Early liberal thinkers such as Locke and Hobbes based their justification of our obligation to the state upon the concept of a 'social contract,' by which government was founded by contract between citizens in a state of nature. The first criticism of this theory which is acknowledged by many social contract thinkers, is that this contract is a purely hypothetical document. Government cannot look back to a historical document signed by citizens at the creation of the state. Secondly, there arises the question of why only the first generation of citizens should have the right to consent to government. If...
acting against the wishes of the government. It can be seen more as a reflection of attitudes towards the state than as a quality intrinsic in the state. Power itself also rests upon the acceptance of government by the people, but in a far less individual way- it makes no difference to the power of a government whether or not an individual consents to it, or even in the case of a single individual accepts it. By contrast, in order for the government to claim authority over an individual, it needs not only their acquiescence, but also their consent.