Social contract theory says that
people live together in society in accordance with an agreement that establishes moral and political rules of behavior
. Some people believe that if we live according to a social contract, we can live morally by our own choice and not because a divine being requires it.
Specifically for law enforcement, social contract theory
is important to justify the power that law enforcement can exert over the population as a whole
(Evans and MacMillan, 2014). The power imbalance, held by law enforcement, is part of the contract that society has agreed upon in exchange for security.
social contract, in political philosophy,
an actual or hypothetical compact, or agreement, between the ruled or between the ruled and their rulers
, defining the rights and duties of each. … They then, by exercising natural reason, formed a society (and a government) by means of a social contract.
The social contract states that
“rational people” should believe in organized government
, and this ideology highly influenced the writers of the Declaration of Independence. that created it, or popular sovereignty. He believed that every citizen was equal in the view of the government.
A social contract
enables the rule of law
. A social contract is based on natural rights. A social contract protects rights in exchange for the people accepting obligations to both their fellow man and to the institutions of society and government.
A social contract is
an unofficial agreement shared by everyone in a society in which they give up some freedom for security
. … As members of a society, we agree to the social contract — we cooperate with each other and obey society’s laws. We also give up some freedoms, because we want the protection society can offer.
Social contract theory says that
people live together in society in accordance with an agreement that establishes moral and political rules of behavior
. Some people believe that if we live according to a social contract, we can live morally by our own choice and not because a divine being requires it.
In simple terms, Locke’s social contract theory says:
government was created through the consent of the people to be ruled by the majority
, “(unless they explicitly agree on some number greater than the majority),” and that every man once they are of age has the right to either continue under the government they were …
Rousseau’s central argument in The Social Contract is
that government attains its right to exist and to govern by “the consent of the governed
.” Today this may not seem too extreme an idea, but it was a radical position when The Social Contract was published.
Hobbes theory of Social Contract supports absolute sovereign without giving any value to individuals, while Locke and Rousseau
supports individual than the state or the government
. … He rules out a representative form of government.
The State of Nature, Equality, and Liberty
.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s ideas of the social contract heavily influenced the American revolutionary generation. It was the
idea that government exists with consent of the governed that led the revolutionaries to break free of Britain
.
Parliament and King George III made
decisions for colonists without their input/consent
. Colonists’ rights to property (taxes and quartering of soldiers without consent) were taken from them. Ultimately, these colonial elites determined the social contract was broken, and they sought a means of self-government.
General will, in political theory,
a collectively held will that aims at the common good or common interest
. … In Du Contrat social (1762; The Social Contract), Rousseau argued that freedom and authority are not contradictory, since legitimate laws are founded on the general will of the citizens.
A social contract or political contract is
a perceived agreement among the people of a state about the rules that will define their government
. These rules are usually called laws. Laws help to make sure people have rights and that their rights are protected. One kind of social contract is a constitution.
A social contract theory has played major role in enhancing political democracy in western political theory. …
Social contract enhanced the history of freedom
. Each individual was entrusted with own rights which no other person could deprive, unless by law which binds the citizens (Kelly & Boucher 1994, p. 209).
