When are individuals actively consenting and when are they more passively engaged in conforming or acquiescing? How much difference does it make to the everyday practice of democratic governance whether it is consent or not? How is policy-making influencing and influenced by behavioral consent? The model of contingent consent offers a means to begin to answer these questions both logically and historically. When citizens believe government actors promote immoral policies, have ignored their interests, or have actually betrayed them, citizens are unlikely to feel obliged to comply with the laws. The discovery that some citizens are failing to contribute reduces the willingness of otherwise willing citizens to comply. Failure to achieve contingent consent constrains policy-making, but government actors can affect the extent of contingent consent by means of their policies, institutional arrangements, and administrative practices. These are the central arguments of the book.