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Book 3, Chapter 17
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 summarizes that “the act which institutes the government is not a contract but a law,” emphasizes that magistrates must work dutifully for the sovereign, rather than having power over it. Therefore, “hereditary government” is illegitimate except during transitions from one government to another. Such transitions are dangerous, but they can be necessary when “an established government […] become[s] incompatible with the public welfare.” Still, it is important to ensure that the “whole people” wants government replaced and that this government will not try “usurp[ing] the sovereign authority.” This is why the people need to assemble periodically, even when there is no pressing business, and vote on whether they want to sustain the existing government and magistrates. Ultimately, Rousseau reiterates, the sovereign people can always revoke “any fundamental law,” even including “the social pact” itself.
It is important to distinguish between “the act which institutes the government,” which is a law because it is general, and the appointment of magistrates, which is an act of the government that occurs after the sovereign has created this government but before it has named anyone to serve in it. Again, Rousseau emphasizes that the government generally attempts to seize power and therefore requires careful oversight from the sovereign, whose periodic assemblies provide a built-in oversight against tyrannous administrations. While it is clear why the people can choose to fire the government, it is more surprising that Rousseau thinks they can renege on the social contract. However, this is a necessary consequence of the fact that citizens freely consent to the social contract: any individual can withdraw this consent at any time, although this requires them to stop living under the rules of society (which means they can no longer enjoy its protections). In turn, the collective can theoretically do the same, if the general will decides that it is no longer in citizens’ interests to make their decisions as a collective.
Themes
