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The Consent Myth: Why Democratic Government Doesn't Rest on Your Agreement
A Critical Reassessment for Readers Coming to Political Theory Late

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About this book:

The Consent Myth: Why Democratic Government Doesn't Rest on Your Agreement We are taught that "consent of the governed" is the bedrock of democracy—a comforting story we tell ourselves about freedom and choice. But what if that story is a myth? In *The Consent Myth*, the seductive simplicity of political agreement is put on trial and found wanting. From the silence of tacit consent to the fiction of hypothetical contracts, this book dismantles the idea that legitimacy requires your signature, revealing how every standard justification—voting, residence, hypothetical rationality—collapses under the weight of real-world complexity.

This isn't a manifesto for tyranny; it’s a rescue mission for democratic legitimacy. By clearing away the debris of the consent myth, the book recovers a richer, older, and more durable tradition of political thought. Journey through the original contractarians—Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau—before exploring powerful alternatives: republican civic virtue, utilitarian welfare, Rawlsian fairness, and communitarian belonging. You will discover why authority can be legitimate *without* unanimous agreement, grounded instead in expertise, practical necessity, and the pursuit of the common good.

Written for the reader coming to political theory late—but hungry for rigorous answers—*The Consent Myth* offers a bracing intellectual liberation. It replaces the fragile fantasy of universal accord with a robust, post-consent framework for governance. If you have ever suspected that "we the people" never actually signed the social contract, this book provides the history, the philosophy, and the new foundations to explain why that doesn't matter—and why democracy is stronger for it.

Table of Contents:
  • Introduction: The Enduring Embrace of Consent
  • Chapter 1: Unpacking the "Consent of the Governed": A First Look
  • Chapter 2: The Social Contract's Shadow: What Came Before Consent?
  • Chapter 3: From Divine Right to Popular Will: A Shifting Landscape of Legitimacy
  • Chapter 4: The Original Contractarians: Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau on Agreement
  • Chapter 5: Tacit Consent: When Silence Becomes Assent (Or Does It?)
  • Chapter 6: Hypothetical Consent: Imagining Agreement in a Real World
  • Chapter 7: Express Consent: The Elusive Act of Explicit Agreement
  • Chapter 8: The Problem of Participation: Can Everyone Truly Consent?
  • Chapter 9: The Power of Dissent: When Withholding Consent Matters
  • Chapter 10: Beyond the Ballot Box: Are Elections Truly Acts of Consent?
  • Chapter 11: The Limits of Individual Will: Collective Action and Consent
  • Chapter 12: Historical Injustice and the Consent Myth: A Reckoning
  • Chapter 13: The Child, the Citizen, and Consent: Developmental Perspectives
  • Chapter 14: Consent in International Relations: States and Sovereignty
  • Chapter 15: Anarchism and the Rejection of Consent-Based Authority
  • Chapter 16: Utilitarianism: Measuring Good Without Asking Permission
  • Chapter 17: Justice as Fairness: Rawls and the Veil of Ignorance
  • Chapter 18: Republicanism: Civic Virtue and the Common Good Over Individual Assent
  • Chapter 19: Communitarianism: Belonging, Identity, and Shared Values
  • Chapter 20: Authority Without Agreement: The Case for Legitimate Coercion
  • Chapter 21: The Epistemic Case for Government: Expertise and Decision-Making
  • Chapter 22: Practical Necessity: Why We Need Government, Consent or Not
  • Chapter 23: Reclaiming the Social Contract's Roots: Pre-Consent Justifications
  • Chapter 24: New Foundations: Towards a Post-Consent Theory of Legitimacy
  • Chapter 25: Governing in the Absence of Agreement: A New Democratic Vision
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Author:

Jeremy Q. Young

Published By:

MixCache.com Extended Catalog

Type:

Nonfiction

Date Published:

November 7, 2026

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