Most of the first political documents of the United States government were written with aspects of various philosophical pieces. For example, the Declaration Of Independence has aspects of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense in which Paine states that all men are born into the state of equality the United States Government then uses this phrase in “...all men are created equal...” Not only did these writings inspire important US government documents but it inspired the way in which the US government would be organized. The United States government is divided into three branches: executive, judicial and legislative. The idea to split the government in such a way was inspired by Baron de Montesquieu The Spirit of the Laws written in 1748. Montesquieu …show more content…
This is executed by citizens voting for representatives who share their ideals who then presents these ideals to the government to have laws passed in the citizens’ favor. This will then force the citizens to participate more in their government. Jean Jacques Rousseau’s The Social Contract was written in 1763 to inspire the people of France to be more active in the government. At the time the French king was exploiting the French citizens and their money so Rousseau felt that by the citizens becoming more active in the government the king can not exploit the citizens. Rousseau states “You can never corrupt the people, but you can often fool them, and that is the only time the people appear to will something bad…” meaning that government officials can deceive the citizens whom they represent. The people vote for these representatives in hopes that they will represent their ideals properly to other government officials when determining the fate of various laws. Rousseau also states “All the obligations which a citizen owes to the State he must fulfill as soon as the sovereign asks for them, but the sovereign in turn cannot impose any obligation on subjects which is not of use to the community.” Rousseau is implies that government officials who represent the citizens should support bills, laws and acts that benefit the community in which they represent. This is the responsibility of the senators and representatives in Congress. Representatives listen to the needs of the community and/or state when determining the fate of a bill before it is placed before the Senate. The Senate then will vote on the bill in question and the majority vote determines the fate of the bill. But these bills are not always created with the people in mind because big corporations support politicians in exchange for certain bills to be passed. Due to this occurrence, citizens need to
It was established for the United States to have a document based foundation for the country to be run on. These Enlightenment thinkers got our founding fathers John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and George Washington all questioning God, Nature and Society. John Locke inspired our founding fathers to state in the document that all power should lie within out people. John Locke believed all people should have right to choose their leader. Montesquieu’s idea was also used in the United States Constitution. Montesquieu believed in the power of checks and balances, which means that not one branch of government gets too much power. Rousseau’s ideas were also presented in the United States Constitution. Rousseau’s idea was that all people get to vote for the president and congressmen. Other Enlightenment thinkers also have an influence on the United Sates Constitution. Voltaire’s ideas were also used he believed in religious freedom. The final thinker that is present in the structured law today is Cesare Beccaria. Beccaria believed that the accused have rights and that torture is unjust
Rousseau states “ Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains” and “A country cannot subsist well without liberty, nor liberty without virtue.” Rousseau’s impacts on American government include his position that people are what make a nation. Buildings and seats do not decide whether or not one votes, that is the role of people. What Rousseau means by bring the people into chaos is that the people must think for themselves and not just let those who are deemed more educated decide for them. As America is a Democratic Republic, the root word democracy is used, which means that the majority of the country’s wishes must be thought of and respected. He also believes that while an individual 's ideas must be recognized, they must stand down to ensure the majority 's vote is respected. This is shown in the way we vote, and the way that congress passes bills. Americans have a voice, but when the majority speaks, it is done. While the representation of the people is appreciated, the appointed representative must make sure that his ideas are in alignment with those whom he represents. When one who is placed in a position of authority over a select group of people does not respect their will, he loses his title of representative and just becomes one and of
In 1787, the United States of America Constitution was ratified by two-thirds of the states. The Constitution created a new government in the United States of America that was constructed around the idea of separation of power by the three branches of government with a system of checks and balances. These branches include the executive branch, the bicameral legislative branch and judicial branch. In order to ensure that no branch were to overpower the other two branches, the forefathers of the United States of America created a system of checks and balances. In the new government of the United States of America, the president had a Cabinet with a Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of War, Attorney General and Postmaster General. George Washington, the first president of the United States of America, asked Thomas Jefferson to be the Secretary of State and asked Alexander Hamilton to be the Secretary of the Treasury. Because of the polarity of their political beliefs, Thomas Jefferson, a Republican who believed in strong states rights, and Alexander Hamilton, a Federalist who believed in a strong federal government, had differing opinions on all matters in the government. While Jefferson written that all men are created equal in the Declaration of Independence, Hamilton had helped created the constitution that founded a strong federal government. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton laid the groundwork for America’s first two-party system. It is partly because of Thomas Jefferson was the Secretary of State, the Cabinet's expert on foreign affairs, and Alexander Hamilton was the Secretary of the Treasury, the Cabinet’s expert on economic affairs, and partly because they were obliged to work together and prese...
"This inquiry will naturally divide itself into three branches- the objects to be provided for by a federal government, the quantity of power necessary to the accomplishment of those objects, the persons whom that power ought to operate," writes Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist #23 in reference to the separation of powers. The basic concept here is the idea of the federal government being divided into three separate branches that would balance excessive democracy through a system of checks on each other. The three branches, respectively known as the legislature (Article I), the executive (Article II), and the judiciary (Article III), were designed to entice the opponents of the Co...
The plan to divide the government into three branches was proposed by James Madison, at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. He modeled the division from who he referred to as ‘the Perfect Governor,’ as he read Isaiah 33:22; “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; He will save us.” http://www.eadshome.com/QuotesoftheFounders.htm
Rousseau, however, believed, “the general will by definition is always right and always works to the community’s advantage. True freedom consists of obedience to laws that coincide with the general will.”(72) So in this aspect Rousseau almost goes to the far extreme dictatorship as the way to make a happy society which he shows in saying he, “..rejects entirely the Lockean principle that citizens possess rights independently of and against the state.”(72)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a philosopher that helped develop concepts such as general will, and improved on the early norms on child-raising. Born in Geneva, he was a “citizen” of the city. “Citizens” were the two hundred members of the Grand Council of Geneva, which made most of the political decisions in state. Jean-Jacques Rousseau was an important part of the Enlightenment. He led an interesting life, as told by his three memoirs, had a solid philosophy, did not believe in reason, and left a lasting legacy that still affects us today.
...ion with the general will. This may sound like a contradiction but, to Rousseau, the only way the body politic can function is by pursuing maximum cohesion of peoples while seeking maximum individuation. For Rousseau, like Marx, the solution to servitude is, in essence, the community itself.
In the Social Contract, Rousseau discusses the idea of forced freedom. “Whoever refuses to obey the general will shall be constrained to do so by the entire body; which means nothing other than that he shall be forced to be free” (Rousseau, SC, Bk 1. Ch. 7). This forced freedom is necessary for a government that is run by the people and not a small group of few to one sovereign(s). For forced freedom allows a difference of opinions but the outcome is the idea with the greatest acceptance. Because political rule requires the consent of the ruled, the citizens of the state are required to take action within their community.
The opening line of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's influential work 'The Social Contract' (1762), is 'man is born free, and he is everywhere in chains. Those who think themselves masters of others are indeed greater slaves than they'. These are not physical chains, but psychological and means that all men are constraints of the laws they are subjected to, and that they are forced into a false liberty, irrespective of class. This goes against Rousseau's theory of general will which is at the heart of his philosophy. In his Social Contract, Rousseau describes the transition from a state of of nature, where men are naturally free, to a state where they have to relinquish their naturalistic freedom. In this state, and by giving up their natural rights, individuals communise their rights to a state or body politic. Rousseau thinks by entering this social contract, where individuals unite their power and freedom, they can then gain civic freedom which enables them to remain free as the were before. In this essay, I will endeavour to provide arguments and examples to conclude if Rousseau provides a viable solution to what he calls the 'fundamental problem' posed in the essay title.
The political philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Karl Marx examined the role that the state played and its relationship to its citizen’s participation and access to the political economy during different struggles and tumultuous times. Rousseau was a believer of the concept of social contract with limits established by the good will and community participation of citizens while government receives its powers given to it. Karl Marx believed that power was to be taken by the people through the elimination of the upper class bourgeois’ personal property and capital. While both philosophers created a different approach to establishing the governing principles of their beliefs they do share a similar concept of eliminating ownership of capital and distributions from the government. Studying the different approaches will let us show the similarities of principles that eliminate abuse of power and concentration of wealth by few, and allow access for all. To further evaluate these similarities, we must first understand the primary principles of each of the philosophers’ concepts.
Rousseau explained that a person must give up one’s desires for the good of the community. The idea was that it was in the public’s best interest. Montesquieu’s work reflected the ethic of a strong stable government in which the decisions were made for the public. Popular sovereignty was one example that reflected the will of the public. The use of English government in France was seen as a way to unify the people and promote a more stable republic and less of a single monarch in power.
...gainst the state and the general will. Rousseau contends that, “every offender who attacks the social right becomes through his crimes a rebel and traitor to his homeland” (Rousseau 65). Once this offense has been undertaken, the criminal is longer a member of society and is now viewed as an enemy. The state’s preservation is at odds with the preservation of the offender and therefore the offender must be put to death. Also, Rousseau feels that the danger of members trying to enjoy the benefits of civil society without performing their required duties is a serious threat to civil society. Such actions must be constrained by all other citizens and offenders to this agreement must be “forced to be free” (Rousseau 55). This is a rather paradoxical argument as the idea of forcing someone to be free hardly works in most people’s definition of freedom. What is essential to remember here is that Rousseau believes that the true form of freedom can only come about once an individual enters civil society and accept the terms of the social contract. Therefore by forcing someone to adhere to society’s order, you are really granting them with civil freedom, the most important freedom of all.
Rousseau argues that the citizens should be the ones who create the law when living in that particular society. He says “Laws are, properly speaking, only the conditions of civil association. The people, being subject to the laws, ought to be their author: the conditions of the society ought to be regulated solely by those who come together to form it.” Since the law is aimed at the citizens and punishments would oblige if not obeying to the law, it would simply be more accurate if the citizens themselves would create the law to make obedience simpler.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau defines democracy as a government in which “the sovereign entrusts the government to the entire people.so that there are more citizens who are magistrates than who are ordinary private citizens”. In Rousseau’s democracy, the people are both the subject and the sovereign and as such they both make the law and are subject to the law. Although the people are both sovereign and subjects, the sovereignty of the people is based solely on the assembly, and thus when the people are no longer assembled they become subject to following the same laws that they have just created. Although it may seem counteractive to have the citizens develop the same laws that they will have to later follow, Rousseau says that all laws passed will be based on the general will and thus they will be inherently good. Rousseau states that all laws passed by the assembly are “solely the authentic acts of the general will” and because “the general will is always right”, all laws passed are inherently good....