How did the concept of consent of the governed appear in both the American and French Revolutions?

• A. In America, authority derives from the people via a constitutional framework; in France, sovereignty resided in the people as expressed through the rights of citizens and national sovereignty.
• B. In both, authority derived from divine right.
• C. In America, sovereignty resided in the king; in France, monarchy prevailed.
• D. In both, sovereignty resided in religious authorities.

Answer: (A)

The main idea being tested is that legitimate political authority comes from the people and is expressed through a system or framework they establish. In the American case, authority derives from the people by creating a constitutional framework that limits power and sets up a system of laws and protections. The Constitution and the idea of consent to be governed mean the government derives its legitimacy from the people who authorize it and from the rule of law, not from a monarch or divine right.

In the French case, sovereignty is placed in the hands of the people and the nation as a whole. The Revolution proclaims that laws come from the general will and that rights belong to citizens, meaning the people authorize and bind the government through national sovereignty and representative institutions. This shifts political authority away from a king toward the citizens as the source of political power.

The other options don’t fit because they rely on divine right, a king’s rule, or religious authorities, which both revolutions rejected as the basis for legitimate authority.