Why Did Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Theory of "The Social Contract" Pose

Multiple Choice

Why did Jean-Jacques Rousseau's theory of "the social contract" pose a direct threat to the perceived legitimacy of eighteenth-century governments?

A) It flatly rejected all governments based on divine right.
B) It presented a system in which the ruler was chosen on the basis of merit rather than tradition or lineage.
C) It offered a form of social-scientific analysis that governments found unnerving.
D) It implied that people would be most free and moral in republican or democratic societies.