Final answer:
Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote 'The Social Contract,' emphasizing that a legitimate government must protect citizen equality and freedom, and is only valid if it reflects the general will of the people.
Step-by-step explanation:
Jean Jacques Rousseau, a Swiss philosopher, is renowned for his influential work titled The Social Contract, written in 1762. Contrary to the views of some of his contemporaries, Rousseau argued that the social contract was not a voluntary agreement but a form where the common people were deceived by the wealthy, leading to a loss of freedom. His groundbreaking ideas proposed that a government's legitimacy stems from preserving the equality and character of its citizens. He famously stated, "man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains," highlighting the importance of government in securing freedom for the people. If a government fails to safeguard this freedom, Rousseau believed it had no right to exist. His concept of 'general will' expressed that the legitimacy of a state depends on it being governed by the will of its people as a whole, rather than by an elite minority.