Do you think the US government is legitimate?

24 comments

1. Sure.

2. I think it’s 2legit2quit

3. I mean, technically yea, we elected them. But also most of them were only viable candidates because the ultra rich and corporations funded them in the first place.

4. We certainly have our issues, but only a lunatic fringe thinks our entire government is illegitimate.

5. Yes. Doesn’t mean the government necessarily does a good job, tho

6. Yes?

7. >Do you think the US government truly had the consent of the governed?

   That’s not necessarily the same thing as the title question.

8. Without question yes. Unequivocally.

9. Legitimate? Yes.

   Competent? 1 or 2 of them are.

10. Yes, ugh.

11. Is this a real question?

12. Well we ain’t exactly out here throwing off such Government, and providing new Guards for our future security so I would say implicitly it does have said consent.

13. It’s dysfunctional and bloated, and the election system to put effective representatives into the government is even worse, but yes it is legitimate in the sense that it is the actual product of the electoral system functioning as designed.

14. Yes

15. this question must be a joke.

    we had bush, obama, trump, and biden all in a row

    No…..the government is not legitimatee

    State governments are a slightly different story

16. holy fuck the statists in this comment section….

17. The social contract of The United States is what gives it legitimacy.

    This is one of the definitions of a social contract:

    >”An implicit agreement among the members of a society to cooperate for social benefits, for example, by sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection.”

    Here is one that makes the argument for The United States’ legitimacy;

    >”The term social contract refers to the idea that the state exists only to serve the will of the people, who are the source of all political power enjoyed by the state. The people can choose to give or withhold this power. The idea of the social contract is one of the foundations of the American political system”

    In other words, the American people have willed their government into existence and continue to do so. Much like there’s still a king of the United Kingdom; because the British people have willed it. More information on the philosophical foundation of The United States can be found with Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and John Locke through their writings.

18. Yes, it is. You can criticize the results, but the vast majority of the US government were either elected or appointed by those elected in free and fair elections. Therefore the government is democratic and therefore legitimate.

19. No, they’re all lizard people

20. Yes, this is not the gotcha you think it is.

21. Americans are not, in general, famous for receiving decent political education (just consider how many people genuinely think that “government services = socialism” or that “iT’s A rEpUbLiC nOt A dEmOcRaCy” is a legitimate argument for or against anything). This sub is great for casual questions, but if you’re looking for nuanced discussion of politics and history, there are better places dedicated to such discussions. Here you’re just going to get largely regurgitated opinions from people who think that that Democrats and Republicans represent the entirety of political thought.

    Or you’re a troll, in which case, go touch grass.

22. I guess that depends on how you define “consent of the governed”. We’ve never overthrown our government and never even seriously tried to. That has to mean some sort of implicit consent, right?

23. Legally and politically legitimate. Morally, probably not.

24. Yes. Compared to other countries, it is one of the
    longest standing that is still active.