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The Common People and the Legislator

The Social Contract

This flow traces the difficult relationship between an ordinary people, which must author its laws, and the exceptional guidance needed to make sound legislation intelligible.

increasingupBearing stren­gth in each eventdowndecreasing
People Must Author LawsPeople Must Author Laws from "The Social Contract". People Must Author Laws Shared Authorship The people subject to laws must be their author because the conditions of association belong to those who form it.
People Must Author Laws Shared Authorship The people subject to laws must be their author because the conditions of association belong to those who form it. Legitimacy rests on public will. A Difficult Capacity The people may will its good without clearly seeing it. The demand for self-government therefore brings a need for guidance without surrendering authorship.
The Multitude Needs EnlightenmentThe Multitude Needs Enlightenment from "The Social Contract". The Multitude Needs Enlightenment Will Without Foresight Rousseau describes a people that can want the common good yet fail to judge what will achieve it.
The Multitude Needs Enlightenment Will Without Foresight Rousseau describes a people that can want the common good yet fail to judge what will achieve it. Present attractions may obscure distant harm. A Relational Problem The difficulty is not that the people lacks political standing. It is that institutions must help public judgment catch up with public will.
The Wise Cannot Simply CommandThe Wise Cannot Simply Command from "The Social Contract". The Wise Cannot Simply Command Knowledge Without Office The legislator may see institutional needs more clearly than the people but holds neither magistracy…
The Wise Cannot Simply Command Knowledge Without Office The legislator may see institutional needs more clearly than the people but holds neither magistracy nor sovereign authority. Expertise cannot itself become a right to rule. Consent Remains Essential Proposals must be submitted to popular approval. The people’s role is therefore more than obedience to someone claiming superior wisdom.
Persuasion Bridges the GapPersuasion Bridges the Gap from "The Social Contract". Persuasion Bridges the Gap Common Language Needed General political principles can be difficult to translate into the language of particular interests.
Persuasion Bridges the Gap Common Language Needed General political principles can be difficult to translate into the language of particular interests. The legislator must make institutions persuasive to their intended public. A Delicate Bond Rousseau describes appeals to divine authority as one historical means of persuasion. The legitimacy of the resulting order still depends on its acceptance and durability.
The People’s Consent Completes the WorkThe People’s Consent Completes the Work from "The Social Contract". The People’s Consent Completes the Work Proposed, Not Imposed The legislator’s design becomes law only when the people accepts it.
The People’s Consent Completes the Work Proposed, Not Imposed The legislator’s design becomes law only when the people accepts it. Public consent turns a proposal into an act of the community. A Continuing Relationship The people is neither an all-knowing designer nor a passive audience. Legitimate founding depends on guidance that preserves popular authorship.
Book II, Chapter VI, at the principle of popular legislation
Book II, Chapter VI, on the people’s difficulty judging public good
Book II, Chapter VII, as the legislator’s authority is limited
Book II, Chapter VII, as the legislator addresses a new people
Book II, Chapter VII, after institutional proposals are submitted