United States of America or the Congress of Industrial
Organizations). Usually a congress has elected mem-
bers for limited terms and is governed in its proce-
dures and powers by a CONSTITUTIONand/or bylaws. At
times, a congress (like the Continental congresses of
the revolutionary American colonies in the 1770s–80s
or the Turkish congresses of the 1920s) is a revolution-
ary government alternative to the established regime
(such as the British Crown and Parliament or Ottoman
sultanate). Most governmental congresses are bound
by limited, delegated powers (such as printing cur-
rency and establishing a postal system in the U.S. Con-
stitution). The U.S. Congress is bicameral (two
chambers), consisting of the upper house (Senate) and
the lower house (House of Representatives) and per-
forming the legislative function of federal government
between the executive (president) and the judicial
(courts) branches of government.
Further Reading
Griffith, E. S. Congress.New York: New York University Press,
1961.
conscientious objection
When a person objects to serving in the military or
warfare because of deeply held philosophic or religious
beliefs against war. Certain pacifist groups, such as the
Quakers, oppose all war, and their members refuse to
serve in the army. In some countries (such as the
United States of America), such conscientious objec-
tion to military service is respected, and the govern-
ment allows this as an exemption to compulsory (draft)
army participation. Most nations do not respect the
individual’s moral conscience in this way and either
compel military duty or punish (with prison or death)
such conscientious objections to war. The issue is one
of obeying a “higher law” than the state and of whether
a society regards it as legitimate (see CIVIL DISOBEDI-
ENCE). In the United States, the exemption to military
service on conscientious objection grounds must
involve a deeply held ethical or theological objection to
allwar or violence, not simply opposition to a particu-
lar war or government policy. This became a major
public issue during the 1960s and 1970s when many
recruits did not want to serve in the Vietnam War but
were not against all war. If a person believes in war to
defend one’s country but does not wish to serve in a
specific war policy, conscientious objection exemption
is not allowed.
consent
In MODERNWestern political thought, consentmeans an
individual agreeing to or accepting the government or
laws under which he or she lives and that the only
LEGITIMATEstate is such “government by the consent of
the governed.” This idea that the only just state is one
the people have chosen (or popular SOVEREIGNTY)
rejects governments that are unpopular or forced on
people (such as absolute MONARCHY, COMMUNIST, and
FASCIST). Democratic REPUBLICSclaim to be established
by consent both in their constitutional formation (or
SOCIAL CONTRACT) and in periodic elections when the
people choose their leaders by voting. Such political
activities forming and maintaining the government are
expressed consent, while living under the established
state and elected rulers (and the laws they make) is
tacit consent.
The idea of political consent emerges in the British
LIBERALthinkers of the 17th century, especially Thomas
HOBBESand John LOCKE. They saw the creation of the
state out of a STATE OF NATUREthrough a social contract
involving common consent. Different thinkers view
how this consent occurs, what is agreed to, and how
much power the government receives by consent dif-
ferently. For Hobbes’s Leviathan,individuals surrender
all their rights (to PROPERTY, expression, belief, com-
merce) to the STATEin exchange for social peace, and
they consent to obey the ruler in all things. For Locke’s
Second Treatise,individuals consent to give up to the
government only their executive social function (to
punish criminals), but they retain their rights to life,
LIBERTY, and property. The social contract in Locke’s
theory (and American government) is for the state to
protectthe NATURAL RIGHTSof the individual, and each
person only consents to obey only that much govern-
mental AUTHORITY. As social relations become more
complex, the terms of consent—what individuals ag-
ree to obey—become more complicated. But once the
system is established by consent, a person living in the
society must accept the laws (tacit consent) or be pun-
ished for lawbreaking. If someone is totally unwilling
to agree to the consentual social system, they reserve
the right to migrate to another country, where they can
accept the terms of law and government.Further Readings
Pitkin, H. “Obligation and consent.” In Philosophy, Politics and
Society,4th ser., P. Laslett, W. G. Runciman, and Q. Skin-
ner, eds. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1972.
Plamenatz, J. Consent, Freedom and Political Obligation.London:
Oxford University Press, 1968.70 conscientious objection