According to Rousseau, from where should the legitimacy of government come?

From the people's consent

The governing concept is Rousseau’s theory of the social contract and popular sovereignty. Rousseau argued that legitimate political authority should not rest simply on a king’s birth, inherited noble privilege or permission from the Church. Instead, government must be based on the general will and the consent of the people, who are the source of sovereignty. Therefore, option D is correct. This idea challenged absolute monarchy and helped inspire revolutionary demands for equality, citizenship and representative government. Options A, B and C describe older forms of hereditary or religious authority rather than authority created through a social agreement among citizens. Rousseau’s argument linked political legitimacy to the people rather than to a privileged institution or social order.

This is a Class 9 History question. Chapter: The French Revolution. Topic: French Society During the Late Eighteenth Century.