The social contract is an agreement between humans to forgo our natural rights and create a government in order to improve our well-being and limit violent conflict over resources.
It is one of the four primary foundations of law.
If you agree to this agreement, you are signing up for a certain level of reciprocity.
Acquiescence
The social contract is a system of collective behavior that allows people to coexist.
It relies on widespread consensus to create the conditions for social cohesion.
While radical freedoms are constrained, this social contract allows individuals to live in a larger community.
For example, taxation is the embodiment of the social contract.
The acquiescence response bias may lead participants to make uninformed decisions.
It may also be affected by factors in a person’s background, such as conservatism or education.
Cross-national differences in acquiescence could also influence the results.
Willful consent
Willful consent, or acceptance of a social contract, is the act of agreeing to an action or a societal obligation.
Although this is often interpreted as voluntary, some scholars have argued that it can only occur with the consent of the party in question.
However, some scholars have argued that voluntary consent can be implied.
Consent can be limited or withdrawn if coercion is involved.
For example, few people would argue that a person forced to sign a contract under gunpoint would be legally obligated to perform that contract
Even if consent was implied, there would be no obligation in such cases.
Furthermore, modern liberal democracies often do not require citizens to obey the law; therefore, they may question whether conscientious objectors should be punished.
State of nature
In the theory of the social contract, a person gives their implicit consent to become part of a society.
This consent to participate in society and be governed by that society grants legitimacy to the government.
However, this consent does not imply agreement with the government’s actions.
A society must be consistent with the superior unwritten constitutions of nature.
Locke also argued that human society must be based on the principle of equality among people.
He argued that there is no clear distinction between men and women in terms of their natural inequalities.
Without equality, every individual is condemned to live in constant fear of violence and loss.
Because of this, war, as Hobbes called it, is the war of every man against every man.
Rousseau
One way of understanding Rousseau’s social contract is by examining the reasons why people enter into unions
He argues that the basic motive for joining a union is self-preservation
He points to the fact that children surrender their freedom to their father in return for protection and care.
This is a societal arrangement that is considered unethical and counterproductive to individual freedom.
Whether we agree with Rousseau’s social contract is personal choice.
He argues that we should only accept the power of our leaders if they are willing to act in our best interests
A society cannot be legitimate without the consent of its citizens.
