Social contract theory is the most famous political theory in17th century and18th century, and its main representatives are Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu and Rousseau. The theory of social contract is a direct denial of the divine right of the state. Social contract theory assumes that the state was a natural state of anarchy before human beings, and all people living in a natural state have natural rights arising from natural law. Because people abuse natural rights, people's lives and property are not guaranteed. In order to get rid of this natural state, people gradually conclude contracts by means of express or implied consent, and establish countries and governments that can protect natural rights. In this way, human beings enter the social state from the natural state. The task of the country established by contract is to abide by the laws of nature and protect citizens' lives, property and freedom; If the ruler violates the contract, the people have the right to overthrow the government, which leads to the conclusion that sovereignty lies with the people. In order to prevent the rulers from acting arbitrarily, Locke and Montesquieu advocated decentralization. Lu Jun believes that all people are born free and equal, and no one has the natural authority to force others to obey. Social order or system does not come from nature or power, but a social contract based on people's free will. It is inevitable for people to enter the social state from the natural state. If the natural state develops to a certain extent, every individual will face destruction if they don't get together. Therefore, mankind must find a combination form, which can not only guarantee the individual's personal and wealth with the strength of everyone, but also make each combination not lose freedom and equality. Therefore, the essence of social contract is that when concluding the contract, everyone transfers himself and all his rights important to the political combination to the collective without reservation, and agrees to accept the guidance of "public will" to protect his freedom, property and personal safety, provided that everyone abides by the contract without exception. Since the participant does not dedicate himself to any individual, he is still free after signing the contract. In this way, a moral and collective * * * isomorphism appears, that is, "* * * and the country". Only under such a social contract can people enter the social state from the natural state and not lose equality and freedom. Lu Jun believes that national sovereignty based on a social contract, that is, supreme power, belongs to all the people. In a democratic and sovereign country, everyone has a dual identity. For an individual, he is a member of the monarch, while for the monarch, he is a member of the country, so ruling and being ruled have only relative significance. Sovereignty is supreme and indivisible, and it is the basis of executive power. The government is not the embodiment of sovereignty, but the trustee of sovereignty. "General will" is the soul of the country and is based on the interests of the public, so it will always be fair. In concrete political practice, "general will" is embodied in the law. Law is formulated by all the people as legislators, which combines the universality of will and the universality of objects, so it not only guarantees the rights and equality of citizens, but also is the cornerstone of freedom. Because only by obeying the laws made for themselves can people be free. No one is above the law; The people not only have the right to decide the form and ruler of the government on a regular basis, but also have the right to overthrow the monarch who violates contracts and laws and implements autocratic rule through uprising. Lu Jun realized the social function of religion. He believes that after people enter the political society, they need religion to maintain relations. Because Christianity is harmful to the country, "citizen religion" should be established. Strictly speaking, it is not a religious dogma, but a social emotion that maintains the relationship between people. Rousseau's social and political theory represents the radical democratic thought in the French Enlightenment in the18th century. His book "On Social Contract" provided a theoretical program for the bourgeois revolution and played a positive role in the French Revolution and the bourgeois revolutionary countries in the18th century. The American Declaration of Independence, the French Declaration of Human Rights and the constitutions of the two countries all reflect Rousseau's democratic thought to a great extent. Locke's and Rousseau's social contract theories are similar, but there are also differences. Locke believes that people's alienation rights are reserved when establishing a government in a natural state, and basic rights such as life and freedom are not alienated, so the purpose of the government is to protect these inalienable rights from infringement; Rousseau's social contract theory is another method. In fact, Rousseau is a destroyer rather than a builder. He constructed a method suitable for ruling in "Social Contract Theory", just as some people thought that "Rousseau's contract theory easily leads to autocracy". Rousseau thinks that the people have given all their rights to the government, so there is no right that can be reserved. Here Rousseau used the word "general will" to illustrate this problem. He believes that after people transfer all their rights, some of them infringe on the rights of others, that is, infringe on their own rights. Locke tried to use social contract theory to prove that the government is formed according to the will of the majority, and the government rules the people according to the consent of the people. /kloc-in the 8th century, Rousseau pushed Locke's thought to the extreme, believing that the people's consent was formed on the basis of the common will, and thus put forward the idea of "people's sovereignty". He said: "sovereignty is essentially composed of the general will, and the general will can never be represented;" It can only be the same will, or another will, with nothing in between. Therefore, people's deputies are not and cannot be representatives of the people, they are just clerks of the people; They can't make any definite decisions. Any law that has not been personally approved by the people is invalid; This is not the law at all. "Rousseau's view of democracy is direct democracy, consensus democracy, and democracy with extremely simple procedures, preferably democracy without procedures. Therefore, Rousseau advocated forcing individuals to obey the general will, excluding party governments, opposing representative system and respecting the absolute authority of the majority. In Rousseau's view, the rule of the people has become the principle of absolute majority. There is a principle implied in the theory of social contract: the state and government are legal only as protectors of human natural rights. Once they stole the natural rights that people transferred to them when they concluded the contract, they became evil. Of course, regarding natural rights, conservatives headed by Hobbes and radicals headed by Locke are not completely consistent. The former emphasizes that individual rights are highly consistent with government authority after the people transfer their inherent rights to the state, while the latter emphasizes the right to resist tyranny as a political platform for populists and liberals. Social contract theory is usually regarded as one of the basic theories of natural law. This kind of appeal to reason's theory was developed by Locke and Rousseau, and the theory we see is mainly based on these two people. In fact, besides them, many jurists also use this theory to support their views, and Grotius, Hobbes and others are also such supporters. Of course, we must not forget the founders of the United States, who wrote this idea into their constitutions. " We hold it self-evident that all men are created equal. Everyone is endowed with the same rights by the creator, including the right to life, freedom and the right to pursue happiness. In order to protect these rights, a government was established among the people. "This can be said to be a classic description of social contract theory. The theory of "sovereignty belongs to the people" triggered by the social contract theory provided a powerful ideological weapon for the French bourgeois revolution and the American War of Independence. The theory of social contract went deep into the hearts of the first American colonists. Among the Puritans, New England, Connecticut, Rhode Island and other places widely regarded contract as the basis of "country". The famous Mayflower Covenant (1620) declares that the signatories "solemnly sign this Covenant before God and form a country with each other in order to better establish order, maintain peace and strive to promote the above purposes; And at any time, according to the viewpoint that is most suitable for the general welfare of the colony, formulate fair and equal laws, decrees, constitutions and select officials to swear allegiance. "Before the outbreak of the war of independence, the theory of revolutionary rights emerged in large numbers. As stated in the Declaration of Independence, "the government gains legitimate power from the consent of the governed" and "once any government destroys these purposes, the people have the right to change or abolish it, establish a new government, lay its foundation according to these principles, and organize its power in a way that ensures people's safety and happiness to the greatest extent". At this time, the constitutions of each state are also full of contract theory. The social contract theory triggered the birth of a new country, so its historical significance is undeniable. However, the state of nature is an indisputable assumption, and natural rights are mainly the sacredness of bourgeois private property. Therefore, Engels pointed out: "Rousseau's social contract theory is manifested in practice, which can only be manifested as bourgeois democracy and state." "/kloc-the great thinkers of the 0/8th century, like all their pioneers, failed to go beyond the restrictions imposed on them by their own times."