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Single Idea 23045
[filed under theme 24. Political Theory / B. Nature of a State / 2. State Legitimacy / d. General will
]
Full Idea
Where laws and institutions are apparently the work of deliberate volition, they are in reality the result of a compromise, which while by a kind of social contract it has the acquiescence of all, expresses the will of none.
Gist of Idea
Politics is compromises, which seem supported by a social contract, but express the will of no one
Source
T.H. Green (works [1875]), quoted by John H. Muirhead - The Service of the State III
Book Ref
Muirhead,John H.: 'The Service of the State: T.H. Green' [John Murray 2021], p.67
A Reaction
Politicians who claim to be enacting the 'will of the people' (e.g. when they won a referendum 52-48) are simply lying. Committees usually end up enacting one person's will, but often without realising what has happened.
The
33 ideas
with the same theme
[consensus among citizens that justifies a state]:
2832
|
The state aims to consist as far as possible of those who are like and equal
[Aristotle]
|
13315
|
To govern used to mean to serve, not to rule; rulers did not test their powers over those who bestowed it
[Seneca]
|
19910
|
A single will creates the legislature, which is duty-bound to preserve that will
[Locke]
|
7239
|
The social pact is the total subjection of individuals to the general will
[Rousseau]
|
19793
|
We need a protective association which unites forces, but retains individual freedom
[Rousseau]
|
7240
|
To foreign powers a state is seen as a simple individual
[Rousseau]
|
19795
|
The act of association commits citizens to the state, and the state to its citizens
[Rousseau]
|
19797
|
Citizens must ultimately for forced to accept the general will (so freedom is compulsory!)
[Rousseau]
|
19796
|
Individual citizens still retain a private will, which may be contrary to the general will
[Rousseau]
|
7244
|
The general will is common interest; the will of all is the sum of individual desires
[Rousseau]
|
19802
|
The general will is always right, but the will of all can err, because it includes private interests
[Rousseau]
|
19803
|
If the state contains associations there are fewer opinions, undermining the general will
[Rousseau]
|
19804
|
If a large knowledgeable population votes in isolation, their many choices will have good results
[Rousseau]
|
19808
|
The general will changes its nature when it focuses on particulars
[Rousseau]
|
7246
|
The general will is always good, but sometimes misunderstood
[Rousseau]
|
7250
|
Laws are authentic acts of the general will
[Rousseau]
|
19844
|
Assemblies must always confirm the form of government, and the current administration
[Rousseau]
|
19846
|
The more unanimous the assembly, the stronger the general will becomes
[Rousseau]
|
21079
|
The a priori general will of a people shows what is right
[Kant]
|
21070
|
A law is unjust if the whole people could not possibly agree to it
[Kant]
|
19856
|
The law expresses the general will, and all citizens can participate
[Mirabeau/committee]
|
3778
|
The community's interest is a sum of individual interests
[Bentham]
|
22794
|
A fully developed state is conscious and knows what it wills
[Hegel]
|
22799
|
The people do not have the ability to know the general will
[Hegel]
|
22801
|
The great man of the ages is the one who reveals and accomplishes the will of his time
[Hegel]
|
7210
|
The will of the people is that of the largest or most active part of the people
[Mill]
|
22001
|
The real will of the cooperative will replace the 'will of the people'
[Marx]
|
23045
|
Politics is compromises, which seem supported by a social contract, but express the will of no one
[Green,TH]
|
20935
|
Eventually political parties lose touch with the class they represent, which is dangerous
[Gramsci]
|
20500
|
We can see the 'general will' as what is in the general interest
[Wolff,J]
|
20090
|
Today it seems almost impossible to learn the will of the people
[Reybrouck]
|
20087
|
There are no united monolothic 'peoples', and no 'national gut feelings'
[Reybrouck]
|
22594
|
In 1794 France all individual and legal rights were suppressed by the general will
[Dunt]
|