The doctrine that government should be for and by the people informs the constitution of all countries claiming to be democratic, even when the precept is not observed in practice. Democratic governments rest their claims to legitimacy and obedience on...

The social contract for science is an evocative ideological construct used to describe the relationship between the political and scientific communities. Participants in science policy debates often invoke the social contract for science uncritically...

Social Contract [addendum] Contemporary social contract theory is practically identified with the work of John Rawls (1921–2002). In his best known book, A Theory of Justice , Rawls attempts to generalize and carry to a higher level of...

Social contract theory was especially important around the time of the European Enlightenment, the most famous exponents being Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau. The main purpose of these theories was to provide a sound logical base for the particular polity...

The term social contract describes a broad class of philosophical theories whose subjects are the implied agreements by which people form nations and maintain a social order. In laymen's terms, this means that the people give up some rights to a...

Dear Miss Manners: An employee of my husband, whom I know fairly well and whom I have done social things with in the past, has asked me to let her know when a luncheon fund-raiser for my children's school will be held. She...

Thomas Hobbes 'Leviathan' and the Hebrew Bible provide different insights into human society, but both viewpoints are needed to maintain a moral and civil society. Hobbes emphasizes the social contract and its influence on political aspects of society. The Bible emphasizes the social covenant...

The Supreme Court opened preliminary investigations into four more politicians for alleged ties to illegal right-wing militias after it was revealed they signed a 2001 letter of understanding with the paramilitary groups, the court's president said Tuesday.The court also ordered another four politicians, including the...

What determines a person's level of success? Is it his charisma, her willingness to work long hours, his MBA from Stanford or Harvard?Flip Flippen, a psychotherapist and business coach in College Station, Texas, argues that success comes from something else -- eliminating negative behavior."No matter...

While some may argue that the government is following the guidelines of a social contract, many aspects of the government have outgrown their britches and taken over. The United States is failing to meet its social contract obligations to the American people.