What concept posits that individuals grant authority to the government in exchange for protection?

The social contract theory is central to understanding the relationship between individuals and government, as it suggests that people come together to form a society and agree to give up some of their freedoms in exchange for the protection of their remaining rights. This concept, which has been notably articulated by philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, operates under the premise that for a government to be legitimate, it must derive its power from the consent of the governed.

In practical terms, the social contract highlights the idea that the authority of the government is not just taken by force or inherited but is instead a mutual agreement for the sake of creating order and safeguarding the well-being of citizens. This framework provides a foundation for modern democratic governance, where citizens have a role in shaping the laws and policies that govern them.

The other concepts presented—divine right, force theory, and evolutionary theory—offer different explanations for political order and authority. Divine right claims that monarchs derive their power directly from God, force theory suggests that political power is established through coercion and violence, and evolutionary theory posits that governments develop as extensions of family and clan structures over time. None of these frameworks encapsulates the reciprocal arrangement represented by the social contract as