who argued that governments exist because people allow them to exist?

The philosopher who argued that governments exist because people allow them to exist is John Locke. Locke's political philosophy, especially in his Two Treatises of Government , posits that legitimate government is based on the consent of the governed. He believed that people in a natural state have rights to life, liberty, and property, and they form governments through a social contract to better protect these rights. Governments derive their authority from the consent of the people, and if a government fails to protect these rights or acts against the interests of the citizens, the people have the right to resist or replace it