“Sovereignty, for the same reason as makes it inalienable, cannot be represented; it lies essentially in the general will, and will does not admit of representation.”Jean-Jacques Rousseau · Contractul social · 1762 · Cartea III, capitolul 15
The general will cannot be delegated: deputies execute decisions, but they cannot will in the people's place.
Rousseau separates the general will from a mere majority of private interests. Will, as an act of conscience, belongs only to the one who holds it; others can carry out decisions, but cannot make them in your place. So deputies are not representatives of the sovereign, only its agents: the people remain sovereign and must deliberate themselves. England, he says, is free only during elections.
Why it matters It still poses a live question: how much can we delegate to politicians before losing our own collective will?