The Social Contract · Chapter
V: The Tribunate explained
Rousseau discusses the tribunate as a peculiar magistracy that preserves the laws and legislative power by maintaining balance among the prince, the people, and the Sovereign.
What happens
Rousseau discusses the tribunate as a peculiar magistracy that preserves the laws and legislative power by maintaining balance among the prince, the people, and the Sovereign. He warns against its usurpation of executive power and proposes periodic suspensions to prevent tyranny.
Themes in this chapter
Sovereignty and Government
The tribunate serves as a mediator between the Sovereign and the government, preserving the balance of power.
Decline and Corruption of the State
Rousseau illustrates how the tribunate can degenerate into tyranny, as seen in Sparta and Rome.
The Role of the Legislator
The tribunate is the preserver of the laws and legislative power, acting as a guardian of the constitution.
Characters to notice
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Author and narrator of the chapter.
- Cato the Elder
Referenced implicitly through Roman examples of tribunes.
- Romulus
Referenced implicitly through Roman history.
- Lycurgus
Referenced implicitly through Spartan examples of Ephors.
Key passages
“When an exact proportion cannot be established between the constituent parts of the State, or when causes that cannot be removed continually alter the relation of one part to another, recourse is had to the institution of a peculiar magistracy that enters into no corporate unity with the rest.”
When the balance among the parts of the State is unstable or constantly shifting, a special magistracy is created that stands apart from the other bodies.
Introduces the need for the tribunate as a balancing institution.
“The tribunate is not a constituent part of the city, and should have no share in either legislative or executive power; but this very fact makes its own power the greater: for, while it can do nothing, it can prevent anything from being done.”
The tribunate is not part of the city's core structure and holds no legislative or executive power, yet its ability to block actions gives it immense influence.
Highlights the paradoxical power of the tribunate through its negative authority.
“It degenerates into tyranny when it usurps the executive power, which it should confine itself to restraining, and when it tries to dispense with the laws, which it should confine itself to protecting.”
The tribunate becomes tyrannical when it seizes executive power or ignores the laws it is meant to defend.
Warns against the corruption of the tribunate's role.