consent of the governed

1. A condition urged by many as a requirement for legitimate government: that the authority of a government should depend on the consent of the people, as expressed by votes in elections. (See Declaration of Independence, democracy, and John Locke.)

Example Sentences

The Confederacy appropriated the Declaration in an attempt to legitimize secession, with President Jefferson Davis citing “the American idea that governments rest upon the consent of the governed.”

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An emperor or king who rules not by the consent of the governed, but by divine right.

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An emperor or king who rules not by the consent of the governed, but by divine right.

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But in the U.S., consent of the governed has not been necessary to continue the axis of genocide.

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The authoritarian playbook only succeeds if the people fail to recognize that the government’s survival depends on the consent of the governed.

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