The Social Contract: Individual Decision or Collective Bargain?

Abstract

In recent political thought the theory of rational choice has been deployed to afford new insight into the traditional theory of the social contract.¹ The theory of rational choice includes both decision theory, which formalizes independent choice by a single individual, and game theory, which formalizes interdependent choice by several individuals.2 Each theory offers an interpretation of the social contract: the first, as an ideal individual decision; the second, as an ideal collective bargain. In this paper we outline and evaluate these two interpretations, and endeavour to demonstrate that only the second is defensible. We then consider briefly some of the weaknesses and implications of the contract theory, insofar as these are illuminated by the interpretation of the contract as a collective bargain.