What is 'the social contract' and who proposed it?

• A. An explicit legal document that grants sovereignty to a ruler.
• B. A social arrangement in which the monarchy grants rights to the people in exchange for tax support.
• C. An implicit agreement between citizens and government defining rights and duties; theorists include Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau.
• D. A free-market philosophy advocating minimal government.

Answer: (C)

The social contract is an implicit agreement between citizens and government that defines rights and duties and legitimizes political authority. It argues that governments derive legitimacy from the consent of the governed, not from force or divine right. Key thinkers—Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau—each offered how this contract underpins the authority of the state, with different emphases on security, natural rights, and the general will. This idea helps explain why governments exist and what limits and responsibilities they must observe.

It isn’t an explicit legal document granting sovereignty to a ruler, nor a monarchy granting rights to the people in exchange for tax support, nor a free-market philosophy advocating minimal government. Those describe other concepts or arrangements, not the social contract as developed by Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau.