What are Rousseau and ideas about a social contract?

Rousseau's concept of the social contract suggests that individuals submit to the authority of the general will (the collective desires of the people) in order to create a community that operates for the common good. This agreement establishes a balance between individual freedoms and societal order, with the emphasis on equality and citizenship rights. Rousseau believed that this contract was necessary to overcome the corrupting influence of political inequality and restore natural human goodness.