July 31, 2008 10:41AM # Steve Chapman on Consent Searches By [Tim Lynch](https://www.cato.org/people/tim-lynch) --- SHARE ![Media Name: 200807_lynch_blog.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/download-remote-images/www.cato.org/172395922072/200807_lynch_blog.jpg?itok=6pX3MA8f) Steve Chapman takes a look at the problem of ‘voluntary’ roadside searches. Excerpt: > If I approach as you pull into a parking space and ask if you’d mind my rummaging through your car, the chances are at least 90 percent that you’d decline. But if a police officer stops you with the same request, the chances are higher than 90 percent that you’d agree. Something about that badge makes citizens eager to be helpful. > > > Or maybe not. In civics class and 4th of July speeches, we are told that American democracy rests on the consent of the governed. But interactions with the police serve as a useful reminder that government rests less on voluntary cooperation than on fear and force. A nation is free to the extent it prevents the rulers from bullying and coercing the ruled. By that standard, American society still has a way to go. Read the [whole thing](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-oped0731chapmanjul31,0,2125073.column). Learn what your rights are. Get the *[Busted](http://www.flexyourrights.org/busted)* dvd. Related Cato work, [here](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=4063). ##### Related Tags [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).