ABSTRACT
The influence of Rousseau is evident in the speech of the deputy Le Chapelier to the French Constituent Assembly, when on June 14, 1791, he introduced the law to prevent the formation of trade unions and employers' associations: 'it should not be permissible for citizens of particular occupations to assemble for what are claimed to be their common interests . . . there is now only the particular interest of each individual and the general interest. It is not permissible for anyone to suggest to citizens an intermediate interest, to separate them from the public body by a spirit of corporation.’12 Three months later, the same deputy prevailed on the Assembly to pass a more general law restricting the political activities of non-state association. 'No society, club, or association of citizens,’ it declared, 'can have, in any form, a political existence, nor exercise any influence on the acts of the established powers and legal authorities; they may on no pretext appear under a collective name to submit petitions, sponsor deputations, participate in public ceremonies, or for any other purpose.’13
