Notes on New Social Contract

John Samuel

1) The idea of social contract has been one of the recurring themes in moral philosophy and political theory since the treatise of Plato on Republic. The social contract theory of Rousseau and John Locke significantly influenced the modern political discourse on government. Rousseau’s idea of social contract based on the legitimacy of popular sovereignty influenced the modern discourse where social contract legitimized governments to rule the people based on their consent.

2) However, critique of the modern social contract theory showed how unequal and unjust relationship within the society can exclude a large number of people on the basis of gender; race, cast or identity can be excluded from the earlier notions of Social Contract. Hence it is important to locate the discourse on democracy and development on a new social contract. Such new social contract needs to be shaped by Inclusive participation, social accountability, Justice and Human Rights.

3) In the new social contract, there is a shift from institution of government based on popular consent to process of governance based on inclusive participation. Inclusive participation ensures women, marginalised and minorities get a legitimate and equal opportunity to participate in the process of governance.

4)  Accountability denotes the rights, responsibilities and duties that exist between people and various institutions that affect their lives. Accountability and legitimacy are two sides of the same coin. Lack of accountability will result in lack of political legitimacy. Lack of legitimacy will result in democratic deficit and the consequent abuse of power by decision makers and power-holders. From the perspective of democratic governance, people and citizens are the owners and the shapers of the State. The sovereignty of the Sate is derived from the sovereignty of the citizenship. Hence, all institutions of the state and governments are duty bound to be accountable to citizens. For poor and marginalized groups, the struggles of accountability gain traction when they involve access to basic resources and services that are necessary for survival and sustainable livelihood

5) The obligatory role of the state to respect, protect and progressively realize human rights is now universally recognised as the corner stone of the new social contract.  

6) There is also recognition of the role social, economic and ecological justice in influencing the substance of social contract. Here social justice necessarily involved gender justice as well. John Rawls in his famous work Theory of Justice emphasised how Justice is important in shaping the new social contract. : “ Justice is the first virtue of social institutions……laws and institutions no matter how efficient and well arranged must be reformed or abolished if they are unjust. Each person possesses an inviolability found on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override. For this reason justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is made right by a greater good shared by others. Being first virtue of human activities, truth and justice are uncompromising” (John Rawls, Theory of Justice.)