Political Concepts
Consent of the Governed
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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 Cross-Tradition 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.
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.
Influenced By
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