Rousseau on the expectations of people

Rousseau seems to have a lot of faith in people. His entire philosophy centers around the idea that people will give up their power to the whole because that is what is most beneficial to society. He argues that when people commit to sovereignty they agree to actively participate in the governing of the collective. Because everyone is exactly equal in the collective there is no motivation to act in a way other than what is best for the whole. While the system of government he refers to as sovereign is more of a democracy with full participation from its members, his overall view of an individuals responsibility to act is still relevant today in theory.
During the 2008 presidential election the US saw more political activism than ever before. People fought for who they thought was going to represent the whole in a way that was beneficial to all of its members. They used their rights under the social contract of this country to choose a leader. I think Rousseau would have been proud of the masses wearing the t shirts with the red and blue Obama images. The problem today with this philosophy is that after the election the masses disassembled. I would challenge many of those t shirt wearers to see weather or not they even voted in the election, if they knew the issues Obama represented, and if they even care now what is going on in politics. The race itself was such a cultural phenomena but when the race was over so was the interest in political participation. Without each individual acting in a way that is beneficial to the collective and participating in decision making for the whole, Rousseau's system falls apart.
He is right on some level. Every person does have an obligation, if they live in this society, to actively participate in the governing of said society. The problem is that most people do not participate, are not educated about issues concerning he governing of the whole, and do not care to take part in this agreed upon sovereignty. I would argue that if every individual in the populous does not participate in governing and therefore not acting in what is best for the collective, the collective has a right to limit the amount of influence and impact those people have on the whole. I feel this adjustment is needed to make Rousseau's philosophy relevant to the society we live in today.
Rousseau was from a different time and a different way of thinking. People today need to recognize their responsibility to participate in government. If more people were to act like Rousseau proposes I believe our government would better represent the people and there would not be so many problems in our society.