Final answer:
In the Swiss villages of Rousseau's youth, decisions were made in town-hall meetings, exemplifying a form of direct democracy. Rousseau himself advocated for the general will and was against representative government, proposing a society where laws are made by the collective good of the entire community. His ideas were heavily influenced by the local governance he would have witnessed and the ancient Greek model of direct democracy.
Step-by-step explanation:
Decisions in the Swiss villages where Jean-Jacques Rousseau grew up were made through local rule and town-hall meetings, reflecting a form of direct democracy. In these communities, citizens would gather together to discuss and make decisions on matters that affected them all, which aligns closely with Rousseau's political theories.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a notable Swiss political philosopher from Geneva, strongly advocated for the concept of the general will and was opposed to representative forms of government. He believed in a society where the law reflected the general will, which would account for the true good of every person in society. Rousseau's ideas were radical in promoting a political structure where power was held by the people directly, rather than by elected representatives, thus minimizing the risk of what he saw as a form of slavery.
Rousseau's writings, particularly The Social Contract, suggest that he would have observed in his youth the functioning of a society that valued the general will and direct participation of citizens in decision-making processes. He believed that such participation was essential to reduce income inequality and to cultivate civic virtue. Rousseau saw the clustered villages of his homeland as a microcosm of the ideal political community, where the citizens, free from oppressive government, could exercise control over their governance in a way that reflected the collective good.
Rousseau's philosophy was rooted in the belief that men are naturally free and that any government must be responsive to the general will to be legitimate. Although the Swiss village model could not easily be scaled up to larger political units due to practical limitations, it nevertheless influenced Rousseau's thinking and subsequent political theories which emphasized freedom, equality, and direct democracy as seen in the practices of Ancient Greece.