Democratic Consent Under False Pretences

Democratically, the permission of any candidate or party to occupy office is based on consent conferred upon them by voters in the previous election. This article examines why and how political misinformation affects that collective electoral consent. Political misinformation can under certain circumstances morally invalidate consent given in an election. That is so when the falsehoods changed the outcome of the election. That is true, regardless of whether the falsehoods were intentional or the result of culpable ignorance.