ABSTRACT
The first government known to mankind was, according to Rousseau, democracy in its purest form; the first magistracy, that of everyman. The legitimacy of a government depends on the degree of its obedience to the General Will. To illustrate his contentions on the relationship of the numerical strength of executive and people, Jean-Jacques Rousseau considers the condition of the individual member of the government. In any community, the governmental body is entrusted by the people with the whole force of the State for the purpose of implementing the General Will. The best form of government in any particular State is that which exists when circumstances bestow on it the fullest possible power to implement the General Will, but not one degree of power over that. The best, and the only completely legitimate, government is the government whose will exactly coincides with, or identifies itself with, the will of the Sovereign.
