The Social Contract- Legitimacy of authority & Law Making

What does Rousseau argue?

Rousseau argues that laws are only legitimate if they are made by the people governed by general will which is motivated by the common good

In this way, the power/ role of the Sovereign is not concentrated in one person but instead the people as a collective

Consensual theory of political legitimacy [1]

“any law which the People have not ratified in person is null; it is not a law” SC

How does he propose this work?

(1)     Civic virtue= people have the common good in mind rather than their private interests (laws are legitimate only if they represent the general will)

(2)     Direct participatory democracy: citizens vote on laws in a citizens assembly, each citizen has an equal vote

(3)     Role of the executive:  the executive cannot make laws, can only execute them (administer laws, enforce them, handle particular cases)

Critical Discussion?

Scale and Practicality

Threat of Majority Tyranny

Scale and Practicality

-              Logistically unrealistic in large modern states

-              Time consuming and demand high civic engagement

-              Especially for less homogenous societies

Threat of Majority Tyranny [1]

(i)  No constitutional rights above the general will: this could lead to the suppression of minorities or coercive laws being justified as “for the common good” not enough regulation

(ii)  Women excluded, not actually equal

Moral liberties (right to vote) in Rousseau’s model do not extend to the entire state

(iii)  Individual liberty foregone for civil liberty

Though Rousseau frames this as a necessary loss for social order “the complete transfer of each associate with all his rights, to the whole community” SC will disproportionately affect individuals whose needs aren’t represented by the majority picture

(won’t be successful for everybody especially the less homogenous society is)

Cohen calls this the problem of institutional possibility

Cohen’s Problem of Institutional Possibility

argument that the social contract would not work in practice