Consent of the governed

Consent of the governed is the principle that political authority is legitimate only when those subject to it authorize it. It grounds government in the authorization of the people rather than inherited status or divine right.

John Locke: An English philosopher whose political writings defended natural rights and government by consent. His account of consent and resistance became a central statement of the principle.
Popular sovereignty: The doctrine that ultimate political authority rests with the people. It identifies the people as the source whose consent can legitimate government.
Divine right of kings: The doctrine that a monarch’s authority comes from God rather than popular authorization. It locates political legitimacy in divine sanction instead of the governed.
United States Declaration of Independence: The 1776 statement announcing the American colonies’ separation from Great Britain and setting out political justifications. It declares that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Thomas Hobbes: An English philosopher who argued that people authorize a sovereign to secure peace and protection. His social contract grounds authority in authorization but permits a far more powerful sovereign.
Social contract: A theory that political authority arises from an agreement, actual or hypothetical, among people. It models consent as the authorization that establishes political obligations.
Paternalism: The restriction of people’s choices on the grounds that doing so serves their welfare. It can justify authority by claimed benefit even without the governed’s authorization.
French Revolution: A period of political upheaval in France beginning in 1789 that ended the monarchy and transformed European politics. Revolutionaries invoked popular sovereignty against inherited royal authority.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau: A Genevan philosopher who argued that legitimate law expresses the general will of citizens. He recast consent as collective self-rule rather than merely accepting a ruler.
Representative democracy: A system in which elected representatives make public decisions on behalf of citizens. Elections provide an institutional means for citizens to authorize officeholders.

Linked from 17 pages