In Federalist 22, Alexander Hamilton wrote:
The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE. The streams of national power ought to flow from that pure, original fountain of all legitimate authority.
Now this is the entire basis of government: that any government derives its just powers – its legitimacy – from the consent of the governed. That bit of language comes from Jefferson, via our Declaration of Independence. The question we must ask ourselves is: what constitutes consent?
Surely it must be more than 21%, right? Because only 21% of Americans think the U.S. government has the consent of the governed. We ought to reflect on exactly what Jefferson wrote in the Declaration:
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, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
If we are not yet arrived at the point of altering or abolishing, certainly 21% approval must cause even the most short-sighted, and every government employee for that matter, to shudder.
