Book I of Rousseau’s The Social Contract stresses that this contract will sustain

*** Revolutionary in its own time and controversial to this day, this work is a permanent classic of political theory and a key source of democratic belief.

All the obligations which a citizen owes to the State he must fulfill as soon as the sovereign asks for them, but the sovereign in turn cannot impose any obligation on subjects which is not of use to the community. If fact, the sovereign cannot even wish to do so, for nothing can take place without a cause according to the laws of reason, any more than according to the laws of nature [and the sovereign community will have no cause to require anything beyond what is of communal use]....

The environment, the population, and the amount of friction that exists between the government and the sovereign are all factors that greatly influence the government structure for each individual state or people. Climate plays a large role in government structure and function, Rousseau explains, continuing that “there are, under all climatic conditions, certain natural causes in consideration of which we can say what form of government best suits any given country, and even what types of inhabitants it should have,” (Book III: VIII 245). The government depends much on the surplus that the people produce through their labor. Democracies, says Rousseau, are better suited for northern areas, where it is colder. This is because the tax and drain on the people is less, and little surplus is needed. Monarchy flourishes where the surplus is larger and is best suited to the southern, hotter climates where less labor is necessary, food is consumed less, and the soil tends to be quite fertile. The less people required for labor purposes, the more sparsely settled the population would be. Democracies, due to heavy taxation, are usually smaller and poor. Monarchies are best suited for wealthier states, and aristocracies for medium wealth and size. Rousseau even discusses the varying clothes, populations, and how population growth means successful governing. What it all boils down to, though, is not as much consumption, what clothes are worn, or how much labor is required due to soil fertility. The issue is the amount of friction, resulting from many factors, between the government and the sovereign. When the amount of friction between the two becomes too much, the government contracts or the state dissolves. When a government moves into the hands of a few from the hands of many, from democracy to aristocracy or from aristocracy to monarchy, the government contracts. For this contraction to reverse is highly unlikely, however, if a reversal did occur, the government would be in a much more peaceful state. For a state to degenerate or dissolve, the main thing that has to happen is the usurpation of the sovereign power by the prince, when laws are no longer used in his political tactics. Anarchy is the result. Even when the government members seize the power they should only use in corporate matters, the effect is the same, sometimes worse. This usurpation removes any social duty of the citizens by breaching the social contract. It is the legislative power, the ability to uphold the laws and form traditional law-abiding states that can strengthen the state, or break it if the power is weak.

Sovereignty cannot be represented.... Essentially, it consists of the general will, and a will is not represented: either we have it itself, or it is something else; there is no other possibility. The deputies of the people thus are not and cannot be its representatives. They are only the people's agents and are not able to come to final decisions at all. Any law that the people have not ratified in person is void, it is not a law at all.

Rousseau tries to establish a clear separation between the supreme power and the government by an adaptation of the doctrine of the “three powers,” but instead of three independent powers sharing the supreme authority, he gives only two, and makes one of these who

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