Create a new account

It's simple, and free.

Consent & Political Obligation

Both Locke and Rousseau assumed that residence in a state implied tacit consent but Simmons does not agree with their assessment (Simmons 95). He says that this cannot be reasonably assumed because continued residence would them imply a "lack of response to a clearly presented 'choice situation' allowing for consent or dissent." This choice is not available to most people. Simmons points out that if consent is the only ground of political obligation, a government would need the consent of its citizens to maintain its legitimacy, and the only way to gain

widespread political obligation from the citizens would be to give them a choice situation (96).

Simmons adds that in this case, each citizen would be aware he had consented to the authority of the government, and would have no doubts about how to behave in political matters (Simmons 96). Presenting him with a choice might heighten his awareness of being a member of a community, and knowing that each of his fellow citizen's was also aware of this fact, might engender trust and cooperation. This makes the point of residence an important issue, says Simmons.

Simmons points to the argument of Hume, that residence can never be considered tacit consent to the government's rule because it is always possible for self-professed revolutionaries, spies, anarchists, gangsters, and outlaws to reside within a state, and to suggest that these people have tacitly agreed to accept the rule of the government is utter nonsense (Simmons 97). However, Simmons answer to this is that even though an individual may consent to something, he may have no intention of allowing the government to exercise that right, just as people make promises and then break them. He returns to Socrates, who specified a formal choice of consenting to political obligation or leaving the country in the "the Laws" in the Crito, and asks if remaining in a country is a sign of consent.

Simmons defines taci...

Page 1 of 13 Next >

More on Consent & Political Obligation...

Loading...
APA     MLA     Chicago
Consent & Political Obligation. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 13:06, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1703523.html