Quiz: The Social Contract

10 questions drawn at random. Score 80% for a silver medal.

1. What limits civil liberty, according to Rousseau? The will of the prince The general will The right of the first occupier The strength of the individual
2. Of natural, elective and hereditary aristocracy, which does Rousseau call the best government? None of them; all three are equally bad Natural aristocracy Elective aristocracy Hereditary aristocracy
3. Whose act of “taking possession” does Rousseau ridicule in the chapter on property? Cortés’s, after the conquest of Mexico Magellan’s, in the Philippines Núñez Balboa’s, for the crown of Castile Columbus’s, on landing in the Indies
4. What is the one thing Rousseau’s dictator cannot do? Silence the sovereign authority Suspend the courts Command the army Make laws
5. Which example does Rousseau use to show that force creates no duty to obey? A brigand with a pistol at the edge of a wood A ship’s captain in a storm A shepherd guarding his flock A father and his grown-up children
6. Which European country does Rousseau call still capable of being given laws? Genoa Venice Corsica Poland
7. What is Rousseau’s main charge against Peter the Great? He gave Russia laws before it had a settled people He tried to make Germans or Englishmen instead of Russians He refused all foreign influence He divided sovereignty among his ministers
8. What is the single negative dogma of Rousseau’s civil religion? Obedience to a foreign pontiff Intolerance Belief in miracles Atheism
9. What surprising view does Rousseau take of enforced labour and taxes? Enforced labour is less opposed to liberty than taxes Taxes are the surest sign of a free and prosperous people Both are equally incompatible with any legitimate State Enforced labour is acceptable only in monarchies and despotisms
10. Why, according to Rousseau, does total alienation to the community not make anyone a subject of another? Only goods, not persons, are alienated In giving himself to all, each gives himself to nobody The prince swears at his coronation to respect all natural rights The community promises to return everything after a fixed term

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