Consent of the governed is the principle that legitimate governmental authority derives from the agreement of those subject to it rather than from conquest, inheritance, or divine right alone. John Locke grounded this in the Second Treatise of Government (1689), distinguishing express consent, given by explicit agreement to join political society, from tacit consent, given merely by residing in and accepting the benefits of a state's territory. The principle was enshrined in the American Declaration of Independence (1776), whose text holds that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Facts
Founding ContextRooted in seventeenth century social contract theory, the principle received its classical statement in John Locke's Two Treatises of Government (1689), which argued that legitimate political authority arises only from the consent of those governed by it, and was carried directly into the American founding, where the Declaration of Independence of 1776 grounded government's just powers in the consent of the governed. 1 Connections
Associated With
The Declaration of Independence (1776) directly invokes the principle, holding that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Source Declaration of Independence, 1776 (National Archives)
Both principles locate ultimate political authority in the people; consent of the governed supplies the individual level warrant, popular sovereignty the collective level doctrine.
Founded By
Locke's Second Treatise of Government (1689) grounded legitimate political authority in the express or tacit consent of those governed.
Source Locke's Political Philosophy (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Influenced By
Source Declaration of Independence, 1776 (National Archives)
Source Locke's Political Philosophy (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Sources
1. Locke's Political Philosophy (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyIntroduction
Locke used the claim that men are naturally free and equal as part of the justification for understanding legitimate political government as the result of a social contract.
- Founded By: John Locke
- Influenced By: Two Treatises of Government
View the Source Declaration of Independence, 1776 (National Archives)
U.S. National Archives- Associated With: Declaration of Independence
- Influenced By: Declaration of Independence
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