Influence Of Rousseau On American Democracy

“Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. Those who think themselves masters of others are indeed greater slaves than they.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau opened his 1762 book The Social Contract, or Principles of Political Right (Du contrat social) with this now famous quote, and with it rejecting the governments of his time. Rousseau’s radical ideas on government would later become a rallying point of the French Revolution, despite him having died several years before. Some of his ideas would even come to influence the creation of America’s constitution, yet American Democracy has, in many ways, become the exact opposite of the ideas Rousseau advocated as being the ideal government.

Surprisingly, Rousseau did not actually view democracy,

A vital part of what makes a successful Democracy is being highly politically active, Rousseau even insists that it be written into a state’s laws that citizens meet in periodic assemblies. In spite of his claims Americans are notoriously bad at this. As demonstrated in the chart, even with such a televised and dramatic election as the 2016 Presidential Race, voter turnout hit a low. Which is not to say that voter turnout had been impressive in previous years, at it’s highest percent in 2008, it was still only 63.7 percent. For Rousseau’s ideal democracy this is an abysmal rate of participation, especially considering that Presidential elections receive the most attention by far. Voter turnout for local elections is even worse, with only a sad 11.89 percent voting in the 2015 Mayoral election

However, the general will is more than just the will of all. The general will, in theory, is supposed to be what’s best for the state as a whole. In order to reach the general will, citizens must not vote for their own personal interests. Instead they must reject individualism, and embrace the community and it’s needs as a whole. Thus Rousseau concludes that for a democracy to be successful it needed to be a small state, with honest citizens not ruled by greed, materialism, or ambition. Nor could there be factions.

American culture doesn’t seem to fit this description, we’re a society built upon ‘reach for the stars’ and ‘bigger is better’, we are consumed, at times, by a consumer culture. Massive wealth inequality plagues the nation, spurring cries of “We are the 99 percent!” While Rousseau admittedly protects the idea of private property, he admits a democracy cannot function with such inequality. When such a gap exists the poor are desperate enough to sell their freedom and the rich feel free to buy