# contractarianism

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. The political doctrine that the legitimacy of a government derives from a (normally unstated) contract between the government and the people (normally derived from an election)

## Etymology
From contractarian + -ism.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/contractarianism