Rousseau's Concept of Democracy

Rousseau describes democracy as a form of government that “has never existed and never will” ; yet twenty-six countries in the world are considered to be full democracies. How can this be possible? Rousseau’s concept of democracy supports the most fundamental and basic premise of democracy – one in which all citizens directly participate. While his idea of democracy cannot be considered an effective indictment of what passes for democracy today, it is not Rousseau’s account which is flawed but that in modern society is would be practically impossible to achieve this idea of democracy.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau defines democracy as a government in which “the sovereign entrust 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 in 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.

Along with these basic premises in Rousseau’s democracy, four basic conditions must exist to allow for democracy to flourish: a small state, a “g...

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...titutions and most importantly the citizens. To expect all the citizens in a democracy to lack ambition and greed is practically impossible, especially when modern society teaches individuals that ambition is a necessary component of success. Yet, there are nations that do ascribe to the democratic ideals as realistically as possible. By allowing and encouraging citizens to vote and by creating and implementing laws equally these democratic governments are instituting some of the most important ideals of a democratic government.

Works Cited

Economist Intelligence Unit. "Democracy Index 2010." Information Policy. Economist Intelligence Unit, 2010. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. .

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, and Donald A. Cress. "On Democracy." Basic Political Writings. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 1987. 179-80. Print.