This runs contrary to how modern governments claim the origin of their power (at least the USA). It's largely based on the work done by John Locke in "Two Treat

This runs contrary to how modern governments claim the origin of their power (at least the USA). It's largely based on the work done by John Locke in "Two Treatises of Government", as well as other enlightenment thinkers. The theory is that one man has no absolute domain over another in a state of nature because one can always find a way to kill anyone else, even if we have to wait for them to sleep. A social contract is essentially the pooling of your right of self defence and some property, which allows some in society to focus on defence (government), leaving the rest free to participate in social and economic engagements. However, the government can only claim the rights you've consented to handing over (explicitly or tacitly). In the US, we explicitly consented to representatives through elections who ratified the Constitution with that consent. Therefore, every action the federal government takes MUST have foundation in the Constitution. Anything without that foundation is a violation of your rights (eg, Obama can't order a citizen to shine his shoes, because there is no origin of that power in the Constitution). Are there holes? Sure. But to say that none have come up with a satisfactory definition is subjective, and many would strongly disagree.