Contractual theory of the origin state has spread to most logically complete form in the XVII - XVIII centuries. in the works of Hugo Grotius, JJ Rousseau, AN Radishcheva, etc. According to them, the government appears as the product of conscious creation as a result of the contract entered into by people who were previously in a "natural" primitive state.

State - is a rational union of people on the basis of an agreement between them, by virtue of which they transfer a part of their freedom, their power state. Isolated as to the origin of the state, individuals become one people. As a result, the rulers and the society it is a complex of mutual rights and obligations, and accordingly - the responsibility for non-compliance.

Thus, the State has the right to make laws, collect taxes, punish offenders and the like, but at the same time obliged to defend its territory, the rights of citizens and their property, etc. Citizens are obliged to obey the law, pay taxes, and so forth, but, in return, they are entitled to the protection of liberty and property, and in the case of abuse of power of the rulers - to terminate the contract with them, even by the overthrow.

On the one hand, the contractual theory was a major step forward in the knowledge of the state, for the break with the religious ideas of the origin of statehood and political power. This concept has profound democratic content, justifying the natural right of the people to overthrow the ruler unfit until the uprising.

On the other hand, the weak point of this theory is a schematic, idealized and abstract representation of a primitive society that is supposedly at a certain stage of its development, recognizes the need for an agreement between the people and the rulers.

Apparent underestimation of the origin state objective (primarily socio-economic, military, political, etc.) factors and exaggeration in the process of subjective