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Sovereignty and Government Separated

The Social Contract

This flow traces Rousseau’s effort to preserve popular sovereignty by distinguishing the people who make general laws from officials who execute them.

increasingupBearing stren­gth in each eventdowndecreasing
People as SovereignPeople as Sovereign from "The Social Contract". People as Sovereign Authority Created The compact forms a public body whose members collectively possess sovereign authority.
People as Sovereign Authority Created The compact forms a public body whose members collectively possess sovereign authority. That authority belongs to the whole association, not to an individual ruler. A Lasting Distinction Citizens can be considered both participants in sovereignty and subjects of law. Rousseau uses this double relation to explain how political obedience may remain self-government.
Sovereignty InalienableSovereignty Inalienable from "The Social Contract". Sovereignty Inalienable Will Cannot Be Transferred A ruler may receive power to act, but cannot inherit the people’s will.
Sovereignty Inalienable Will Cannot Be Transferred A ruler may receive power to act, but cannot inherit the people’s will. A promise to obey a master permanently would dissolve the people as a sovereign body. The Hobbesian Contrast Where Thomas Hobbes allows sovereignty to pass to government, Rousseau insists that the people cannot surrender its ultimate authority.
Sovereignty IndivisibleSovereignty Indivisible from "The Social Contract". Sovereignty Indivisible One General Will A will is general when it belongs to the people as a whole; a decision by only one part is particular.
Sovereignty Indivisible One General Will A will is general when it belongs to the people as a whole; a decision by only one part is particular. Dividing sovereignty into separate supreme powers obscures that distinction. Powers Reclassified Rousseau treats many supposedly independent sovereign powers as subordinate acts that carry out a prior public will.
Government as AgentGovernment as Agent from "The Social Contract". Government as Agent Execution, Not Sovereignty Government mediates between the Sovereign and subjects, executes laws, and maintains civil and political…
Government as Agent Execution, Not Sovereignty Government mediates between the Sovereign and subjects, executes laws, and maintains civil and political liberty. Its authority is a commission rather than a contract between equals. Revocable Trust Officials exercise delegated power in their own name but remain answerable to the people. Their office can be limited, altered, or reclaimed.
Usurpation and DissolutionUsurpation and Dissolution from "The Social Contract". Usurpation and Dissolution The Prince’s Advance Government continually has an institutional interest distinct from the people’s general will.
Usurpation and Dissolution The Prince’s Advance Government continually has an institutional interest distinct from the people’s general will. If it uses public force for its own will, the political bond begins to loosen. The Compact Broken When the prince usurps sovereignty, the State contracts into a ruling faction. Rousseau treats this as dissolution, not as a legitimate change in administration.
Book I, Chapters VI–VII
Book II, Chapter I
Book II, Chapter II
Book III, Chapter I
Book III, Chapter X, when government takes sovereign authority