Abstract

This paper evaluates the social contract theory from the view point of Jean Jacques Rousseau and applies the relevance to contemporary society. It is found that the social contract theorists traced the origin of the state to a social contract by individuals after an experience from the state of nature. Rousseau’s state of nature initially guaranteed freedom and good life for the individuals until the institution of private property ushered injustices that called for an organized or civil society mainly to protect lives and property. He considered property as the root cause of moral corruption and injustice which made the individual to loose his freedom. Rousseau argues that property had to be controlled by the General Will which was the universal law that regained man’s freedom and liberty in the civil society. Incidentally, Rousseau’s ideas have been found relevant such that this paper recommends for its application to governance or administration of modern states. There should be willingness of the leaders, who are involved in this kind of contract with citizens, to ensure adequate provision of the basic needs and security for the citizens. Key words: The State, social contract, theory, Jean Jacques Rousseau.

Highlights

  • The main concern of political thinkers, from the period ofPlato to Marx, has principally remained the state, its evolution, organization and purpose

  • As argued by Appadorai (1974:19), some of the first issues raised by political theorists are the questions of: What is the origin of the state? Have men always lived under some form of political organizations? Appadorai further maintains that political scholars have never agreed on the answers to these fundamental issues, with the result that there are various theories concerning the beginning of the state such as the social contract theory, the divine right theory, the force theory, the evolutionary theory, and so on

  • Rousseau’s social contract theory, as submitted by Enemuo (1999:74), Appadorai (1974:27), and Mukherjee and Ramaswamy (1999), is a notion that the state is the result of a contract entered into by men who originally lived in a state of nature; that there was only one contract, the social pact to which government was not a party

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Summary

Evaluating the social contract theoretical ideas of Jean

Jacques Rousseau: An analytical perspective on the state and relevance to contemporary society. This paper evaluates the social contract theory from the view point of Jean Jacques Rousseau and applies the relevance to contemporary society. Rousseau’s state of nature initially guaranteed freedom and good life for the individuals until the institution of private property ushered injustices that called for an organized or civil society mainly to protect lives and property. He considered property as the root cause of moral corruption and injustice which made the individual to loose his freedom.

INTRODUCTION
THE SOCIAL
AND INDEPENDENCE OF LIFE
JEAN JACQUES
POLITICAL IDEAS
IDEAS TO CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY
CONCLUSION AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
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