This book explains why citizens sometimes comply with and sometimes disobey the demands of democratic governments.

Series editors' preface; Acknowledgements; 1. History as politics; 2. The contingencies of consent; 3. Gone for a soldier; 4. The price of citizenship; 5. The institution of conscription; 6. Giving and refusing consent: citizen response in the Canadian conscription crises; 7. A weapon against war: conscientious objection in the United States, Australia and France; 8. The democratization of compliance; Bibliography; Index.