What is an example of a social contract?

Social contract theory says that people live together in society in accordance with an agreement that establishes moral and political rules of behavior. The U.S. Constitution is often cited as an explicit example of part of America’s social contract. It sets out what the government can and cannot do.

What is the social contract and how does it relate to American government?

The term “social contract” refers to the idea that the state exists only to serve the will of the people, who are the source of all political power enjoyed by the state. The people can choose to give or withhold this power. The idea of the social contract is one of the foundations of the American political system.

What did Hobbes think about the social contract?

Hobbes called this agreement the “social contract.” Hobbes believed that a government headed by a king was the best form that the sovereign could take. Placing all power in the hands of a king would mean more resolute and consistent exercise of political authority, Hobbes argued.

What is the social contract in simple terms?

Definition of social contract : an actual or hypothetical agreement among the members of an organized society or between a community and its ruler that defines and limits the rights and duties of each.

How does John Locke define the social contract?

In simple terms, Locke’s social contract theory says: government was created through the consent of the people to be ruled by the majority, “(unless they explicitly agree on some number greater than the majority),” and that every man once they are of age has the right to either continue under the government they were …

What political thinkers are associated with social contract theory?

Although similar ideas can be traced to the Greek Sophists, social-contract theories had their greatest currency in the 17th and 18th centuries and are associated with the English philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke and the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. …