Government Analysis in The Social Contract

Rousseau defines government as the “legitimate exercise of the executive power,” which is the part of the state that implements the laws created by the sovereign. However, while this definition appears to equate government with the process or action of governing (whereas the body or institution that governs is called the “prince”), in practice Rousseau frequently writes about “the government” and uses this term interchangeably with “prince.” In short, the government is the executive branch, whose only purpose is to implement the legislature’s laws—or, in Rousseau’s terminology, the general will of the sovereign people who make laws. Notably, according to Rousseau, the government works for the people, who are free to fire, reformulate, or restrict it whenever and however they collectively decide. However, Rousseau also argues that it is crucial for the government and sovereign to be separate, because the sovereign can only create general laws, while the government needs to apply them to specific situations. (If the legislature passes laws that pick out specific individuals, Rousseau insists, it ceases to fulfill the general will of all citizens, and instead is turning some citizens against others.) In Book III of The Social Contract, Rousseau focuses on the way different governments are formed, structured, and run. He concludes, first, that an elected aristocratic government led by a few magistrates is better than a fully democratic or monarchic one. Secondly, he notes that the size of government must be regulated in order to balance power between the people in their active status as legislating citizens and the same people in their passive status as subjects of the law. It is important to emphasize that Rousseau does not defend aristocracy in the modern sense of the term; in fact, he believes that the people should always make all the laws for their own benefit. (He just thinks that a small elite should take charge of implementing those general laws). Similarly, while the word “government” is often used to refer to all of a nation’s institutions, in The Social Contract (and in this guide) it only refers to the executive branch and should not be confused with the sovereign (or legislature).

Government Quotes in The Social Contract

The The Social Contract quotes below are all either spoken by Government or refer to Government. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

My purpose is to consider if, in political society, there can be any legitimate and sure principle of government, taking men as they are and laws as they might be.

Related Characters: Jean-Jacques Rousseau (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 49

Explanation and Analysis:

Born as I was the citizen of a free state and a member of its sovereign body, the very right to vote imposes on me the duty to instruct myself in public affairs, however little influence my voice may have in them. And whenever I reflect upon governments, I am happy to find that my studies always give me fresh reasons for admiring that of my own country.

Related Characters: Jean-Jacques Rousseau (speaker)

Related Symbols: The Human Body and the Body Politic

Page Number and Citation: 49

Explanation and Analysis:

I have already said that the general will cannot relate to any particular object. For such a particular object is either within the state or outside the state. If it is outside, then a will which is alien to it is not general with regard to it: if the object is within the state, it forms a part of the state. Thus there comes into being a relationship between the whole and the part which involves two separate entities, the part being one, and the whole, less that particular part, being the other. But a whole less a particular part is no longer a whole; and so as long as this relationship exists there is no whole but only two unequal parts, from which it follows that the will of the one is no longer general with respect to the other.

Related Characters: Jean-Jacques Rousseau (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 81

Explanation and Analysis:

The public force thus needs its own agent to call it together and put it into action in accordance with the instructions of the general will, to serve also as a means of communication between the state and the sovereign, and in a sense to do for the public person what is done for the individual by the union of soul and body. This is the reason why the state needs a government, something often unhappily confused with the sovereign, but of which it is really only the minister.

What, then, is the government? An intermediary body established between the subjects and the sovereign for their mutual communication, a body charged with the execution of the laws and the maintenance of freedom, both civil and political.

Related Characters: Jean-Jacques Rousseau (speaker)

Related Symbols: The Human Body and the Body Politic

Page Number and Citation: 102

Explanation and Analysis:

Such is the natural and inevitable tendency of the best constituted governments. If Sparta and Rome perished, what state can hope to last for ever? If we wish, then, to set up a lasting constitution, let us not dream of making it eternal. We can succeed only if we avoid attempting the impossible and flattering ourselves that we can give to the work of man a durability that does not belong to human things.

Related Characters: Jean-Jacques Rousseau (speaker)

Related Symbols: The Human Body and the Body Politic

Page Number and Citation: 134

Explanation and Analysis:

The idea of representation is a modem one. It comes to us from feudal government, from that iniquitous and absurd system under which the human race is degraded and which dishonours the name of man. In the republics and even in the monarchies of the ancient world, the people never had representatives; the very word was unknown.

Related Characters: Jean-Jacques Rousseau (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 141

Explanation and Analysis:

At the opening of these assemblies, of which the only purpose is the maintenance of the social treaty, two motions should be put, motions which may never be annulled and which must be voted separately:
The first: “Does it please the sovereign to maintain the present form of government?”
The second: “Does it please the people to leave the administration to those at present charged with it?”

Related Characters: Jean-Jacques Rousseau (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 148

Explanation and Analysis:

Government Term Timeline in The Social Contract

The timeline below shows where the term Government appears in The Social Contract. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...their king: just as parents cannot control their children once they have grown up, a government cannot control people unless they actively consent to it. But people cannot willingly give up... (full context)

Sovereignty, Citizenship, and Direct Democracy Theme Icon

Government and the Separation of Powers Theme Icon

...“of a part” of the people, is not truly sovereign. It is true that many governments are divided among different branches, agencies, and jurisdictions, but this is a division of the... (full context)

...are a last resort, acceptable only when criminals “cannot be made good for something.” A government that punishes too much likely has unfair laws, and one that pardons too many criminals... (full context)

...or against a particular individual or object is “not a law,” but “an act of government.” (full context)

National Longevity and Moral Virtue Theme Icon

...ruled by law” in this way to be a republic and argues that “all legitimate government is ‘republican.’” In other words, “laws are […] the conditions on which civil society exists.”... (full context)

...is likely to be. The lawgiver is “special and superior” to the sovereign and the government, and must not be involved in legislation or the execution of laws, which must also... (full context)

...must also speak to the people in terms they can understand, for it takes good government to create “the social spirit” that makes people understand, appreciate, and perpetuate good government. This... (full context)

...grow and reach “a kind of equilibrium” in order to survive. But the quality of government is more important than any of these factors. In fact, governments that base themselves on... (full context)

...“Political Laws” (which, if suitable to a given country, become the “Fundamental Laws” of its government, and if unsuitable, can be changed). Then, to define how each citizen relates to the... (full context)

Rousseau explains that he must clearly define “government” before he starts comparing different kinds of government. (full context)

...acts” that are beyond the sovereign’s job of making laws. Rather, the sovereign needs a government, which (first) communicates between subjects and the sovereign and (second) implements laws and actively preserves... (full context)

The government communicates between the sovereign and the subjects (which are different perspectives on the people). To... (full context)

Rousseau continues by declaring that a government is like a microcosm of the body politic and says that it is comprised of... (full context)

Rousseau contends that, if a government adds more magistrates (administrators) without the state growing, each magistrate starts getting power and the... (full context)

Therefore, Rousseau concludes that it is possible to change the role of the government relative to the sovereign and the subjects by changing its number of magistrates. In the... (full context)

Having established that governments differ primarily based on “the number of members [magistrates] who compose them,” now Rousseau defines... (full context)

Whereas most philosophers have looked for a single “best form of government,” Rousseau recalls his conclusion from the last chapter: states with larger populations of citizens should... (full context)

Democracy “unite[s] the executive power with the legislative,” but this creates a situation Rousseau calls “government without government.” Namely, “the body of the people” should stay focused on making the laws,... (full context)

...citizens—virtue is important in all states, but even more so in those that have democratic governments. Finally, democracies are also prone internal conflicts like civil wars, because they are very fickle.... (full context)

Rousseau reminds the reader that the government ultimately works and speaks for the sovereign (the people). Then, he distinguishes three different kinds... (full context)

In monarchy, a single person carries the government’s entire executive power. Therefore, it produces maximal results with minimal effort, but it places no... (full context)

...conquering territory, they “are almost always inadequate” at administrating it. In a democracy or aristocracy, government is always continuous, but when a monarch dies, electing a new one is complicated, which... (full context)

Rousseau clarifies that “no government of a simple form exists” because there is always hierarchy within any government: “sometimes the... (full context)

...that “freedom is not a fruit of every climate.” Specifically, people who work for the government must live off of the surplus produced by the state’s members, but “this surplus is... (full context)

There is no single “best government,” because this question always depends on the territory and people governed. But there still could... (full context)

Rousseau contends that there is an inevitable tension between the government and the sovereign (just like the tension between the particular and general wills of citizens... (full context)

...virtually weekly despite having hundreds of thousands of citizens. In fact, “the majority of ancient governments […] had similar assemblies.” (full context)

Beyond creating a constitution, establishing laws, and setting up a government, the people must meet regularly, in a manner set forth by the law. The stronger... (full context)

When the people actually assemble in their capacity as the sovereign, the government or executive branch is momentarily invalid (because it is only ever an expression of the... (full context)

...neither be represented nor alienated. (Of course, representation is proper for the executive power, or government, as Rousseau has argued throughout Book 3.) Representation in legislatures is a historical anomaly: even... (full context)

Rousseau reiterates that the legislative (sovereign) and executive (government) powers must be separate, so that there is a clear distinction between laws themselves and... (full context)

Since the government is not created through a contract with the sovereign, Rousseau asks, how is it actually... (full context)

Rousseau summarizes that “the act which institutes the government is not a contract but a law,” emphasizes that magistrates must work dutifully for the... (full context)

Government elections can happen either “by choice [through voting] or by lot [randomly],” but Rousseau emphasizes... (full context)

Rousseau now examines the history of Roman government. It is unclear how Rome was first established, but Rousseau believes the authoritative traditional narratives... (full context)

...was truly sovereign.” Convened under the legally permitted circumstances, these comitia essentially functioned as the government as well as the sovereign. (full context)

...“a special magistrate” called a tribunate is necessary to balance power among the sovereign, the government, and the people. It is neither legislative nor executive—in fact, “it can do nothing” at... (full context)

...the “rare and obvious cases” when the nation’s security is severely threatened. If a stronger government is the solution, national security can be entrusted to “one or two members of the... (full context)

...dictatorship. Rome repeatedly appointed dictators in its early years, when nobody wanted to participate in government and it needed someone to take charge, but it failed to do this in its... (full context)

Government Term Analysis

Government Quotes in The Social Contract

Government Term Timeline in The Social Contract