What does consent of the governed mean?

Consent of the governed is the principle that government's authority comes from the agreement of the people it governs, not from divine right, hereditary claim, or force. The Declaration of Independence put it in classic form in 1776: governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of those ends, the people have the right to alter or abolish it.

The principle traces directly to John Locke's Second Treatise of Government in 1689, which held that legitimate political power exists only by the consent of the people. Locke distinguished tacit consent, which a person gives by living under a government and enjoying its protections, from express consent, which a person gives by an explicit act such as taking an oath of citizenship. Both can be the basis of legitimate authority, but the existence of consent in either form is essential.

American institutions implement consent of the governed in several ways. The Constitution's Preamble begins We the People do ordain and establish this Constitution, framing the document as an act of collective consent. Members of Congress are elected by the people in their states and districts. Direct popular election of senators dates from ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. The president is chosen through the Electoral College, whose electors are themselves selected by voters in each state. State governors and most state legislators are elected. Officials swear oaths to the Constitution, not to a king or party. Constitutional amendments require ratification by elected legislatures or by state conventions. Naturalizing citizens take an oath that converts tacit consent into express consent.

The principle does not require unanimity. In a system of consent, majorities decide most questions while constitutional limits protect minorities and individuals. Consent can be withdrawn through elections, through constitutional amendment, or in extreme cases, as the Declaration recognized, through revolution.

Modern American politics tends to assume the principle. Few politicians explicitly defend consent of the governed because almost none would deny it. The deeper questions concern how to ensure that elections are free and fair, how to protect minority rights inside majority rule, and how to handle disputes about who counts as part of the political community.