S/P/119. Political Obligation: Express consent theory

This paper deals with the notion of political obligation; that is, those obligations the citizen owes to the state. It contrasts two forms of consent theory Ï tacit consent and express consent. The paper outlines some of the classical difficulties of the express consent theory, both practical (e.g. the difficulty of dissent) and philosophical (e.g. conflicting natural and political obligations). In discussing these difficulties, the paper develops some of the advantages of express consent Ï the fact that it is individualist and reductionist and the important moral principles that it embodies.