Sovereignty Studocu

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Dec 28, 2025, 1:02 PM

In this set of 5 lessons we will consider sovereignty as a key concept in global politics. We will compare traditional and modern notions of sovereignty; explore the different sources of sovereignty; the external and internal dimensions to sovereignty; as well as exploring a number of challenges to the very concept... It is important to note that we will revisit much of this content in more depth as we explore the three thematic studies. As with power, sovereignty is another foundational concept in global politics and a good understanding of the concept is essential as we move towards exploring the three thematic studies. Take a look at the newspaper headlines shown in the image below. Using these – and your own knowledge – create a one sentence definition of sovereignty.

You should not carry out additional research as this definition is only a starting point and we will refine and develop it as we explore the concept in more depth. Be ready to share your definition with the class. As should have become clear, sovereignty is linked to the idea of states being independent. We can also suggest that it involves them having control over their own territory and being able to provide effective governance over that territory. As ever in global politics, it is a little more complicated than that but we’ll begin with a simple definition as a starting point: Sovereignty: the full right and power of a governing body over itself without interference from outside bodies

Have you ever wondered what gives a state its power? Why do we follow laws, and what ensures that a country’s borders are respected by other countries? The answer lies in the concept of sovereignty, a fundamental principle in political theory. Let’s dive deep into understanding sovereignty, focusing on its internal and external aspects. Sovereignty, derived from the Latin term ‘Superanus’ meaning supreme, signifies the ultimate authority of the state to command obedience from its people. It is what makes a state distinct and autonomous, giving it the power to govern itself without external interference.

To truly understand sovereignty, we need to look at how various theorists have defined it over time: Jean Bodin, a French jurist, was one of the first to articulate the concept of sovereignty in the 16th century. He defined it as the absolute and perpetual power of a republic. According to Bodin, this power is indivisible and cannot be shared or divided. Hugo Grotius, often considered the father of international law, emphasized the importance of sovereignty in maintaining order and justice. He argued that a sovereign state has the right to govern itself and make its own laws, free from external control.

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. sovereignty, in political theory, the ultimate overseer, or authority, in the decision-making process of the state and in the maintenance of order. The concept of sovereignty—one of the most controversial ideas in political science and international law—is closely related to the difficult concepts of state and government and of independence and democracy. Derived from the Latin superanus through the French souveraineté, the term was originally understood to mean the equivalent of supreme power. However, its application in practice often has departed from this traditional meaning. In 16th-century France Jean Bodin (1530–96) used the new concept of sovereignty to bolster the power of the French king over the rebellious feudal lords, facilitating the transition from feudalism to nationalism.

The thinker who did the most to provide the term with its modern meaning was the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679), who argued that in every true state some person or body of persons... The theories of the English philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) and the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78)—that the state is based upon a formal or informal compact of its citizens, a social contract through which... Another twist was given to this concept by the statement in the French constitution of 1791 that “Sovereignty is one, indivisible, unalienable and imprescriptible; it belongs to the Nation; no group can attribute sovereignty... In the 19th century the English jurist John Austin (1790–1859) developed the concept further by investigating who exercises sovereignty in the name of the people or of the state; he concluded that sovereignty is... A parliament, he argued, is a supreme organ that enacts laws binding upon everybody else but that is not itself bound by the laws and could change these laws at will. This description, however, fitted only a particular system of government, such as the one that prevailed in Great Britain during the 19th century.

Austin’s notion of legislative sovereignty did not entirely fit the American situation. The Constitution of the United States, the fundamental law of the federal union, did not endow the national legislature with supreme power but imposed important restrictions upon it. A further complication was added when the Supreme Court of the United States asserted successfully in Marbury v. Madison (1803) its right to declare laws unconstitutional through a procedure called judicial review. Although this development did not lead to judicial sovereignty, it seemed to vest the sovereign power in the fundamental document itself, the Constitution. This system of constitutional sovereignty was made more complex by the fact that the authority to propose changes in the Constitution and to approve them was vested not only in Congress but also in...

Thus, it could be argued that sovereignty continued to reside in the states or in the people, who retained all powers not delegated by the Constitution to the United States or expressly prohibited by... Consequently, the claims by advocates of states’ rights that states continued to be sovereign were bolstered by the difficulty of finding a sole repository of sovereignty in a complex federal structure; and the concept... Even if the competing theory of popular sovereignty—the theory that vested sovereignty in the people of the United States—was accepted, it still might be argued that this sovereignty need not be exercised on behalf... Another assault from within on the doctrine of state sovereignty was made in the 20th century by those political scientists (e.g., Léon Duguit, Hugo Krabbe, and Harold J. Laski) who developed the theory of pluralistic sovereignty (pluralism) exercised by various political, economic, social, and religious groups that dominate the government of each state. According to this doctrine, sovereignty in each society does not reside in any particular place but shifts constantly from one group (or alliance of groups) to another.

The pluralistic theory further contended that the state is but one of many examples of social solidarity and possesses no special authority in comparison to other components of society. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Although the doctrine of sovereignty has had an important impact on developments within states, its greatest influence has been in the relations between states. The difficulties here can be traced to Bodin’s statement that sovereigns who make the laws cannot be bound by the laws they make (majestas est summa in cives ac subditos legibusque soluta potestas). This statement has often been interpreted as meaning that a sovereign is not responsible to anybody and is not bound by any laws. However, a closer reading of Bodin’s writings does not support this interpretation.

He emphasized that even with respect to their own citizens, sovereigns are bound to observe certain basic rules derived from the divine law, the law of nature or reason, and the law that is... Thus, Bodin’s sovereign was restricted by the constitutional law of the state and by the higher law that was considered as binding upon every human being. In fact, Bodin discussed as binding upon states many of those rules that were later woven into the fabric of international law. Nevertheless, his theories have been used to justify absolutism in the internal political order and anarchy in the international sphere. This interpretation was developed to its logical conclusion by Hobbes in Leviathan (1651), in which the sovereign was identified with might rather than law. Law is what sovereigns command, and it cannot limit their power: sovereign power is absolute.

In the international sphere this condition led to a perpetual state of war, as sovereigns tried to impose their will by force on all other sovereigns. This situation has changed little over time, with sovereign states continuing to claim the right to be judges in their own controversies, to enforce by war their own conception of their rights, to treat... During the 20th century important restrictions on the freedom of action of states began to appear. The Hague conventions of 1899 and 1907 established detailed rules governing the conduct of wars on land and at sea. The Covenant of the League of Nations, the forerunner of the United Nations (UN), restricted the right to wage war, and the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928 condemned recourse to war for the solution of... They were followed by the UN Charter, which imposed the duty on member states to “settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are...

However, the Charter also stated that the UN is “based on the principle of sovereign equality of all its Members.” In consequence of such developments, sovereignty ceased to be considered as synonymous with unrestricted power. States have accepted a considerable body of law limiting their sovereign right to act as they please. Those restrictions on sovereignty are usually explained as deriving from consent or autolimitation, but it can easily be demonstrated that in some cases states have been considered as bound by certain rules of international... Conversely, new rules cannot ordinarily be imposed upon a state, without its consent, by the will of other states. In this way a balance has been achieved between the needs of the international society and the desire of states to protect their sovereignty to the maximum possible extent.

Sovereignty Studocu

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