Final answer:
The Social Contract Theory posits that a moral and political obligation exists between the government and its people, where individuals give up certain freedoms in exchange for protection of their rights.
Step-by-step explanation:
The idea that government originates as an implied contract among individuals who agree to obey laws in exchange for the protection of their rights is known as the Social Contract Theory.
This theory suggests that individuals in a society consent to surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of the government in order to gain protection of their remaining rights. Philosophers such as John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were instrumental in developing the concept of the social contract.
They postulated that a government's legitimacy is derived from the consent of the governed and that this government has an obligation to protect the natural rights of the citizens.