Political consent, often expressed through some rendering of social contract theory, has been a central value in the history of Western political theory. This thesis presents a critique of the dominant contemporary form of consent in political theory—the hypothetical consent doctrine—and endeavors to offer a theory of political consent that reclaims some of the concept's most important normative claims. This thesis considers, with particular attention, the connection between consent and democratic citizenship. This thesis traces the emergence of the hypothetical consent doctrine and considers how the doctrine reformulates the very notion of consent as a political value. It then considers what these changes imply for a theory of democratic citizenship that is grounded in the normative logic of consent. This project attempts to reverse the abstraction and dilution of consent brought on by the hypothetical consent doctrine by positing a theory of subjective consent. This theory of consent takes individual subjective consent to be a relevant and important political value and it suggests that a particular dimension of consent theory deserves more attention, namely, the idea that consent theory demands a certain conception of democratic citizenship.
"},{"label":"Degree","value":["Bachelor of Arts with Departmental Honors"]},{"label":"Author-supplied Keywords","value":["Consent","Political obligation","Citizenship"]},{"label":"Administrative Note","value":"Drupal Node ID: 33847