The Social Contract · Chapter
II: Voting explained
Rousseau discusses how the manner of voting in assemblies reflects the health of the body politic, with unanimity indicating the dominance of the general will and dissension signaling decline.
What happens
Rousseau discusses how the manner of voting in assemblies reflects the health of the body politic, with unanimity indicating the dominance of the general will and dissension signaling decline. He examines the social compact as requiring unanimous consent, explains how the vote of the majority binds all citizens, and provides rules for determining the necessary majority based on the importance and urgency of the matter.
Themes in this chapter
The General Will
Unanimity in voting indicates the dominance of the general will; the general will is the constant will of all members of the State.
The Social Contract
The social compact is the only law requiring unanimous consent; residence constitutes consent to the Sovereign.
Decline and Corruption of the State
Long debates, dissensions, and tumult signal the ascendancy of particular interests and the decline of the State.
Characters to notice
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Author of the chapter, presenting his theory on voting and the general will.
- Tacitus
Cited for his observation of senators under Otho cursing Vitellius with a deafening noise to hide their words.
Key passages
“The more concert reigns in the assemblies, that is, the nearer opinion approaches unanimity, the greater is the dominance of the general will.”
When assembly members agree closely, the general will is more dominant.
Rousseau links unanimity to the strength of the general will.
“There is but one law which, from its nature, needs unanimous consent. This is the social compact; for civil association is the most voluntary of all acts.”
Only the social compact requires unanimous agreement because joining civil society is a voluntary act.
The social compact is the foundational agreement that must be unanimous.
“When in the popular assembly a law is proposed, what the people is asked is not exactly whether it approves or rejects the proposal, but whether it is in conformity with the general will, which is their will.”
When voting on a law, the question is whether the proposal aligns with the general will, not whether each individual approves it.
Voting is about discerning the general will, not personal preference.