Episode 117: What Rousseau Might Say About the USA

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In The Social Contract, the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau suggested that democracy was feasible only in smaller polities where the citizens have shared common interests. What might Rousseau have to say about the current-day United States, with its sprawling national government and a citizenry that can’t even agree on basic facts? Joe and Mark revisit their college classrooms to discuss Rousseau’s concept of the general will, whether it’s achievable in a large country, or whether local politics provides its only true expression. (Recorded August 15, 2025.)