ILYA SOMIN: Why real-world governments don’t have the consent of the governed – and why it matters. “If it is indeed true, as Abraham Lincoln famously put it, that ‘no man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent,’ that principle has more radical implications than Lincoln probably intended. Few if any of those who wield government power measure up to that lofty standard.”

As long as we’re talking about “affirmative consent” rules. . . .