The Social Contract Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Social Contract Theory - Essay Example The state was thus given the entire right to protect the rights of the individuals. However, in Hobbes’ case, it was the king that was the sovereign individual that would rule over the land and would have its command habitually obeyed by the people. In Locke’s case, however, people would have their own freedom because they would form a democratic polity by way of coming together. Governance in both cases is about controlling the nature of the state that prevailed at the time in order to bring about a sense of clarity and order in the way by which people lived. However, it must be understood that governing a state does not only involve controlling the bad aspects of the state. The state is formed by people because they require a singular authority to tell them how to behave in different situations. This might not necessarily only include the bad aspects because the state also controls the good nature of the human beings. Governance is thus about both because the state is the sovereign power that has a hold over the safety and security of its citizens. Since it is a sovereign authority or command of the sovereign, it is being obeyed by the people and thus it becomes the function of the state to ensure that whatever it is that people are obeying is for their betterment or societal welfare. Therefore, the state must have controlled power in order to protect the citizens because otherwise since it is a sovereign command, it might get overthrown as was seen in the French Revolution, when Rousseau stated his theory of the social contract.