General will
Also called: Volonté générale · Topic: Political Theory: Freedom and Rights · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The general will is Rousseau's idea, from The Social Contract (1762), of what citizens want together for the common good. It is different from the "will of all", which is only the sum of each person's private interests. For Rousseau, people are sovereign (the final source of power), and laws must express the general will. His phrase that a person may be "forced to be free" later worried Isaiah Berlin, who saw a danger in rulers claiming to know people's "true" will.
Example
India's Preamble opens with "We, the People", a social-contract statement. It says that the Constitution's authority comes from the people as a whole, not from any ruler or group.
Don't confuse with
- Will of all: this simply adds up private wishes. The general will aims at the common good, even when it differs from what most individuals want for themselves.