There is always force, but I don’t believe that that necessarily eliminates consent. That is obviously true under authoritarian regimes, but cannot be true in a country that claims to have a real republic. To believe that consent is window dressing is to say that the American experiment has been a scam from the very beginning. If that is true, why are we here trying to be civic-minded and worrying about elections?
Whiskey Rebellion.
Shay’s Rebellion.
Battle of Athens.
The first Civil war.
Lots of others. Most of which aren’t even talked about in history/civics classes.
So yes, consent has always been an illusion and I ask myself that last question more and more every day.