The Social Contract · Chapter
XVI: That the Institution of Government Is Not a Contract explained
Rousseau argues that the institution of government is not a contract between the people and their rulers, as such a contract would be absurd, contradictory, and illegitimate.
What happens
Rousseau argues that the institution of government is not a contract between the people and their rulers, as such a contract would be absurd, contradictory, and illegitimate. He maintains that the sovereign cannot limit or alienate its supreme authority, and that the only legitimate contract in the state is the original social compact.
Themes in this chapter
Sovereignty and Government
Rousseau distinguishes the legislative power (sovereign) from the executive power (government), arguing that government is instituted by the sovereign, not contracted with the people.
The Social Contract
Rousseau reaffirms that the only legitimate contract is the original act of association, and any subsequent 'contract' with rulers would violate it.
Characters to notice
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Author and primary voice arguing against the notion of a contract between people and government.
Key passages
“Were it possible for the Sovereign, as such, to possess the executive power, right and fact would be so confounded that no one could tell what was law and what was not; and the body politic, thus disfigured, would soon fall a prey to the violence it was instituted to prevent.”
If the sovereign also held executive power, law and fact would blur, leading to confusion and the collapse of the political body into the very violence it was meant to avoid.
Rousseau emphasizes the necessary separation of legislative and executive powers.
“It is absurd and contradictory for the Sovereign to set a superior over itself; to bind itself to obey a master would be to return to absolute liberty.”
It is illogical for the sovereign to place someone above itself, as submitting to a master would mean reverting to a state of total freedom.
Rousseau rejects the idea of a contract that limits sovereignty.
“There is only one contract in the State, and that is the act of association, which in itself excludes the existence of a second.”
The state has only one contract: the original social compact, which by its nature prevents any additional contract.
Rousseau asserts the exclusivity of the social contract.