SOCIAL CONTRACT

'MAN WAS BORN FREE, AND HE IS EVERYWHERE IN CHAINS' - THESE ARE THE FAMOUS OPENING WORDS OF A TREATISE THAT HAS NOT CEASED TO STIR VIGOROUS DEBATE SINCE ITS FIRST PUBLICATION IN 1762. REJECTING THE VIEW THAT ANYONE HAS A NATURAL RIGHT TO WIELD AUTHORITY OVER OTHERS, ROUSSEAU ARGUES INSTEAD FOR A PACT, OR 'SOCIAL CONTRACT', THAT SHOULD EXIST BETWEEN ALL THE CITIZENS OF A STATE AND THAT SHOULD BE THE SOURCE OF SOVEREIGN POWER. FROM THIS FUNDAMENTAL PREMISE, HE GOES ON TO CONSIDER ISSUES OF LIBERTY AND LAW, FREEDOM AND JUSTICE, ARRIVING AT A VIEW OF SOCIETY THAT HAS SEEMED TO SOME A BLUEPRINT FOR TOTALITARIANISM, TO OTHERS A DECLARATION OF DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES.