The link between election and consent was not in fact a complete
novelty at the time representative government was established. Nor
was it the invention of modern natural law theorists to hold that
what obligates all must have been consented to by all. The expression
of consent through election had already proved itself as an
effective way of generating a sense of obligation among the population.
The convening of elected representatives for the purpose of
fostering this sense, particularly in regard to taxation, had been used
successfully for several centuries. The "Assemblies of Estates" and
the "Estates-General" of the Middle Ages (and the modern period)
were based on this principle. Some historians stress the differences
between the medieval "Assemblies of Estates" and the representative
assemblies that became the locus of power in the wake of the
three great revolutions.