Legitimacy and Political Authority

Modern, consent-based theories of what makes a government's authority legitimate rather than merely effective: legitimacy itself, consent of the governed, popular sovereignty as the doctrine that ultimate political authority rests with the people, and the social contract as the founding theoretical device (Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau) explaining why individuals accept political authority at all. Belongs here: a theory or doctrine explaining the SOURCE of a government's rightful claim to rule, where that source is the consent or will of the governed. Does not belong here: a tradition- or religion-derived source of legitimate authority, grouped under Traditional and Religious Legitimacy Concepts.