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The social contract, according to Hobbes, is described as follows ʹ All individuals of a state of nature
make a promise to each other that they will give up their natural rights in favor of the sovereign and will
obey the laws the sovereign propagates. They promise each other that in choosing the sovereign, they
are to be understood to be authorizing all his future actions. The contract is of the form : ͚ I authorize
and give up my right of governing myself, to this Man, or to this Assembly of Men, on this condition that
you give up your Right to Him, and authorize all His actions in like manner. This done, the Multitude, so
united in one Person, is called a Commonwealth. They basically bestow their trust in the judgment of
one man group of man, who then become responsible for the well-being of the entire state. Hobbes also
introduced to concept of state being separate from the Sovereign. Once the people elect a Sovereign, he
is acting on behalf of the State when he does duties as a Sovereign. For example, when a person is
punished for committing a crime, it is the Sovereign who hands out the punishment, but it͛s the State
which is punishing the wrongdoer. The Sovereign is just representing the State. Also, the Sovereign has
the right to punish an individual who he feels has done something wrong, for if one individual gives up
his rights to the sovereign, he does so on the condition that all other individuals of the state do the
same. When we a governing ourselves, we are free to say that what we did is right, even if it is, in fact
wrong. But once we give up the rights to govern ourselves to the Sovereign, we must accept his
judgment of what is wrong and what is right. Hobbes said the Sovereign or government got its powers
from the people, but he didn͛t mention whether it would be absolute power or if would have
limitations.

Locke believed that the shortcomings of the State of Nature could be taken care of by a Social contract.
In the State of Nature, there is a want of a known, established law, there is a want of a known, impartial
judge and a want of a power to back and support a sentence when it is rightly given and to execute it.

The Social contract, in Locke͛s mind created a civil/political society which had a government. Its purpose
was the preservation of the life and liberty of the new society, as well as the preservation of its
property. Locke believed that if one signed the social contract and became part of the civil/political
society, ͞they made the legislature of that society the supreme power.͟ However, the government was
not to go against the Law of Nature. The ͚legislative͛ had certain restrictions or ͚limits͛, as Locke put it.
They were as follows ʹ
͚First, they are to govern by promulgated, established Laws, not to be varied in particular cases, but to
have one rule for Rich and Poor, for the Favourite at Court, and the Country Man at Plough. Secondly,
These Laws also ought to be designed for no other end ultimately but the good of the people. Thirdly,
they must not raise Taxes on the Property of the People, without the Consent of the People, given by
themselves, or their Deputies. Fourthly, the legislative neither must nor can transfer the power of
making laws to any body else, or place it where, but where the people have͛

The right to private propertyhowever, becomes one of the limitations on the government. The moment
the government is obstructs the right to property of any one of the members of its society, it ceases to
be legitimate. If the government fails to meets its purpose, it can be removed from power and replaced.
Few have criticized Locke for this, saying that his model prevents the government form taxing its
citizens. Locke however clearly allows for taxation as long as the taxes levied are reasonable, approved
by the people and once collected, are being used by the government to fulfill its duty of facilitating the
general good of the public.

One of the most important features of Locke͛s form of government is the inclusion of limited
government. He believed that a government could only take some sort of major general action, such as
levy taxes, unless the people agree to it by vote. If they feel that some policy is not beneficial for the
public, then they can vote to have it abolished. Locke said that government could not even levy taxes
unless the public said it could. Also, in Locke͛s time, there rested in the hands of the monarch a set of
discretionary powers known as the monarch͛s Prerogative which included powers which were
somewhat parallel to what we call declaration of emergency and executive pardons. In essence they
could even go against the law of the land if some special circumstances presented themselves. Locke
believed that preservation of the public good limits this Prerogative, the same way it limits the powers
of the ͚legislative͛.

Locke propagated the idea of a limited government due to religious reasons as well. He believed every
man should be free to follow any faith or philosophy for his spiritual well-being is his own responsibility.
Compelling someone to conform in this respect automatically made him spiritually insincere and this
damned him. So he believed in governments following the principle of toleration as a form of their
limitations.

Rousseau believed that the hypothetical state of nature would be one of harmony, unlike Hobbes.
However lack of resources and human emotions like greed and ambition changed all of this. The
individual͛s will to flourish began to hinder the well-being of the community. The social contract was
established in order to address this issue and allow the individual͛s natural liberty to coexist with the
needs of the community and absolute power was given to the sovereign to oversee this. We must note
the similarity to Hobbes in respect to the fact that they both say that the sovereign is to be given
absolute power. The sovereign was to use the power to look after the interests of the people. It is taken
for granted he will act towards the general well-being of the people and hence must be obeyed
completely.

Rousseau believed that by signing the Social Contract people became the sovereign and the subjects as
well; ͚It is the people who collectively make the laws, and it is the same people who then obey these
laws. He believed liberty meant living by your own rules and in this case, since the people make the rules
themselves, they retain their liberty and follow a social order as well. The sovereignty was to be vested
in the General Will of the people.

The General Will was to be, more than anything else, general in its form and origin. It must include
economic equality. The people must vote for the general good and not to serve their own personal
interests, for then the result cannot be called the general will. He says ͚ There is often a great difference
between the will of all and the general will- the latter consists only of the common interest, while the
former takes private interests into account and is no more than the sum of particular wills. Basically
even if themajority decides on a particular thing, it cannot be considered as the will of all the people as
it only serves the interest of the majority and disregards the common good of all. Whatever decision is
made must be towards the good of all the people, not just a certain section of society. He believed that
the masses which were often themselves unaware of what they wanted were to be led by the legislator,
but they would still have the power to decide.

Hobbes͛, Locke͛s and Rousseau͛s ideas of the social contract are similar in some respects and dissimilar
in others. Hobbes and Rousseau both agree that the sovereign was to be given absolute power but
Locke, in my opinion seemed more practical in this respect for he believed in a limited government,
which could be removed if it failed to serve the interests of the people or if it turned rogue. So of the
three, Locke͛s Social Contract seems the most practical and suited even to today͛s world.

Matter referenced and quoted from the book ͚Western Political Thought: From Plato to Marx͛ by Shefali
Jha