ABSTRACT
The first clear expression of Rousseau's political views occurred in the long Dedication to the Republic of Geneva with which he prefaced the Inegalite. This praised the political system of his native city-republic. For Rousseau, on the other hand, the republic alone made possible an inner contentment in a society with others. This may not have been clear in the Inegalite itself, since that gave a picture of social life which was entirely negative. The idea of the creation of a new social order by individuals whose lives were transformed by their participation in that order was at the heart of Rousseau's political vision. Rousseau's social theory absolved man from original sin; it turned what had been primarily theological concerns into matters of politics and history, and it gave his political theory an extraordinary emotional charge. Rousseau's refusal to transfer sovereignty from the citizenry to government and his insistence on the subjection of government to the citizen-body was uncompromising.
