What is the Consent of the Governed?
©
2006
by
John
C.
Rankin
and
Stuart
J.
Rankin
The
consent
of
the
governed
is
the
bulwark
of
American
freedom,
a
risky
proposition
meaning
the
government
belongs
to
the
people.
We
elect
our
own
representatives,
and
they
are
always
accountable
to
us.
Without
a
historically
informed
understanding
of
the
consent
of
the
governed,
the
only
alternative
is a
slide
toward
some
form
of
tyranny.
A
lazy
people
cannot
be a
free
people.
Dating
to
the
era
of
The
Magna
Carta
in
1215,
the
consent
of
the
governed
only
comes
to
us
through
a
long
and
bloody
struggle
between
those
who
aspire
to
freedom,
and
those
who
cling
to
tyranny.
It
comes
to
us
through
a
texture
of
uneven
yet
unrelenting
progress,
through
a
growth
of
checks
and
balances.
Following
the
signing
of
The
United
States
Constitution
in
1787,
Benjamin
Franklin
(1706-1790;
and
also
a
signer
of
The
Declaration
of
Independence)
was
reputedly
asked,
“Well,
Doctor,
what
have
we
got
– a
Republic
or a
Monarchy?”
Franklin
responded,
“A
Republic,
if
you
can
keep
it.”
In a
strict
monarchy,
the
unelected
king
has
the
final
say;
in a
democratic
and
constitutional
republic,
the
people
have
the
final
say
through
their
elected
representatives.
The
phrase
“a
democratic
and
constitutional
republic”
can
be a
mouthful,
but
its
precision
is
important.
Democracy
refers
to
the
vote
of
the
people,
yet
we
are
not
a
pure
“democracy.”
That
would
be
too
cumbersome,
having
every
item
in
the
state
and
nation
always
voted
upon.
Such
a
pure
democracy
can
only
work
in
small
communities.
A
more
accurate
term
is
“a
representative
government,”
which
is
the
nature
of a
“republic.”
We
democratically
elect
our
representatives,
who
make
the
law
according
to
the
state
and
federal
constitutions
which
we
have
also
voted
upon.
If
we
do
not
like
how
our
representatives
are
governing,
we
can
elect
others
to
take
their
places,
or
even
remove
them
sooner
by
more
direct
means.
Can
we
keep
our
republic?
This
is
always
a
live
question.
Freedom
is
consistently
at
risk
of
being
lost
if
we
are
not
vigilant
to
protect
it;
indeed,
tyrants
can
be
elected
by a
constitutionally
illiterate
people.
The
best
way
to
protect
our
republic
is
for
all
citizens
to
participate
in
the
consent
of
the
governed.
Thus,
in
service
to
an
understanding
of
the
consent
of
the
governed,
here
is a
thumbnail
sketch
of a
few
important
milestones
along
the
way.
_____________________________________
1215:
The
Magna
Carta
In
feudal
England
the
concept
of
“the
divine
right
of
kings”
was
an
assumption
on
the
part
of
many
rulers.
The
king
could
rule
as
he
saw
fit,
claiming
that
his
authority
came
directly
from
God,
and
not
from
the
church
or
the
people.
In
1100,
King
Henry
I
(1068-1135)
issued
The
Charter
of
Liberties
which
limited
the
power
of
the
king.
During
his
reign,
King
John
(1167-1216)
alienated
the
barons
in
many
ways
including
heavy
taxation.
Drawing
on
language
from
the
Charter,
they
forced
him
to
sign
The
Magna Carta
in
1215,
giving
certain
freedoms
to
the
church
and
freemen,
but
especially
requiring
the
consent
of
the
barons
for
any
special
taxes.
John
saw
this
as a
momentary
compromise,
but
this
“consent
of
the
barons,”
while
only
applying
to a
small
class
of
people,
was
the
thin
edge
of
the
wedge
for
much
greater
change.
1295:
The
Establishment
of
Parliament
The
powerful
baron,
Simon
De Montfort
(1208-1265),
called
England’s
first
Parliament
apart
from
the
authority
of
the
king.
He
became
de
facto
ruler
briefly
after
King
Henry
III
(1207-1272)
was
deposed
in
1265,
and
expanded
the
principles
of
the
Magna Carta
to
include
a
broader
range
of
those
with
consent
–
barons,
bishops,
abbots,
knights
and
town
burgesses.
He
was
killed
shortly
thereafter
as
King
Henry
III
regained
power.
But
in
1295,
his
example
led
King
Edward
I
(1239-1307)
to
call
for
the
first
representative
Parliament
that
included
two
knights
from
each
county,
two
citizens
from
each
city
and
two
burgesses
from
each
borough.
King
Edward
declared:
“What
touches
all,
should
be
approved
by
all,
and
it
is
also
clear
that
common
dangers
should
be
met
by
measures
agreed
upon
in
common.”
In
1362,
a
law
was
passed
that
Parliament
must
agree
to
all
taxation,
and
this
was
reaffirmed
by
The
Petition
of
Right
in
1628.
Though
the
calling
of
Parliament
into
session
was
still
subject
to
the
king’s
discretion,
the
consent
of
the
governed
gained
momentum.
In
Spain,
while
New
World
natives
were
being
forced
to
convert,
the
Roman
Catholic
Dominican
priest,
Bartholomew
de
Las Casas
(1474-1566),
declared
that
all
persons
are
born
free,
and
that
“No
one
may
be
deprived
of
his
liberty
nor
may
any
person
be
enslaved.”
Also,
the
Jesuit
priest
Francisco
Suarez
(1548-1617)
directly
challenged
the
divine
right
of
kings,
allowing
for
kings
to
be
deposed
by
the
people
“acting
as a
whole.”
1517:
The
Protestant
Reformation
In
Germany,
Augustinian
scholar
and
canon
Martin
Luther
(1483-1546)
did
not
intend
to
start
the
Protestant
Reformation
in
1517.
But
it
came
to
pass
as
he
sought
freedom
to
hold
his
convictions
when
the
church
authorities
tried
to
silence
him.
The
religious
wars
of
Europe
that
followed
were
one
long
bloody
march
toward
the
consent
of
the
governed.
1620:
The
Mayflower
Compact
When
the
English
Puritans
came
to
the
New
World
for
religious,
political
and
economic
liberty,
their
November
11,
1620
Mayflower
Compact
set
the
tone
for
the
British
Colonies
– a
written
document
where
“just
and
equal
laws
…
for
the
general
good
of
the
colony”
were
put
in
place.
Governor
William
Bradford
(1590-1657),
opposed
“Arbitrary
Government
…
where
a
people
have
men
set
over
them,
without
their
choice
or
consent,”
instead
calling
for
a
“government
and
governors
as
we
should
by
common
consent
agree
to
make
and
choose…”
The
Puritans
had
sailed
from
the
United
Provinces
of
the
Netherlands,
where
they
had
been
for
a
season
of
exile
from
England.
They
found
greater
freedoms
there,
but
yearned
for
more,
so
they
sought
it
in
the
New
World.
And
the
Dutch,
in
founding
the
New
Netherlands
and
New
Amsterdam
(later
to
become
New
York)
in
1609,
brought
with
them
the
consent
of
the
governed
in
many
ways,
antedating
the
Pilgrims
by
11
years.
1638:
The
Fundamental
Orders
of
Connecticut
Thomas
Hooker
(1586-1647),
Puritan
pastor
and
founder
of
Hartford,
Connecticut,
was
invited
in
1638
to
address
the
new
Connecticut
General
Assembly.
He
challenged
them
to
create
a
written
document
where
they
who
“have
the
power
to
appoint
officers
and
magistrates
also
have
the
power
to
set
bounds
and
limitations
on
their
power”
for
“the
foundation
of
authority
is
laid
firstly
in
the
free
consent
of
the
people.”
This
led
to
The
Fundamental
Orders
of
Connecticut
in
1639,
regarded
as
the
first
written
constitution
since
antiquity.
It
was
the
first
such
time
a
people
wrote
a
compact
to
form
a
government
on
their
own,
without
appeal
to
any
charter
or
royal
concession.
1640:
The
Settling
of
Providence
When
Puritan
pastor
Roger
Williams
(ca.
1603-1683)
fled
Boston,
Massachusetts
with
ninety
freeman,
he
established
Providence,
Rhode
Island.
He
provided
the
most
expansive
definition
of
religious
liberty
since
antiquity.
Williams
declared
“that
the
sovereign,
original
and
foundation
of
civil
power
lies
in
the
people”
and
that
“such
governments
as
are
by
them
erected
and
established
have
no
more
power,
nor
for
no
longer
time,
than
the
civil
power
of
people
consenting
and
agreeing
shall betrust
to
them.”
1660:
Samuel
Rutherford
and
Lex,
Rex
The
Scottish
Puritan
theologian
and
preacher
Samuel
Rutherford
(ca.
1600-1661)
criticized
the
divine
right
of
kings,
and
was
charged
with
treason
by
King
Charles
II
in
1660
for
his
book
“Lex,
Rex,”
“The
Law,
the
King.”
Rutherford
said
that
the
king
is
not
above
the
law,
which
is
to
say
the
law
is
king.
This
simple
concept
is
monumental
– no
one
is
above
the
law.
Rutherford
argued
that
“politic
society
is
voluntary,
being
grounded
on
the
consent
of
men.”
1689:
The
English
Bill
of
Rights
Following
The
Glorious
Revolution
of
1688,
any
action
of
the
king
required
the
consent
of
the
people
as
represented
by
Parliament.
The
English
Bill
of
Rights
declared:
“The
election
of
members
of
Parliament
ought
to
be
free,”
their
proceedings
were
not
to
be
impeached
from
without,
and
Parliament
was
to
be
held
frequently.
1690:
John
Locke
and
Two
Treatises
on
Government
English
philosopher
John
Locke
(1632-1704)
was
crucially
important
to
the
founders
of
the
United
States,
especially
in
his
Two
Treatises
on
Government.
Rooted
in
the
Reformation
and
its
interaction
with
the
Enlightenment,
Locke
emphasized
reason
and
toleration,
the
equality
of
all
men,
and
their
equal
say
in
government.
“Men,
being,
as
has
been
said,
by
nature,
all
free,
equal,
and
independent,
no
one
else
can
be
put
out
of
his
estate,
and
subjected
to
the
political
power
of
another,
without
his
own
consent.”
Locke,
an
Englishman,
wrote
most
of
his
work
while
in
the
Netherlands,
finding
religious
tolerance
there
as
did
the
early
Pilgrims.
Locke
argued
that
all
men
have
unalienable
rights
given
by
the
Creator
–
life,
liberty
and
property.
“Unalienable”
is
that
which
cannot
be
taken
from
us
apart
from
due
process
of
law,
for
its
nature
transcends
human
government.
The
consent
of
the
governed
depends
on
unalienable
rights.
1776:
The
Declaration
of
Independence
of
the
United
States
On
July
4,
1776,
The
Declaration
of
Independence
from
England
was
signed
by
56
men
at
the
risk
of
their
lives
and
properties
in
pursuit
of
liberty.
With
their
eloquent
scribe
Thomas
Jefferson
(later
also
to
serve
as
President),
the
consent
of
the
governed
took
central
stage
at
the
very
foundation
of
the
noble
“American
Experiment”
in
which
we
still
live
today:
“We
hold
these
Truths
to
be
self-evident,
that
all
Men
are
created
equal,
that
they
are
endowed
by
their
Creator
with
certain
unalienable
Rights,
that
among
these
are
Life,
Liberty
and
the
Pursuit
of
Happiness
–
That
to
secure
these
Rights,
Governments
are
instituted
among
Men,
deriving
their
just
Powers
from
the
Consent
of
the
Governed,
that
whenever
any
Form
of
Government
becomes
destructive
of
these
Ends,
it
is
the
Right
of
the
People
to
alter
or
to
abolish
it,
and
to
institute
new
Government.”
1780:
The
Massachusetts
Constitution,
Declaration
of
Rights
The
state
constitutions
of
the
original
thirteen
colonies
also
affirmed
the
consent
of
the
governed
strongly.
In
Massachusetts,
John
Adams
(1735-1826),
who
also
served
later
as
President,
crafted
the
most
detailed
language:
“Article
V
–
“All
power
residing
originally
in
the
people,
and
being
derived
from
them,
the
several
magistrates
and
officers
of
government,
vested
with
authority,
whether
legislative,
executive
or
judicial,
are
their
substitutes
and
agents,
and
are
at
all
times
accountable
to
them.”
“Article
VII
–
Government
is
instituted
for
the
common
good;
for
the
protection,
safety,
prosperity
and
happiness
of
the
people;
and
not
for
the
profit,
honor,
or
private
interest
of
any
one
man,
family
or
class
of
men:
Therefore
the
people
alone
have
an
incontestable,
unalienable,
and
indefeasible
right
to
institute
government;
and
to
reform,
alter,
or
totally
change
the
same,
when
their
protection,
safety,
prosperity
and
happiness
require
it.
“Article
VIII
– In
order
to
prevent
those,
who
are
vested
with
authority,
from
becoming
oppressors,
the
people
have
a
right,
at
such
periods
and
in
such
manner
as
they
shall
establish
by
their
frame
of
government,
to
cause
their
public
officers
to
return
to
private
life…”
1787:
The
United
States
Constitution
The
assumption
of
the
consent
of
the
governed
in
the
Declaration
was
so
strong
that
the
preamble
to
The
United
States
Constitution
starts
with
a
bold
simplicity,
“We
the
People…,”
and
42
state
constitutions
do
essentially
the
same.
In
the
First
Amendment,
Congress
was
prohibited
from
establishing
a
national
church
so
that
religious
liberty
would
not
be
restricted;
thus
all
subsequent
liberties
of
speech,
press,
assembly
and
redress
of
grievances
were
able
to
flourish:
“Congress
shall
make
no
law
respecting
an
establishment
of
religion,
or
prohibiting
the
free
exercise
thereof;
or
abridging
the
freedom
of
speech,
or
of
the
press,
or
of
the
right
of
the
people
peaceably
to
assemble,
and
to
petition
the
Government
for
a
redress
of
grievances.”
In
the
Fifth
and
Fourteenth
Amendments,
the
language
of
unalienable
rights
was
legally
codified:
“nor
shall
any
person
be
deprived
of
life,
liberty
and
property,
without
due
process
of
law.”
1818:
The
Connecticut
Constitution,
Declaration
of
Rights
“SEC.
1.
All
men
when
they
form
a
social
compact,
are
equal
in
rights;
and
no
man
or
set
of
men
are
entitled
to
exclusive
public
emoluments
or
privileges
from
the
community.
“SEC.
2.
All
political
power
is
inherent
in
the
people,
and
all
free
governments
are
founded
on
their
authority,
and
instituted
for
their
benefit;
and
they
have
at
all
times
an
undeniable
and
indefeasible
right
to
alter
their
form
of
government
in
such
manner
as
they
may
think
expedient.”
1863:
President
Abraham
Lincoln
and
the
Gettysburg
Address
As
the
consent
of
the
governed
grew
in
its
centrality,
various
people,
including
blacks,
women
and
Native
Americans,
had
yet
to
be
fully
included.
In
The
Gettysburg
Address,
delivered
during
the
darkest
hours
of
The
Civil
War,
Abraham
Lincoln
said:
“Fourscore
and
seven
years
ago
our
fathers
brought
forth,
on
this
continent,
a
new
nation,
conceived
in
liberty,
and
dedicated
to
the
proposition
that
all
men
are
created
equal
…
that
this
nation,
under
God,
shall
have
a
new
birth
of
freedom
–
and
that
government
of
the
people,
by
the
people,
for
the
people,
shall
not
perish
from
the
earth.”
In
The
Emancipation
Proclamation
of
1863,
followed
by
the
Thirteenth,
Fourteenth
and
Fifteenth
Amendments,
black
Americans
gained
consent;
in
The
Nineteenth
Amendment
of
1920
women
won
the
constitutional
right
to
vote;
but
Native
Americans
are
still
not
fully
enfranchised,
as
many
live
in
tension
between
two
worlds
–
the
status
of
theoretically
sovereign
tribal
nations,
while
also
being
Americans.
1981:
President
Ronald
Reagan’s
First
Inaugural
Address
“So,
as
we
begin,
let
us
take
inventory.
We
are
a
nation
that
has
a
government
–
not
the
other
way
around.
And
this
makes
us
special
among
the
nations
of
the
Earth.
Our
Government
has
no
power
except
that
granted
it
by
the
people.”
_____________________________________
If
we
honor
the
long
struggle
for
the
consent
of
the
governed,
then
we
cannot
be a
lazy
people.
We
are
called
to
hold
those
in
government
to
be
fully
accountable
to
“We
the
People”
on
all
occasions.
“We
the
People”
means
all
of
us.
If
we
are
ever
unsatisfied
with
government,
we
have
a
remedy
–
become
involved,
and
make
the
consent
of
the
governed
a
living
reality.
