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U1412269

Critically evaluate Locke’s theory of tacit consent
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Locke simply
claims it is ‘that every man, that hath any possessions, or enjoyment, of any part of the dominions of
any government, doth thereby give his tacit consent’3
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Although he
holds the repute of a forerunner of ‘liberal constitutionalism’6, Bennett argues Locke’s invention of
tacit consent was simply intended to ‘solve a problem created for his account of political power by
his view that legitimate political power is founded on consent’7
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Thus, due to the concept of tacit consent, ‘one is not really "born free" if
one is born in the midst of land owned by others’8, leading us to question the consistency and
egalitarian nature of Locke’s political theory
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Simmons cites that for Locke, ‘‘no one can be put out of [the state of nature] and subjected to the
political power of another without his own consent’’9
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Beitz, Political Theory and International Relations, pg
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Bennett, “A Note on Locke’s Theory of Tacit Consent”, The Philosophical Review, 88, 1979, pg
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Locke, Second Treatise, pg 119
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224
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6
7
8
9

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, Political Thinkers, pg
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Kelly, “Hume”, in Boucher and Kelly, eds
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209
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233
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233

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745

U1412269

Critically evaluate Locke’s theory of tacit consent
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Yet although it explains why democracies can be seen as authentic, it still begs the
question as to whether the lack of expressed consent is acceptable in a democracy
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The inheritance feature of tacit consent
means children are not handed the opportunity to actively dissent against the government, and are
routinely assimilated in the consenting through simply enjoying ‘possessions which were his Fathers;
because that Estate being his Fathers Property’12
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This coupled with the only way disputing being the disposing of one’s property illustrates
the almost despotic nature of the assumption of unspoken consent
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This, simply, is not and adequate option as a form of dissent, as the
benefits and safety provided by tacit consent far outweigh the lack of protection that is giving up all
property
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Congruently with the indication of property dictating tacit consent, class and wealth must be
considered when evaluating the concept
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Not only does the property aspect deny the opportunity to opt out of tacit consent, although ‘he is

10

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753
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Locke, Second Treatise, pg 121
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Rawls, Lectures on the History of Political Thought, pg
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at liberty to go and incorporate himself into any other Commonwealth, or to agree with others to
begin a new one’15, a certain degree of wealth is required to do so
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Not only does wealth factor in in terms of determining whether one has the option to
dissent, but also as to whether one can increase their role of consenting to a government and
explicitly do so
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g
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As Rawl’s
claims ‘political rule is exercised only by those who own a certain amount of property’18, property
and therefore wealth can also be seen to dictate whether one can explicitly comply with the
government as the government’s primary role is ‘the protection of already existing property’19
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Likewise, as
Bennett cites, along with the ability to expressively consent, ‘ownership of land involves extensive
rights… to keep other people off one's land’21
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These
‘extensive’23 rights over land held by property owners begs the question of whether one can, in point
of fact, freely abandon tacit consent through movement , as first and foremost one must consent
with the property owners of that land
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Locke, Second Treatise, pg 121

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105
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105
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105
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144
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155
21
J
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Bennett, “A Note on Locke’s Theory of Tacit Consent”, The Philosophical Review, 88, 1979, 229
23
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Continuing from the point about those with property determine who comes into the
country, one could argue that the state does not therefore have ultimate power, but instead
property owners, meaning tacit consent is simply a way of ‘democratising’ Locke’s approach to
political society
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Thus the idea of tacit consent in actuality conceals the fact that natural law
dictates property rather than the government, contrary to the belief that Locke advocates liberal
thought
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In one
sense, Locke is insistent that expressed consent is necessary to form governmental institutes,
however when speaking about the patriarchal nature of government, he ‘twice talks of them
emerging tacitly’25
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Fundamentally, one could argue that Locke’s concept of tacit consent is somewhat
destructive as it ‘breaks the connection which the Levellers had established between the obligation
to obey government and the right of consent in the form of the franchise’26
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Often visibly aligning himself with
non-liberal and democratic theorists, such as Hooker, who’s ‘notion of consent is perfectly
compatible with absolute monarchy’27, his commitment to inclusivity and politics based on consent
is questionable
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Rawls, Lectures on the History of Political Thought, pg
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Hampsher-Monk, A History of Modern Political Thought, pg
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Wood, “Locke against democracy: consent, representation and suffrage in the Two Treatises”, History of
Political Thought, 13, 1992, pg
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Wood, “Locke against democracy: consent, representation and suffrage in the Two Treatises”, History of
Political Thought, 13, 1992, pg
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like agreement’28, a concept agreed to by Locke
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Ultimately, Locke’s concept of tacit consent is both detrimental to the pluralist nature
of democracy as it somewhat silences alternative opinions from anyone but the landowners and
therefore well-off while also assuming people have ‘consented without giving any overt sign of
agreement’30
...
Wood, “Locke against democracy: consent, representation and suffrage in the Two Treatises”, History of
Political Thought, 13, 1992, pg
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Wood, “Locke against democracy: consent, representation and suffrage in the Two Treatises”, History of
Political Thought, 13, 1992, pg
...
Wood, “Locke against democracy: consent, representation and suffrage in the Two Treatises”, History of
Political Thought, 13, 1992, pg
...


Bibliography
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Beitz, Political Theory and International Relations

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Hampsher-Monk, A History of Modern Political Thought

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Locke, Second Treatise

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J
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Kelly, “Hume”, in Boucher and Kelly, eds

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