Why would a country want to stifle dissent during wartime

A country wants to stifle dissent during wartime to improve loyalty,to lower opportunity to work against the war against the war effort and to protect National Defence.The government does not want the opposition to lower or criticize the war efforts because it could split the people's opinions that support the war effort.

-to improve loyalty

-to lower opportunity to work against the war effort

-to protect national defense

Explanation:

social contract theory basically says that all individuals are born equal, and provided a god given right to consent to be governed. american government is based of this

thomas hobbes and john locke said that we are selfish, individualistic, and constantly at war with each other, therefore we need to be controlled. 

government is defined as the legitimate use of force to control human behavior within territorial boundaries, here comes in hobbes and locke.

hobbes takes the part about controlling human behavior. while locke takes the part of legitimate use of force, since force is not legitimate unless there is consent of the people. 

there are basically 3 goals of the government: 1) maintain order by protecting life and property. 2) providing public goods, those which are typically not provided by the public sector, such as roads and education. 3) promote equality be it political, opportunist or outcome equality.