Democracy and the “Social Contract”: Prescription for Freedom and Equality

Abstract

This chapter explores social contract theory based on the works of theorists Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Entering the social contract we forgo some self-interests in exchange for relative security, safety, and efficiency of organized social life. As individuals, we come together and give individual power to a public power subject to the collective “common good.” Submission provides equality in terms of participation in creating rules of governance but implies self-constraint. Elements of the theory are reflected in our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Today we are witnessing erosion of our freedom and equality by the breaking of social contracts. Our social behaviors are motivated by psychological egoism where all interest is self-interest. As a result, government’s rules and regulations continue to increase.