The Will of the People in Politics
The Real Significance of this Phrase for Contemporary Politics
Jun 20, 2008
Some phrases in politics are so familiar that they we hardly give them a second thought. One of these is ‘the will of the people.’ Politicians have often used this within their campaign rhetoric, such as Hillary Clinton and the primary election results in Florida. Yet, what does this popular phrase in politics mean?
History
On one level—used most often—this phrase is a mandate that political decisions are a reflection of the people's choice, such as Stephen Douglas' policy of popular sovereignty. Elected public officials who ignore their constituents are removed from office.
On a deeper level, however, it reflects a serious theory of politics and people. In his Discourse on the Origins of Inequality Jean-Jacques Rousseau portrays men in society, comparing themselves with each other and, importantly, developing amour-propre (loosely translated as vanity; wanting others to love him more than themselves).
Such men have psychic desires for such things as pride, reputation, vengeance, ambition and envy, leading to quarrels and fights, wars and ultimately oppression as they live "only in the opinion of others” in a society in which “everything becomes factitious and deceptive” (179-180).
As Rousseau writes in The Social Contract, men must strengthen these psychic bonds between people as social beings through government, so that people agree to become a social body of willing citizens participating in government because it belongs to them.
The ultimate decisions of this body politic—an expression of the general will—are final and as long as citizens care about the commong good rather than their own ‘particular interest’ (4.1) or form factions (e.g. parties) the State and its citizens will succeed. And, as the people are the government, the people themselves are sovereign. Through a proper education in virtue men become a truly self-governing body. Thus:
“As long as several men in assembly regard themselves as a single body, they have only a single will which is concerned with their common preservation and general well-being. In this case…there are no embroilments or conflicts of interests; the common good is everywhere clearly apparent, and only good sense is needed to perceive it.” (4.1)
A Newer Politics
What does this mean for politics? Rather than being concerned with the dangers of tyranny arising from an all-powerful government, citizens should be concerned with the threats posed by those who care more about their partial interests than the common good.
Not only are public officials united with their constituents but citizens themselves are united with each other in equal measure and, importantly, that they are not motivated by a desire to dominate or oppress others. The will of the people is not, then, the sum of individual desires—or even of political parties—but of their uncorrupted judgment of the common good.
Sources:
Jean-Jacques Rousseau. 1964 [1754]. “Discourse on the Origin and Foundation of Inequality,” in The First and Second Discourses, ed. Roger D. Masters. 1964. New York: St. Martin’s.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau. 1978 [1762]. "The Social Contract,' in On the Social Contract. New York: St. Martin's.
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