According to the Declaration of Independence, from what source does the government get its power?

According to the Declaration of Independence, governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed." This principle, known to political theorists as "popular sovereignty," is what separates a legitimate government from one that is not. Indeed, the goal of the revolutionaries who issued the Declaration was to establish a government that was so established. The purpose of such a government would be to protect the rights of the people, including life, liberty, and...

According to the Declaration of Independence, governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed." This principle, known to political theorists as "popular sovereignty," is what separates a legitimate government from one that is not. Indeed, the goal of the revolutionaries who issued the Declaration was to establish a government that was so established. The purpose of such a government would be to protect the rights of the people, including life, liberty, and property. If the government failed to do this (as, they argued, the British government had) or actually became "destructive" of the rights of the people, it was their right to get rid of it through revolution. Then, the Declaration says, they could establish a new government based on these principles that would be responsive to the will of the people. These ideas are usually traced to the English political philosopher John Locke, whose "social contract" theory suggested that only governments founded upon the consent of the governed were legitimate or likely to survive.