What is Rousseau's concept of a social contract?

During the Enlightenment, thinkers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Locke, and Baron de Montesquieu challenged traditional views on government in which a monarch ruled over their subjects, often times with near absolute power. Rousseau's theory of social contract argued that there was an agreement between the government and the people they governed to fulfill certain roles and duties. Rousseau's social contract theory proclaimed that it was the responsibility of the people to give up certain freedoms which they had been naturally born into in order to maintain a safe and orderly society.

Rousseau believed that early humans, when born, had nothing to regulate their actions and behaviors. This chaotic state could potentially prove to be unsafe. As a result of this chaotic state, people organized into societies and created government in order to help create more stability and security. In order to do this, certain freedoms had to be surrendered to the government. Rousseau also argues that government had a responsibility to the people. The government's role was to protect the people and to work to benefit those they governed.

Rousseau's social contract theory was a critical Enlightenment theory on the role of government in society. Rousseau's argument was not that government should cease to exist, but rather that it should exist in a certain way so as to benefit the people. He also made it clear that people had a responsibility to surrender certain freedoms and respect the government (if the government was fulfilling their responsibility) in order to have greater security and structure in society. Rousseau's theories would be influential on future leaders, including those who led the American Revolution. When looking at the stated goals modern democratic governments, one can see the impacts of Rousseau's social contract theory.