ABSTRACT
I am trying to make plausible the thesis that, within liberal democratic theory, the actual personal consent of citizens must be the basis of political authority and political obligation. Since there is much disagreement on the correct analysis of the concepts of consent, authority and obligation, I will make such analytical remarks about them as I expect to be sufficient to make my use of them clear and plausible. In the last part of the chapter I will note some normative assumptions which I make.
