The general will rules in society as the private will governs each separate individual.

From the point of view of seeking a consensus of the moral imperative of individuals, such consensus being assumed to exist, the problem of choosing an electoral or other choice mechanism, or, more broadly, of choosing a social structure, assumes an entirely different form from that discussed in the greater part of this study. The essential problem becomes that of choosing our mechanism so as best to bring the pragmatic imperative into coincidence with the moral. It is from this point of view that Rousseau discusses the relative merits of different forms of government.

In this aspect, the case for democracy rests on the argument that free discussion and expression of opinion are the most suitable techniques of arriving at the moral imperative implicitly common to all. Voting, from this point of view, is not a device whereby each individual expresses his personal interests, but rather where each individual gives his opinion of the general will.