POL320Y5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Civil Religion, Unanimous Consent
22 Mar 2017
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If we simply put our wills together we have an aggregate of individual wills. Every person has a particular will that animates us and moves us in certain directions. We are born with a particular will, not a general will. The general will holds the key on how political power becomes legitimate. Everyone creates the law and all are obedient to it. The general will has little to do with the will of all. More than a majority will, this is not democracy. Not the mere sum of particular wills, even if the sum of particular wills equals the will of all. One law which needs unanimous consent: joining the social contract. Citizens give consent to all laws including those that punish themselves for breaking the law. Needs to be declared by at least a majority of people. The majority does not always will the general will.
