurd and self-contradictory.” Second, the sovereign can only set general laws, rather than “particular act[s],” including a contract. And finally, there is nothing to enforce a contract between the sovereign and the government. So, ultimately, there can be no contract between the sovereign and the government.
Having explained what the government is (the branch of the state responsible for implementing the laws) and where its authority comes from (it is delegated by the sovereign), Rousseau still has to explain how the sovereign actually brings the government into existence. Given the argument of his book thus far, readers may be surprised to hear that Rousseau does not believe a contract can legitimately create the government. However, throughout the book, his argument has always been that contracts are necessary among equals, who acknowledge their mutual freedom and humanity in making an agreement that requires both sides to willingly give something up. Since the government is not the sovereign’s equal, these two bodies cannot enter into a contract. Rousseau provides two more reasons that the government cannot come into being through a contract, but their gist is the same: the sovereign should absolutely dominate the government, rather than making an equal agreement with it.
Themes
