SOURCE: "'One Nation, Indivisible …'," in Men and Citizens: A Study of Rousseau's Social Theory, Cambridge at the University Press, 1969, pp. 165-214.

In the following excerpt, Shklar discusses Rousseau 's idea of the body politic, one of his political personifications.

the Politics of Prevention

The Great Legislator practices preventive politics in much the same way as the tutor gives Emile a negative education. Both create an external environment that will forestall the moral deformation that has been the lot of 'man in general'. Both also manage to create a deep attachment to themselves in their respective charges. Their influence is thus as profound as it is apparently effortless. There is, however, a rather obvious difference. The tutor is raising one child, while the Legislator is dealing with 'a people', that is, with a considerable number of adults. The startling fact is that Rousseau spoke of 'the people' as...