Sociological View onthe Importance of Social Contract in Facilitating the Development Process in the Society

Development of each society needs some pre-requisites so that without them it seems impossible to get the developed and civil society. The formation of social contacts, both normal and informal ones, represents the people's efforts for the formation of civil society and putting the society on the path of development. Three outstanding thinkers of the Enlightenment, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Thomas Hobbes did assess the reasons for crossing from the nature state to civil society. They emphasized that reaching a civil society needs the people’s practical commitment to theses contacts. Social contract means having common ideas and beliefs in political, cultural and social areas and they can open the way for development of a society if they work in unconscious of society members. Social contract, which can be seen in various areas, includes a strong sense of citizenship, respect for the rights of others, nationalism, social capital in the form of social participation, membership in social networks and individual or group trust. Since development is one of the main issues in the social areas and it has been considered in Iran like the other societies, therefore attention to the role of social contracts in smoothing this process seems to be essential. This descriptive study assesses the views of main thinkers and the reasons of offering this theory. Findings of this study indicate that factors and prerequisite for the further development of the society is a practical commitment to the social contract in society.