The influential writer of "The Social Contract" is Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a prominent philosopher of the Enlightenment period. Published in 1762, this seminal work explores the concepts of governance, individual freedom, and the collective will of the people. Rousseau argued that legitimate political authority relies on a social contract agreed upon by the governed. His ideas emphasized the importance of democracy and the notion that sovereignty belongs to the people, greatly influencing later political thought, the French Revolution, and modern democratic ideologies.