Thus, their only recourse to altering the
political landscape is the elections.
In The Social Contract, Rousseau specifies that "The deputies of the
people, therefore, are not and cannot be its representatives," thus
reflecting on the fact that Parliament members act on their own behalf and
not of the people (Rousseau). This is because the members have control and
not the people as soon as they are elected. Election day is the only day
which the people can control the outcome, yet all it does is determine who
will be in Parliament and still has no actually control over the results of
Parliament. Members of Parliament have control over the laws, regardless
of what the desires of the people are.
It can be argued, on the contrary, that Rousseau is incorrect because
Members of Parliament are forced to make decisions based on the will of the
people because they are inclined to keep their representative positions.
Because they want to be re-voted into office, they will act on the will of
people in order to have better results election day. This however, does
not change Rousseau's position; however, as any laws made by representative
bodies are still not laws ratified by the people. Perhaps Rousseau is a
little harsh in his classification of the system as slavery,...
The "enslavement" of the people is unavoidable in the instance of
representative government. Especially in the times of Rousseau, Members of
Parliament could not be controlled once in office. But one day of
freedom,
Election Day, is preferable to none. In the end, representative
government
is still a preferred form of government whether or not the people are truly
free.
Works Cited
Laslett, Peter and W.G. Runiciman, Ed.
Philosophy,
Politics, and Society
(Second Series).
Oxford,
United Kingdom: Basil Blackwell, 1962.
Rousseau, Jean Jacques. The Social Contract. 1762. 4 Mar 2007.
< http://www.constitution.org/jjr/socon.htm >.
