Social contract

A '''social contract''' is an implicit agreement among people, persons or
agents that results in the organization of [[Complex Society|complex society]], 
the individual surrenders liberty in return for protection, common resources 
and public goods. 
The notion of the social contract is that individuals unite into a society by 
a process of mutual consent, agreeing to abide by certain rules and to accept 
duties to protect one another from violence and fraud.
Historically, "social contract" is a term used by Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, 
and Jean Jacques Rousseau to describe the appropriate relationship between 
individuals and their governments.

In a civilization or [[Complex Society|complex society]], citizens gain civil 
rights in return for accepting the obligation to respect the common rules 
and laws. 
If too many members of a society break the social contract, i.e. if too
many want to benefit from the public goods but nobody wants to contribute,
it can lead to the "tragedy of the commons".

== Links ==

* Wikipedia entries for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society society], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_contract social contract], the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons tragedy of the commons], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good public good]

[[Category:Complex Systems]] [[Category:Social Systems]] [[Category:Philosophy]]