What is Social contract?
[[File:Social contract rousseau page.jpg|thumb|Title page of Rouseau's book]] A '''social contract or political contract''' is a perceived [[agreement]] among the [[people]] of a [[state]] about the rules that will define their [[government]]. These rules are usually called [[law]]s. Laws help to make sure people have [[rights]] and that their rights are protected. One kind of social contract is a [[constitution]]. A constitution says how decisions are made, and sets limits on the [[Influence|powers]] of [[leader]]s and other people who have [[authority]]. In the [[Age of Enlightenment]], [[philosopher]]s [[Thomas Hobbes]], [[John Locke]] and [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] wrote books about social contracts. They saw good government as coming from social contracts. Rousseau wrote a book called ''The Social Contract''. Both the [[United States Declaration of Independence]] and [[United States Constitution]] use the theory of social contracts. The [[State of nature]] is the time before the social contract ==Related pages== * [[Constitution]] * [[Natural rights and legal rights]] * [[Political economy]] * [[Rule of law]] {{Philosophy topics}} [[Category:Law]] [[Category:Political philosophy]] [[Category:Sociology]] {{stub}}