There is no single absolutely best form of government applicable to all nations, because what counts as a good government depends on the infinitely variable absolute and relative situations of different peoples.
By Jean-Jacques Rousseau, from Du contrat social
Key Arguments
- Rousseau calls the question 'What absolutely is the best government?' both 'unanswerable' and 'indeterminate,' directly denying that a universal, context‑independent answer is possible.
- He claims instead that 'there are as many good answers as there are possible combinations in the absolute and relative situations of all nations,' grounding evaluative judgment about regimes in the specific circumstances of each nation.
Source Quotes
CHAPTER IX: the marks of a good government The question “What absolutely is the best government?” is unanswerable as well as indeterminate; or rather, there are as many good answers as there are possible combinations in the absolute and relative situations of all nations. But if it is asked by what sign we may know that a given people is well or ill governed, that is another matter, and the question, being one of fact, admits of an answer.
Key Concepts
- CHAPTER IX: the marks of a good government The question “What absolutely is the best government?” is unanswerable as well as indeterminate; or rather, there are as many good answers as there are possible combinations in the absolute and relative situations of all nations.
Context
Opening sentence of Book III, Chapter IX ('the marks of a good government'), where Rousseau frames and immediately relativizes the traditional quest for the 'best' government in abstract.