Consent of the governed
Quora question: Why should we be subject to the governing authority no matter if they are good or not?
This is a great question. I am grateful for it.
In political philosophy, the phrase consent of the governed refers to the idea that a government‘s 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.
(Wikipedia, Consent of the Governed)
I am 100% in agreement with the above quote, so you are not necessarily subject to the governing authority. But I would like to put more meat on those bones, from reason’s perspective.
Absolute truth is exists and is unknowable (See justification and PROOF here). Therefore the truth we live with comes in other forms (See forms of non absolute truth here). In short they are: Absolute truth, Immutable truth, Objective truth, Laws, Subjective truth.
If humanity could efficiently agree to objective truth on every issue (churches attempted this with immutable truths), then government would be unnecessary. However, that’s not possible: Too many people, and too many issues. In addition, societies vary. So laws exist to make society possible in the absence of objective truths:
Laws – Subjectively true beliefs respected, though NOT ACCEPTED, as objectively true. Sometimes it is not practical to get to objective truth (agreement by all affected). For objective truth, only one belief (hypothesis) can remain. Testing ordinarily disproves false hypotheses. However, often it is not possible to all test beliefs without implementing a particular belief or “truth”. Thus for these pseudo objectively true beliefs, a rigorous justice system must be in place (protected by a document preserving freedom of thought and speech) in order to keep laws ultimately rational. The individuals respecting (not accepting) these pseudo objective truths must be empowered to challenge them.
(Learningframework, Forms of Truth)
So long as society has an effective system of justice (Representation (fair elections), Lawmaking (legislature), Implementation (The executive and courts), & Review (a responsive appellate system), then citizens should momentarily respect laws as pseudo-objective truths.
BUT IF, individuals feel that their view is unjustly oppressed, and that their individual participation is otherwise denied or undone (this is why a right to petition is guaranteed under the US Constitution), then the government is not entitled to their consent. However, individuals and groups are never entitled to force theirs views on others. The system of justice is there to keep the majority from oppressing or denying the subjective view of a solitary individual.
