Final answer:
A social contract is an agreement where people give up certain liberties to a government in exchange for the protection of their other rights. Thinkers like Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau provided foundational thoughts on why such contracts are necessary, focusing on the protection of natural rights and the balance of power between the people and the government.
Step-by-step explanation:
An agreement between people and their leaders whereby the people give up some liberties so that their other liberties will be protected is referred to as a social contract.
The concept of a social contract plays a crucial role in the foundation of modern political and moral theory. The social contract is a theoretical agreement in which individuals consent to surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of a ruler or magistrate (collectively, the government) in exchange for protection of their remaining rights. The enactment of such a contract arises out of the need to protect people from their own selfishness and violence in a state of nature. Enlightenment thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau argued that governments are formed to protect certain natural rights that are inherent to individuals, such as the right to property, liberty, and life.
Hobbes believed that in the absence of such a contract, people would live in a state of perpetual war, with lives that are 'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short'. Contrastingly, Locke believed that the government should protect the natural rights of people, and if it fails, the people have the right to overthrow it. Rousseau's view was more about the collective will of the people and the concept of direct democracy where the government acts according to the general will of the society.
Ultimately, the social contract seeks to establish a balance wherein the state provides security and order while ensuring that the rights of individuals are not unduly infringed upon. Each individual is understood to be part of the whole, contributing their power under the 'supreme direction of the general will' to maintain harmony and prevent the chaos of a state of war.