The Rousseauian dilemma: direct vs. representative democracy

Abstract

Jean-Jacques Rousseau is one of the most controversial philosophers and political theorists of the Enlightenment. He has often been accused of laying the ideological foundation for many repressive and radical movements and regimes, from the terror era of the French Revolution to the right-wing and left-wing totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century. Nonetheless, Rousseau’s novelty consisted in the denial of the identification of authority with only one individual. The main objective of this work is to compare Rousseau’s ideas about the principles of political power in two of his works: “The Social Contract” and “Considerations on the Government of Poland”. In the first part of the work, we will briefly review the main concepts developed in The Social Contract, such as the general will, the social contract, sovereignty and direct democracy. In the second part, we will focus on the main ideas put forward in Considerations on the Government of Poland. Then, at the end, we will try to identify the reasons for the conceptual changes in some of Rousseau’s views.

Key words: Direct democracy, national traditions, Rousseau, social contract, general will, Poland