Social contract theory refers to the theory or model of society concerning the authority of state or civil government over the individual. Originating during the Age of Enlightenment in 17th and 18th century Europe, social contract theory holds that individuals have agreed to surrender the natural freedoms of the state of nature in exchange for state protection of civil freedom and equality. Notable classic social contract theorists include John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Hugo Grotius, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, and Samuel von Pufendorf, with Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel being the “greatest theoretical critic of contract” (15). John Rawls, Sigmund Freud, and Claude Levi-Strauss are among later 19th and 20th century theorists. Social contract theory has been a topic of debate among contemporary political theorists as well, socialists and feminists among them. In dominant interpretations, social contract theory affirms the democracy, equality, and freedom of choice in major political institutions.

The original contract is the conjectural history that is central to social contract theory. The story varies across the work of classic and contemporary contract theorists alike, but they all aim to explain the rational decision of individuals to trade the insecurities of natural freedom for the protection of civil freedom and equality by the state.