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Social contract theory
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Social contract theory in the context of political philosophy refers to the idea that people have consented to the authority of government and social rules either explicitly or tacitly. Contract theorists consider the consent of the governed the legitimate basis of government authority.[1]
In the U.S., contract theorists consider the Constitution to be an explicit part of America's social contract. Contract theory contrasts with compact theory, which promotes the idea that the U.S. was formed through an agreement (compact) between the state governments - not a social contract between people.[1][2][3]
Background
The roots of social contract theory and the idea that government derives its authority from the consent of the governed can be traced back as early as Socrates. Socrates reasoned that he should face his death penalty and not try to escape prison because he implicitly consented to the laws of Athens by living in the city his entire life. Consequently, he had a duty of obedience to the laws.[1][2][3][4]
Thomas Hobbes formulated the first modern understanding of social contract theory, which philosophers like John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rosseau also promoted. Hobbes argued that humans are naturally exclusively self-interested, so if there were no power to force people to cooperate, humans would exist in a constant state of conflict with every other person, killing each other for limited resources. He argued that in order to avoid the theoretical State of Nature in which every person must constantly fear for their lives, since humans are rational, people implicitly consent to governance, sacrificing unrestrained liberty for their self-interested need to live in society.[1][2][3][4]
Locke had a different view of social contract theory in which the hypothetical State of Nature is relatively peaceful (as it is governed by the Laws of Nature), and people consent to government mainly so they can acquire and accumulate property, which he believed was impossible in the State of Nature.[1][2][3][4]
Rosseau argued that people in the hypothetical State of Nature were peaceful, free, and had their needs met. He argued existing governments only contracted with property owners to subjugate non-property owners, and he advocated for a new contract wherein every person would collaboratively submit themselves to the general will in a democratic system where every person in a relatively small state voted on laws directly.[1][2][3][4]
These philosophies of social contract, especially the views of Locke, influenced America's founders in their creation of a federal government under the Constitution of the United States. Many social contract theorists view the Constitution as an explicit social contract, due to its preamble, which begins with the phrase, "We the People of the United States." Some also argue that the document is a social contract between the American people, not a compact between states, since the Constitution was ratified through 13 state conventions (where the people of each state elected delegates to approve the Constitution), not by the state legislatures.[1][2][3][4]
Connection to the nondelegation doctrine
- See also: Nondelegation doctrine
In "'The People Surrender Nothing': Social Compact Theory, Republicanism, and the Modern Administrative State", American legal scholar Joseph Postell argues that the nondelegation doctrine comes from social compact theory:[5]
- Postell states that social compact theory "maintains that sovereignty–the power to create and establish governments and to vest them with power–resides in the people alone. Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, who must agree to vest the government with its powers. Furthermore, social compact theory holds that the sovereignty of the people is inalienable. That is, the people may not transfer their power and responsibility to govern themselves to any other body. When they vest powers in a government, they are not giving their sovereignty away but merely delegating it to a trustee who acts on their behalf. Those officers who hold government power, consequently, are merely the temporary holders of power, rather than the new owners of the powers vested in them. The people, as the sole fountain of authority, delegate power to the government, but only in a limited way, connected to the specific ends for which the people designate that power to be exercised."[6]
- Postell likens social compact theory to a principal-agent relationship between the people and the legislature.[6] The people are the principal who have delegated their rulemaking ability to the legislature.[6] Unlike other principal agent relationships, the people are unable to approve of a further delegation of the legislative power.[6] He writes, "[A]ccording to social compact theory, only the people can delegate legislative power, and when legislative power is delegated by the people to their agents in the legislature, the legislature cannot delegate its powers away because legislative power was never fully alienated by the people."[6]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Iowa State University, "Introduction to the social contract theory," accessed July 29, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 University of Texas McCombs School of Business, "Social Contract Theory," accessed July 29, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Benner, D. (2015). Compact of the Republic: The League of States and the Constitution. Minneapolis, MN: Life & Liberty Publishing Group.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Social Contract Theory," accessed February 9, 2022
- ↑ Dictionary.com, "Social contract," accessed June 10, 2019
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Missouri Law Review, "'The People Surrender Nothing': Social Compact Theory, Republicanism, and the Modern Administrative State," 2016
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