Bush's Shrinking Safety Zone

[Ibby]

read some rousseu, or voltaire, or locke. The social contract is the binding written OR nonwritten contract between the people and their government or the people and eachother; in the case of my paper, the constitution is the social contract of the US, and Bush violated it (repeatedly) by ignoring and violating the clear and binding text of both the constitution and the bill of rights.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Ibram

read some rousseu, or voltaire, or locke. The social contract is the binding written OR nonwritten contract between the people and their government or the people and eachother; in the case of my paper, the constitution is the social contract of the US,

That is the part your paper must establish up front. I see little in common with the philosophies of rousseu, voltaire, etc and something written in stone - a Constitution. But then your definition of a social contract implies something vague (written or unwritten). As a contract, the two parties must be clearly defined - another definition that your paper must define up front.

Social contract is an expression to summarize ideas. But the noun is too vague; should be defined whenever or where ever it is used.