Why Exit Precedes Voice: The Right of Exit as a Necessary Precondition for Consent-Based Political Legitimacy

This is a preprint of the manuscript: "Why Exit Precedes Voice: The Right of Exit as a Necessary Precondition for Consent-Based Political Legitimacy" Abstract:This paper argues that the right of exit is logically prior to the right of voice in any consent-based account of political legitimacy. Consent requires revocability; in a continuing political relationship, the institutional form of revoking consent is exit. Voice presupposes that participants have already consented to remain within the system; without exit, voice reduces to petition under duress. The paper develops a property thesis distinguishing system-dependent wealth from portable human capital, and argues that political communities implementing unconditional exit possess a structural competitive advantage. It defines three conditions—formal exit, effective exit, and sham exit—and contends that legitimacy requires effective exit. The framework engages with Hirschman, Hume, Locke, Kukathas, and major traditions in political philosophy. The manuscript has been submitted to a peer-reviewed journal and is currently under review.