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Jean Jacques Rousseau Model Of Government Essay

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According to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the main problem of modern societies is that they do not promote either equality or freedom. Therefore, he proposes a model of government that is based on the “general will”. As I am going to explain in details later on, the general will for Rousseau is the only way to promote the common good for the whole society. However, in my opinion, his model of government ensures equality at the expense of personal freedoms. In fact, he believes that people need to be educated to a common civic sense that allows them to pursue a greater good; but for me his education is a form of indoctrination and Rousseau’s perfect government is destined to degenerate in a totalitarian regime. Anyway, the idea of government proposed by Rousseau is very complex, and to better understand it, it is necessary to first analyze his view …show more content…

Actually, there is no class division at all: Rousseau’s society is a classless and a party-less one; otherwise, the creation of factions would lead the wealthiest people to pursue their own interests, and they would have the money to corrupt all the other voters. It is also the only government that ensures to its citizens the same liberty that they were enjoying in the state of nature, because nobody is imposing their own laws to the people, but they are doing what it is best for their own interests. They are free to choose their own laws according to the general will. It is very different from the ideas of government of Hobbes and Locke. The former, for Rousseau, has created a model of an authoritarian government which totally deprives men of their freedom; while the latter, who has based the need of a government on the protection of private property, has created a model of government that promotes

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