How Did Rousseau Contribute To The Development Of Democracy

The “Social Contract” was a theory written in the 17th and 18th century. This theory argued four important main points. These main points said that the state existed to serve the will of the people, that people were the only source of government power, that the people were free to withhold power of the government, but also had the ability to give power to the government, and finally it stated that the ideas in this document limited government, individual rights, and popular sovereignty. James Harrington, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Hobbes, and John Locke wrote this document.

Constitution. John Locke’s belief of “life, liberty, and property” was the most influence on the American. Beside the Magna Carta, Petition of Rights, and English Bill of Rights, Locke also has a great influence of limit government. Locke’s Social Contract theory was to protect the basic rights of the people, it for the right of citizens to revolt against their king. Social contract is a convention between men that aims to discard the state of nature. According to Locke, the State of Nature is a state of perfect and complete liberty to behavior one's life as one best perceives fit, and free from the interfering of others. Also from Locke’s view of State of Nature, he believes it was given by

John Locke’s idea of the social contract was adopted by both of them although they had differing interpretations of the government’s role in it. Both believed that man in his natural state had absolute freedoms and rights. The government was formed by the transfer of those rights which formed a civil society. These ideas formed the basis of their ideas. ben Franklin believed that people had a core set of rights that could be given away through a social contract, ( freedom of speech, freedom of religion, free trade.) While Jean did not oppose the government taking rights away as long as the government is securing equality and inclusiveness. He believed that free speech could cause harm and thus the government had the warrant to interfere with it. Benjamin Franklin was strongly opposed to it he firmly believed that liberty should not be compromised in any way, shape, or form, and that freedom of speech was the pillar of

Rousseau wanted the state to be a legitimate democracy, a society that united together the people in freedom, equality and civic devotion. Rousseau believed that an individual fulfils his moral potential not in isolation but as part of a community where all members are committed to helping each other. This belief led Rousseau to ancient Greek society for which he felt a great admiration. He believed the Greeks lived in 'organic communities', cities where the citizens set aside personal interests in order to attain the common good. Rousseau's ideal state was one of a smaller size but one where the citizens were welded together in the spirit of 'fraternity'. People would therefore have the opportunity to get know each other, resulting in an enthusiastic contribution to all public affairs. Such a political environment produces free and committed citizens. In contrast, the large modern day states are ruled by an absolute monarch, creating 'servile subjects', which Rousseau despised.8

By definition, democracy is a type of political system in which all members share the same level of power, but it is also the framework for the government of multiple countries including the United States of America. Athenian democracy, created near 400 B.C. in Athens, Greece, was a direct system where participating citizens had the opportunity to vote directly on legislative and executive bills. The founding fathers of the United States took the Athenian’s idea and created the idea of “representative democracy”, where the citizens of a nation were able to elect representatives who would make decisions for them. In fact, the United States could be considered to be more of a constitutional republic than democracy, since the Athenian democracy that influenced them is not a “true democracy”. Even though differences between the two governments exist, ancient Athenians heavily influenced the Founding Fathers of the United States of America to form a democratic government, allow representatives to vote on legislation, and to provide equality and fair trials to their people.

 Rousseau-French-people had right to determine how they should be governed and not some tyrant

Locke’s adoption of the social-contract theory helps explain why the government was formed, and outlines the responsibilities of both the governed and the governing, in preserving the government through the protection of life, liberty, and property. If these rights were infringed upon by the government, Locke also established that people have the right to overthrow that government, because they are the ones that elected the government initially. Thomas Jefferson emphasized the protection of life, liberty, and property in the Declaration of Independence. This illustrates the influence of philosophers such as Locke on the principles behind the U.S. government, as well as actual documents created during its

A Social contract is an agreement between the people and their government limiting an individual's rights but in exchange offering them protection. The declaration acknowledges ¨That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” (Declaration of Independence) A social contract is implemented to protect the rights of the people and form a civil society. The government is created by the people and, for this reason, is to serve the interests of its citizens fully. The belief that a government derives its authority from the people, in the form of a social contract, correlates to popular sovereignty established by John Locke. Popular sovereignty explains that if a person through a social contract is creating a government then the government, therefore, derives its power from the people. This ensures that if a person is entering society by consent through a social contract they can withdraw their consent because the sovereignty of government is with the people. (We the People, 17) In addition, to the consent to leave the government people also have the ability to overthrow the government is it ever fails to secure and protect their rights.

The notion of government is a very simple one for Rousseau, he takes all of the legislative power away from it, leaving it only executive power. He defines it explicitly as, “an intermediate body established between the subjects and sovereign for their mutual correspondence, charged with the execution of the laws and with the maintenance of liberty both civil and political.”(60) The sovereign power of the people still prevails through the general will, though, meaning Rousseau created a government that delegates powers that can be withdrawn by the people at any time. With these terms defined, we can now move on to the question of what Rousseau meant by his maxim on representative governments.

Locke was one of the main intellectual influences on the Founding Fathers when they were drafting the Constitution. One of Locke’s main beliefs that is central to the Constitution is that of a social contract. His main idea of a social contract is that the government has certain responsibilities to protect the rights and property of its citizens, and if it

He believed that we all have natural rights; life, liberty and property, and that the government cannot legally take them away from the people. He claimed that a government is “for the people”, they should form the laws and confirm that the laws were equal for all, whether someone was rich or poor. In addition to that, the laws should only be for the good of the people. For example, the government cannot raise taxes without people's awareness. The people give up their rights temporarily, and in a case which the government's laws do not protect our rights, the people have the rights to take them back and depose the government. The government is the representatives of the citizens and they need to do what the citizens ask them to do. Locke’s ideas of society made sure that everyone is equal and that the government’s job is to protect people's

The theory of social contract developed by John Locke in the seventeenth century is "an agreement amongst individuals through which they form a state in

In his work, Rousseau talks about freedom the most in his political philosophy, and the goal was to explain how people in the state of nature are privileged to have total freedom. Rousseau believed that in a good government, it must have

In Two Treatises of Government, John Locke (1823) argued that natural rights such as life, liberty and property could not be taken or given away by individuals. These “inalienable” rights limited the power of the king, who acted only to enforce the natural rights of the people. If these rights were violated, the people had the right to revolt and create a new government. Although Locke supported the idea of a representative government, he wanted representatives to be men of property (Locke 1823). Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1988) also wrote about representation in The Social Contract. Rousseau felt that individuals should enter into a social contract in which they gave up their rights to the entire community, rather than to a king. Rousseau viewed a

Rousseau disagreed with Locke’s view in many ways. Rousseau believed that the purpose of a government was to bring people into harmony and to unite them under the “General Will.” He denounces Locke’s belief in a representative democracy. Rousseau believes that sovereignty is unalienable, legislative power cannot be a legitimate form of power delegated to representatives. This power must be exercised by the entire population or there would be no republic. Rousseau also disagrees with Locke about who should be able to vote. He believes that no man should be excluded from participation in politics (Tannenbaum, 205). Rousseau fails to mention women, which can be implied that they may be excluded from participation. Rousseau believes in a