Sovereignity versus Liberty. The Societal Idea in the "Federalist Papers" and in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Philosophy (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2015 in the subject Philosophy - General Essays, Eras, grade: 1,3, Venice International University, course: Venice and the Republican Tradition, language: English, abstract: Especially in the recent 300 years, philosophers have been thinking about the relation between liberty and sovereignty extensively. Some of them were pleading for a strong leader, as for example Thomas Hobbes in his philosophical work on the "Leviathan". Others, like Publius, which was actually just a synonym for the three mentors of federalism in North America, John Jay, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, were counting on the advantages of an-to a certain extension-extensive system of government, in which the different institutions were checking each other and power was divided.

This paper is focusing on "The Federalist (Papers)" No. 9 and 10, "The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard against Domestic Faction and Insurrection" and "The same Subject Continued" and on Rousseau's "On the Social Contract".

First, there will be definitions mentioned. The terms "liberty" and "sovereignty" are used in many different cases nowadays; therefore, it is useful to define them. Then I will give a brief overview of the ideas of man in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's work and in The Federalist. As Rousseau died about ten years before these were published, I will start with his philosophy. Afterwards, there will be a detailed comparison between the most important aspects of the ideas of liberty and sovereignty in these two philosophical works. The conclusion will give a short summary and a comparison to the actual political systems nowadays.