# What Consent of the Governed means in Two Treatises of Government

> Legitimate political authority derives from the consent of the people, who voluntarily unite into society and establish government through mutual agreement, not from divine right or paternal inheritance.

## Explanation

Legitimate political authority derives from the consent of the people, who voluntarily unite into society and establish government through mutual agreement, not from divine right or paternal inheritance.

The second treatise is described as an essay concerning the true original, extent, and end of civil government, implying a foundation in consent rather than divine right.

Locke argues that if Filmer's foundation fails, governments must be 'made by contrivance, and the consent of men,' emphasizing the role of popular consent in political society.

By exposing the incoherence of hereditary divine right, Locke implicitly argues that legitimate government must rest on consent rather than inheritance from Adam.

Locke implies that without a clear divine designation, government must rest on human prudence and consent, not on an unknowable hereditary right.

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