John Locke Consent Essay
Asher Edwards
Mr. Kaufman
Civics and Political Economy
16 March, 2023
John Locke, also known as the “father of liberalism” was an influential philosopher during the 17th century. One of his most prominent ideas was consent of the governed. Consent of the governed refers to a political and philosophical idea that in order for a government to be legitimate, i.e., moral, it must have consent from the people it would exercise its power over. However, does this mean every single person in a society must consent to a government? How do we know what counts as consent?
We must first define what consent is. There are many different ways the definition of consent is used, but in regards to the law, consent is voluntary agreement to another person or
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Using government infrastructure, such as roads and airports, and participating in political activities like voting, shows that a person is consenting to the government. This demonstrates Locke's opinion that you are allowing the government to take resources from you in the form of taxes, in order to provide said resource. Similar to using government services, voting demonstrates that you think the government is legitimate enough that you can use the service, and it shows that you meet the requirements the government set in order to allow you to vote, which typically include being a citizen of the country, and therefore, consenting to the rule of government. As well as this, voting means you are agreeing to the possibility of an outcome you don’t like and still having to live with it.
Nonetheless, what about people who hold out unreasonably? Those who hold out unreasonably typically do not have the power to challenge a government, yet their opinion still counts. In today’s society, we must follow the majority because, realistically, there is no way we can challenge their legitimacy. Locke states that implied consent is enough to determine a government's legitimacy, therefore continuing to use resources provided by the government, that you pay for with taxes, is enough to determine a government's
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