Social Contract

Written By Jonathan Milner

Definition

An actual or hypothetical agreement among the members of an organized society or between a community and its ruler that defines and limits the rights and duties of each. An implicit agreement where people give up some of their individual freedoms in exchange for government protection and the maintenance of social order. Rousseau’s 1762 political treatise The Social Contract famously begins with the statement, "Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains". Rousseau argues that legitimate political authority rests on a mutual agreement where citizens surrender natural liberty for civil liberty.

Example

 

Questions

  1. Define Social Contract in your own words.

  2. What emoji would best illustrate social contract?

  3. Identify and explain one specific feature of the United States Constitution that reflects the principles of a social contract.

  4. Under social contract theory, what is the primary justification or trade-off for citizens surrendering a portion of their natural liberty to a governing authority?

  5. Explain how the concept of popular sovereignty is essential to the functioning of a democratic social contract.

  6. How does a written constitution serve as a formal, tangible expression of the social contract within a democratic republic?

  7. Explain how the ongoing constitutional tension between individual liberty and collective security represents a fundamental challenge in executing the social contract.

Remember!

Now, let’s commit this term to our long-term memory. On a scrap piece of paper, take 10 or 20 seconds to draw social ctontspending! Draw with symbols or stick figures if you wish. Nothing fancy. Don’t expect a masterpiece. No one else will see this but you. Look at your drawing. That’s all - now it’s downloaded into your memory. Destroy the piece of paper in a most delightful way.

Further Review

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Jonathan Milner

Civics Maven!

https://www.gopopro.com/
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