Consent theory is a mess, see Don Herzog's book Happy Slaves. (You can get the gist of the argument from the title. But it's a fun read. Disclosure: Don's a good friend and was one of my dissertation advisers. But he really is good and extremely and unfashionably accessible.*)
On the other hand, what's the alternative to "the consent of the governed"?
* People who liker to make fun of neoclasdsical nd economics and rational choice theory would do well to read his short and extremely entertaining book entitled Cunning, which he tells me has fallen deadborn from the press, more's the pity.
> ^^^^^^
> CB: I don't think "consent" is the right word. It's
> wrong in the way social
> contract theory is wrong. Almost nobody voluntarily
> consents. From
> childhood the vast majority of people are trained
> into accepting cultural
> norms, including the principles of wage-labor, and
> in part with literal
> corporal punishment for many. Peaceful coercion is
> an oxymoron.
>
>
>
>
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