J
JAD
- Jan 1, 1970
- 0
sovereignty, supreme authority in a political community. The concept of
sovereignty has had a long history of development, and it may be said that
every political theorist since Plato has dealt with the notion in some
manner, although not always explicitly. Jean Bodin was the first theorist to
formulate a modern concept of sovereignty. In his Six Bookes of a
Commonweale (1576) Bodin asserted that the prince, or the sovereign, has the
power to declare law. Thomas Hobbes later furthered the concept of kingly
sovereignty by stating that the king not only declares law but creates it;
he thereby gave the sovereign both absolute moral and political power.
Hobbes, like other social-contract theorists, asserted that the king derives
his power from a populace who have collectively given up their own former
personal sovereignty and power and placed it irretrievably in the king.
The concept of sovereignty was closely related to the growth of the modern
nation-state, and today the term is used almost exclusively to describe the
attributes of a state rather than a person. A sovereign state is often
described as one that is free and independent. In its internal affairs it
has undivided jurisdiction over all persons and property within its
territory. It claims the right to regulate its economic life without regard
for its neighbors and to increase armaments without limit. No other nation
may rightfully interfere in its domestic affairs. In its external relations
it claims the right to enforce its own conception of rights and to declare
war.
This description of a sovereign state is denied, however, by those who
assert that international law is binding. Because states are limited by
treaties and international obligations and are not legally permitted by the
United Nations Charter to commit aggression at will, they argue that the
absolute freedom of a sovereign state is, and should be, a thing of the
past. In current international practice this view is generally accepted. The
United Nations is today considered the principal organ for restraining the
exercise of sovereignty.
In the United States, the nation (i.e. the federal government) and each
state are considered sovereign. Among conflicts in which the concept comes
into play are those between the federal and state governments (see states'
rights) and those between citizens and either the federal or a state
government. Governments are generally held to be immune from suit for
consequences of their sovereign acts (those acts the government was
constituted or empowered to perform). This "sovereign immunity" must be
waived to permit suit against the government. It is also encountered in
claims that government officials, in pursuance of their duties, be immune
from having to give evidence before a tribunal or inquiry.
sovereignty has had a long history of development, and it may be said that
every political theorist since Plato has dealt with the notion in some
manner, although not always explicitly. Jean Bodin was the first theorist to
formulate a modern concept of sovereignty. In his Six Bookes of a
Commonweale (1576) Bodin asserted that the prince, or the sovereign, has the
power to declare law. Thomas Hobbes later furthered the concept of kingly
sovereignty by stating that the king not only declares law but creates it;
he thereby gave the sovereign both absolute moral and political power.
Hobbes, like other social-contract theorists, asserted that the king derives
his power from a populace who have collectively given up their own former
personal sovereignty and power and placed it irretrievably in the king.
The concept of sovereignty was closely related to the growth of the modern
nation-state, and today the term is used almost exclusively to describe the
attributes of a state rather than a person. A sovereign state is often
described as one that is free and independent. In its internal affairs it
has undivided jurisdiction over all persons and property within its
territory. It claims the right to regulate its economic life without regard
for its neighbors and to increase armaments without limit. No other nation
may rightfully interfere in its domestic affairs. In its external relations
it claims the right to enforce its own conception of rights and to declare
war.
This description of a sovereign state is denied, however, by those who
assert that international law is binding. Because states are limited by
treaties and international obligations and are not legally permitted by the
United Nations Charter to commit aggression at will, they argue that the
absolute freedom of a sovereign state is, and should be, a thing of the
past. In current international practice this view is generally accepted. The
United Nations is today considered the principal organ for restraining the
exercise of sovereignty.
In the United States, the nation (i.e. the federal government) and each
state are considered sovereign. Among conflicts in which the concept comes
into play are those between the federal and state governments (see states'
rights) and those between citizens and either the federal or a state
government. Governments are generally held to be immune from suit for
consequences of their sovereign acts (those acts the government was
constituted or empowered to perform). This "sovereign immunity" must be
waived to permit suit against the government. It is also encountered in
claims that government officials, in pursuance of their duties, be immune
from having to give evidence before a tribunal or inquiry.