Key Ideas
1. Human beings are born free
Political subjection needs justification; it is not made legitimate merely by being customary.
2. Force creates compliance, not right
Superior power cannot by itself produce a moral duty to obey.
3. Slavery cannot be a valid social contract
An agreement surrendering every freedom and claim empties obligation of reciprocal meaning.
4. The social pact creates a collective person
Equal association turns separate individuals into citizens and a sovereign people.
5. Sovereignty belongs to the citizens collectively
Legitimate law-making authority cannot be permanently transferred to a ruler or representative.
6. The general will aims at common interest
It differs from the sum of private preferences and can be obscured by factions.
7. Civil freedom is reciprocal self-rule
Citizens obey general laws in whose authorship they share.
8. Moral liberty governs appetite
Freedom includes acting according to a self-prescribed rule rather than immediate impulse.
9. Property is secured through civil recognition
Possession becomes a right within a community and remains subject to legitimate conditions.
10. Sovereignty is inalienable and indivisible
The general will cannot be sold, partitioned or represented as another person’s private possession.
11. Law is general in source and object
The whole citizen body legislates for members considered under common categories.
12. Equality is a political requirement
Extreme differences of wealth and dependence make equal citizenship impossible in practice.
13. Government executes but does not own sovereignty
Magistrates are agents charged with applying law, not masters of the political community.
14. Political forms must suit circumstances
No executive arrangement is best for every territory, population and civic culture.
15. Government tends to usurp public authority
Institutional self-interest continually threatens to replace the sovereign people’s judgement.
16. Citizens must assemble to remain sovereign
Regular public judgement prevents political authority from becoming merely representative or passive.
17. Emergency power must be temporary
Exceptional authority can protect a state only when tightly confined to genuine necessity.
18. Civil religion should support civic duties
Public belief must not establish an intolerant authority competing with the state.