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In his fine novels of an alternative universe, starting with "The Probability Broach," science fiction author L. Neil Smith asks what America would have been like if the Declaration of Independence had contained just one additional word -- if Mr. Jefferson had thought to declare that governments derive their just powers from "the unanimous consent of the governed."
Interestingly enough, there's a real-world example that corresponds pretty closely to this. In the Polish Sejm, No proposal could become law, and no decision was binding, unless it received the full assent of all those persons who were competent to consider it. A single voice of dissent was equivalent to total rejection. Majority voting was consciously rejected. ... Three lines of reasoning can be discerned. One argument, in a state where the executive arm depended on the voluntary support of all its citizens, was purely practical. Laws and decisions which were passed in the face of opposition could not have been properly enforced. The second was based on the consideration that the prospect of chaos might concentrate men's minds on harmony. The third derived from the somewhat naïve belief that institutions which are less than perfect are not worth keeping anyhow.
It [the principle of unanimity] was responsible for two constitutional practices, the Confederation, and the Liberum Veto, which made the [Polish] Republic famous throughout Europe.
The Confederation was an expression of the citizen's fundamental right to resist. It was an armed league of men sworn to pursue their grievance until justice was obtained. Confederations were formed in 1302, 1382-4, 1439, 1560s, 1573, 1656, 1672, 1704, 1715, 1733, 1767, 1768 and 1792.
In effect, the Confederation was a legalized form of civil war, and no one thought it unusual.
The Liberum Veto came into flower rather later than the Confederations, though it too was grown from very ancient roots. It was a device whereby any single member could halt the...