This paper examines the Tunisian uprising in the light of the notion of public consensus. This notion pertains to a shared understanding among people over legitimacy, one that is a constantly negotiated within the different spheres of society even under unrepresentative government. In trying to make sense of Tunisia's unforeseen popular revolt, which toppled the seemingly unshakable authoritarian ruler Ben Ali, analysts have emphasized the economic discontent caused by unemployment, poverty, and high food prices. Others have noted the role social networks have played, characterizing the uprising as an instance of online activism and hailing it as a “Twitter revolution.” While these interpretations might carry some validity, they often lose sight of the specificity of the Tunisian context and risk invalidating its spontaneous and organic nature. This paper seeks to look at the Tunisian uprising as a case of endogenous revolution, in other words, an event that occurred because of the particularities of the Tunisian situation. This peculiarity is attached to Tunisia’s long touted ‘miracle’ manifested in Tunisia’s gains of a “system that works” with a sustainable infrastructure, liberal economic reforms, demographic structure, decentralization,women’s rights, and access to education. The context of this so-called‘Tunisian miracle’ represents the ground on which legitimacy and public consensus were to be negotiated throughout Ben Ali’s rule. Under this shared understanding, Tunisians had to trade political concessions for a 'system that works’. As a consequence, one might see the uprising as case of collective action mobilized when the public consensus was disrupted and only awaiting Bouazizi’s spark. More specifically. the social dysfunction generated by Ben Ali’s clan coveted every aspect of society, challenging the economic, moral, and political values. Hence, by co-opting different spheres, the regime broke Tunisia’s long standing public consensus. It did so by contradicting the most quintessential parameters of the Tunisian miracle as well as, and more importantly, its coalescent public consensus on the meaning of legitimacy.