Building on the social contract theory developed in Chapter 2 , this chapter explores why people bond with each other to form state-level societies and with governments as a political authority to form state-society contracts. The analysis draws on (1) the European state-formation processes of explosion during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, (2) the Sub-Saharan Africa state-formation processes of implosion during the twentieth century, and (3) the development of the contemporary welfare state to explore the effects of these processes on society’s mandate for the contract and perceptions of legitimacy. Key insights from the doctoral research that served as the foundation for this book further develop the social contract concepts by delineating the coercive and political components and elaborating on the governance pact’s exchange processes. The chapter shifts to present the social contract’s core concepts, drawing on state-building and conflict literature: the social contract’s sources and perceptions of legitimacy, its vibrance through resilience and tenuousness, grievances, and the breakdown of trust. After summarizing the methodological underpinnings of the social contract, the answer to why people bond with each other and with a political authority to form political social contracts is presented in the Comprehensive Social Contract (CSC) Framework.