The Économistes and the Genesis of the State: A Physiocratic Reinterpretation of the Social Contract
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The physiocrats were not merely economists. Deeply concerned with political, legal, and administrative questions, they, like their predecessors, reflected on the origin of society and the state. In doing so, they developed a theory of the social contract based on clearly defined premises, which led them to conceive of two distinct types of pacts: on the one hand, individuals enter into a pactum associationis to fully protect their newly acquired natural rights following the emergence of land ownership; on the other hand, they conclude a pact of submission that establishes a sovereign prince, without whom society cannot endure.
Source: Gdańskie Studia Prawnicze
Author: Anthony Mergey
Institutions: Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas, Université Panthéon-Assas
Language: English
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7152667330