Download or read book Will and Political Legitimacy written by Patrick Riley and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 1999 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the heart of representative government is the question: "What makes government and its agents legitimate authorities?" The notion of consent, of a social contract between the citizen and his government, is central to this problem. That contract allows the government to rule over the citizen and to exact obedience from him in return for certain protections and goods he needs.