JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU, THE SOCIAL CONTRACT I...therefore give the name "Republic” to every state that is governed by laws, no matter what
the form of its administration may be: for only in such cases does the public interest govern,
and the res republica rank as a reality ... Laws are, properly speaking, only the conditions of civi
association. The people, being subject to the laws, ought to be their authors: the conditions of
the society ought to be regulated...by those who come together to form it.
1. What natural right is being expressed in this document? Why should citizens be the
authors of society's laws, according to Rousseau?