The American Revolution and the republic, which eventually came out of it, were largely modeled on the ideals and theories set forth by John Locke.
What might you imagine would have been the outcomes of an American Revolution based upon the ideals of Jean-Jacques Rousseau?
What rights might we have ended up with had we followed Rousseau's ideals, and what role might the US now be playing in the world?
(Please look upon this exercise not as "pie-in-the-sky," but rather as an exercise in applied theory.
The consequences of differing ideal-sets can be dramatic and quite informative, and leads countries to very different outcomes.
For an example that might come closer to Rousseau's ideals than Locke's, look at Sweden, or to a lesser extent any other Scandinavian country, and their ways of dealing with real world issues, policies and problems.