The Doctrine of Democratic Legitimacy and the Union

Foundational Principle

All political authority derives from the ongoing consent of the governed. Consent is not permanent. It must be renewable, withdrawable, and respected.

Definition of a Union

A union is legitimate only while all constituent peoples:

Entered freely
Continue freely
Can leave freely

If exit is denied, the union ceases to be voluntary.

Failure of Origin

The 1707 Union was formed without popular consent. It was an agreement between elites, enacted through financial pressure and parliamentary control, not democratic will.

Failure of Renewal

As democracy replaced crown sovereignty, the moral basis of authority shifted to the people. The Union was never re-ratified by Scotland under democratic standards.

Failure of Continuance

When a people express a sustained desire to reconsider or withdraw from a political arrangement and are blocked from doing so, consent is withdrawn. Authority persists only through force of law and institutional inertia.

Illegitimacy by Inertia

A system that survives only because it is difficult to dismantle, rather than because it is actively chosen, has lost democratic legitimacy.

The Union lacks: