General Will

I

Introduction

General Will, term popularized by the 18th-century French political philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau. In his book The Social Contract (1762), Rousseau defines the general will (volonté générale) as the civic impulses of citizens seeking to pursue the common good within their community. He contrasts the general will with the particular will of individuals seeking only their personal good. Rousseau argues that the general will of the people, not the individual will of a king or the particular wills of nobility or clergy, should produce the laws that govern that community. The concept of the general will exerted enormous influence during the French Revolution (1789-1799), which led to the overthrow of the French monarchy and aristocracy.

II

The General Will as a Religious Notion

Throughout the history of Christianity, such influential Christians as Saint Paul and Saint Augustine debated whether it was God’s will to save all human beings or only particular individuals. During the 17th century, French philosopher Nicholas Malebranche questioned whether God governs the world through universal laws or through specific, episodic interventions, such as miracles. Malebranche insisted that God acted through general laws that served the universal good of mankind. He denied that God would benefit specific individuals or communities through particularistic laws and actions. To Rousseau, the preference in politics towards achieving the general will—that is, the common good over individual interests—is in part a secularized version of this Christian ideal.

III

Rousseau’s General Will

In The Social Contract, Rousseau states that individuals in a democracy possess two wills, two contrary inclinations as to how to act politically, socially, and morally. The particular will of individuals represents their selfish impulses, the urge to satisfy personal interests and desires with little regard for the community to which they belong. But according to Rousseau, individuals also possess a general will. They possess a public identity as citizens, a civic capacity to associate their own interests with those of their community. For example, citizens of the United States sometimes resent paying taxes to the government. However, they want the government to provide services that benefit everyone, such as schools and police protection. The tension between these two impulses demonstrates the conflict between the particular and the general will of individuals.

Rousseau envisioned a direct democracy where citizens would meet in public assemblies and pass laws reflecting the interests and goals of the community. In this sense, the function of government for Rousseau was not simply to protect the private rights of individuals, as it was for liberal political theorists, such as John Locke and Thomas Jefferson. Rousseau’s democratic theory emphasized the obligation of citizens to create a moral community where the general good triumphs over the particular will and personal interests. He identified the general will with a public conception of freedom, in which participation in the common life of a community liberates citizens from the chains of a narrow, selfish individualism.

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IV

The General Will and the French Revolution

In the early stages of the French Revolution, French statesman Emmanuèl Joseph Sieyés declared that all the people of France were sovereign—not just particular groups such as the Bourbon monarchy, the titled aristocracy, or the Roman Catholic Church. Following the execution of King Louis XVI in 1793, leaders of the radical Jacobin faction, led by Maximilien Robespierre, seized control of the Revolution. Robespierre argued, as had Rousseau, that the freedom of citizens required obedience to the general will. Rousseau himself had never specified how one would know exactly what the general will dictated. He wrote while France was still governed as a monarchy. His argument comprised a democratic plea that the general will of citizens should triumph over the particular interests of monarchy, aristocracy, and clergy. During Robespierre’s lethal Reign of Terror against opponents of the Jacobins, he insisted not only that he could identify the general will of the people, but that his own particular will embodied this general will (see French Revolution: The Reign of Terror).