Consent of the governed is a political theory that refers to the idea that a governments legitimacy and moral right to use state power is justified and lawful only when consented to by the people or society over which that political power is exercised. This means that a governments authority should depend on the consent of the governed, and any government not based on that consent could be justifiably overthrown and replaced. Consent is fundamental to social contract accounts of political legitimacy, arising as early as Platos Crito but most prominently in the 17th-century writings of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke.

The phrase "consent of the governed" is found in the 1776 United States Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson. The founders of the United States believed in a state built upon the consent of "free and equal" citizens; a state otherwise conceived would lack legitimacy and rational-legal authority.

Consent of the governed is necessary for a governments authority to be legitimate, and citizens can give implicit consent in various ways. For example, people have political obligations, and that political obligation depends on freely chosen, deliberate acts of individual consent. Locke presents consent as a deliberate act that constitutes an undertaking of obligation, and he requires political consent because every person is a free, equal, and sovereign individual, and a free, equal, and sovereign individual cannot be subject to non-natural obligations.

In summary, consent of the governed is a political theory that emphasizes the importance of a governments legitimacy and moral right to use state power, which is justified and lawful only when consented to by the people or society over which that political power is exercised.