According to the Declaration of Independence, the government gets its power from the people it governs. The exact language it uses in the second paragraph is "deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed." This means that the people agree to be governed. Any powers derived, therefore, that are not consented to by the people, are unjust. In a democracy, all government power is intended to be derived this way. The people set...
According to the Declaration of Independence, the government gets its power from the people it governs. The exact language it uses in the second paragraph is "deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed." This means that the people agree to be governed. Any powers derived, therefore, that are not consented to by the people, are unjust. In a democracy, all government power is intended to be derived this way. The people set up the form of government, as the Constitution of the United States does. The people choose those who will be their representatives in government. The famous line, "Of the people, by the people, for the people," (Lincoln), sums up the origin of power of American government quite well. In a dictatorship, the power of the government is derived through military control and fear. King George used both to try to control the colonies, and certainly, the colonies had not consented to the subjugation to authority demanded by him.
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