Rousseau's most important work on political philosophy is

• A. The Social Contract
• B. Emile
• C. Discourse on Inequality
• D. Julie or the New Heloise

Answer: (A)

The main idea being tested is recognizing which work crystallizes Rousseau’s political theory and why it serves as the central statement of his thoughts on how legitimate political authority emerges. The Social Contract presents the framework that makes a political order legitimate: people form a covenant to create a sovereign body that expresses the general will. Laws are the product of this general will and bind every citizen, because obedience is to the laws one has helped create, not to arbitrary rulers. Rousseau also distinguishes between the sovereign, which embodies the general will, and the government, which administers the laws and can be replaced without dissolving the state. This focus on popular sovereignty, the general will, and the justification of political authority through a social pact is why this work stands as the essential political philosophy in his corpus.

By contrast, Emile is about education and moral development, not political theory; Discourse on Inequality analyzes the origins and consequences of social inequalities rather than outlining a political order; Julie or the New Heloise is a novel exploring romance and social manners, not a treatise on political philosophy.