Unit 2

Major Concepts in Political Theory

PSC Generic-1

Sovereignty

By –
UMANJYOTI DAS.
Department of Political Science
Cotton University.
 Sovereignty: Meaning & Definition

• Sovereignty as an essential element of the state.

• The term ‘Sovereignty’ is derived from the Latin word ‘superanus’, meaning
supreme.
• Sovereignty refers to – supremacy or supreme power of the state.
- Having supreme and independent authority over territory.
• Sovereignty as a legal concept. (supremacy of the state in the legal sphere)
Supreme legal authority of the state can best be established through the
concept of Sovereignty (both internally and externally).
✓ Sovereignty confers legal status or legitimacy on state’s political actions to
exercise legitimate political control over all individuals, groups or
associations within its territory.
• Absolute and unlimited powers of the sovereign should not be interpreted as
arbitrary power.
✓ Jean Bodin – Sovereignty as the supreme power of the state over citizens
and subjects unrestrained by law.
• Two aspects of Sovereignty

❖ Internal Sovereignty
• Jean Bodin
• Exercising supreme control over all within the territory of the state.
• Control is exercised through –
✓ Making laws
✓ Enforcing laws
✓ Punishing its violators.

o Internal sovereignty refers to absolute authority within one's own

territory.
o The state has the final say in all matters related to internal affairs.
• External Sovereignty

• Hugo Grotius [Father of International Law]

• The state is free from any outside interference in the international field.
• ‘Sovereign equality’ of all states.
- All states enjoy equal status on international level.
- Declaration of war and peace
- Independent foreign policy.
- No interference from other states.

• External Sovereignty concerns the relationship between a sovereign and

other states.
In international relations, the individual state requires recognition by other
states of its sovereignty.
• Interconnectedness among the sovereign independent states in international
relations does not impose any limit on individual sovereign authority.
• Characteristics / Features of Sovereignty

➢ Absoluteness

➢ Permanence

➢ Universality

➢ Inalienability.

➢ Indivisibility
 Historical Development: Sovereignty

• Conditions in ancient times and middle ages were not favourable to the
growth of the concept of sovereignty.
• The idea of Sovereignty made its appearance with the dawn of the
modern period.

❖ Jean Bodin [16th Century]

Sovereignty as the supreme power of the state over citizens and subjects
unrestrained by law.
• Bodin places the sovereign above law.
• Sovereign is the source of law. [Departure from medieval outlook]
• To him, the Sovereign is above law but not above duty and moral
responsibility.
▪ Two limitations on the powers of the sovereign –
✓ Existence of some fundamental laws
✓ Private property was inviolable.
❖ Hugo Grotius [Father of International Law]

• Grotius brought out the implications of sovereignty of the state in the

international sphere – independence of sovereign state from foreign
control.
• He sought to build a system of international law on two foundations –
✓ Nations are subject to ‘natural law’ in the same manner as citizens.
✓ He recognized a ‘voluntary’ law of nations based upon their free consent.

• Like Bodin, Grotius attributed moral responsibility to sovereignty, but he

extended it to the external sphere also.
• Nations respect international law not because it curtails their sovereignty
but because they voluntarily choose to do so, of their free consent.
o In this way, Grotius introduced the idea of external sovereignty and
further extended the scope of sovereignty.
❖ Thomas Hobbes.

• Sovereignty is an attribute of the state and its character is determined by

the terms of the social contract.
▪ Sovereign is irrevocable.
▪ He is the chief source of justice and enjoys absolute powers to make
laws.
• Hobbes added an element of legitimacy to authority of the sovereign
✓ The sovereign is the product of the will of the people.
✓ The sovereign enjoys his supreme authority for its functional value (i.e.
providing order, peace and security).
.
❖ John Locke
▪ Unlike Hobbes, Locke did not concede absolute sovereignty of the state.
▪ Supreme power is held by the people. The state rests on ‘consent’ of the
people.
▪ Purpose of the state - protection of natural rights of individuals.
❖ Jean-Jacques Rousseau
• Introduced the doctrine of Popular Sovereignty.
• Sovereignty belongs to the people – it could be exercised only in an
assembly of the whole people.
• The concept of General will (a collectively held will that aims at the
common good/Common will).
• Government is an agent of the General will which reigns supreme.
• To Rousseau, man’s freedom lies in obeying the dictates of the general
will.
• Sovereignty is absolute and unlimited because the supreme direction
and control of the general will is accepted by the people
unconditionally in the interests of their freedom.

❖ Jeremy Bentham
• Sovereignty not limited by law but subject to moral limitations.
• The Sovereign should justify his authority by useful legislation,
promoting the greatest happiness of the greatest numbers.
❖ John Austin
• Austin advanced his theory of Positive law which dictates the will of
the legal sovereign.
• Positive law is not bound by natural law or any other superior law.

• Austin identified certain characteristics of law –

✓ It must emanate from a determinate source – the sovereign, to be
clearly located in the state.
✓ It must be the expression of the command of the sovereign.
✓ It must be backed by sanctions – disobedience to law must be
punishable.

▪ By establishing a single source of all positive law, Austin put forward a

monistic view of law, state and sovereignty.
▪ Austin’s theory does not negate moral or social limitations on the power
of the state.
▪ Austin is an exponent of absolute and unlimited sovereignty purely from
legal or formal point of view.
 Types of Sovereignty

❖ Titular Sovereignty

▪ By titular sovereignty, we mean sovereignty by the title only.

▪ It refers to the sovereign powers of the king or monarch who has ceased
to exercise any real authority. [Nominal/Ceremonial head]
▪ Titular sovereign is only a symbol of authority, a legacy of past.
▪ The King or Queen in England is the Titular head and he/she does not
enjoy any real power. Actual powers are enjoyed by council of ministers
and parliament.
▪ In India, president is a titular sovereign and the cabinet is a real
sovereign.
❖ De Jure and De Facto Sovereignty

• De facto sovereignty indicates to a sovereign - who without legal

support or constitutional support enjoys sovereign power.
• The de-facto sovereign may not have any legal claim to obedience, but
he is a practical sovereign whose authority is based on physical force or
moral persuasion and the people are compelled to obey him.
• De jure sovereign is recognized by law or the constitution, but not in
position to practice its power.
• De jure sovereign has the legal right to exercise sovereign power.
• In case of revolutions i.e. a successful overthrow of the existing regime
in a state - there may be de facto and de jure sovereigns. For example
when Mussolini came to power in Italy in 1922, de facto sovereignty
passed into his hands although Victor Emmanuel III was the de jure
sovereign.
• Usually De Facto and De Jure sovereign stay together for a very short
period and the De Facto sovereign tries to become De Jure sovereign.
❖Legal Sovereignty

• Legal sovereignty is the authority of the state which has the legal power
to issue final command.
• Legal sovereign power is the absolute and unrestricted power of the state;
no one can disobey it. For example – Indian Parliament.
• Legal sovereign grants rights to its citizens and there can be no rights
against him.
✓ The legal sovereignty is always definite and determinate .
✓ Legal sovereignty may reside either in one person or in a body of
persons.
✓ It is definitely organized, precise and known to law.
✓ The will of state is expressed by the legal sovereign only.
.
• Jean Bodin and John Austin – chief exponents of legal sovereignty.
• Political Sovereignty

• 16th century concept.

• The political sovereign is represented by the electorate or the body of
voters in the state. (public opinion)
• The electorate, that is, the political sovereign, elects the legal sovereign
in the form of the members of the parliament.
• Accordingly, the political sovereign controls the legal sovereign.
• In actual practice, the will of legal sovereignty is actually sharpened by
many influences, which are unknown to law. All these influences are
the real power behind the legal sovereign; and this is called political
sovereignty.
o Professor Gilchrist - 'The political sovereign is the sum total of the
influences in the state which lie behind the law.'
• In modern representative democracies, the political sovereignty is very
often identified with either the whole mass of the people or with
electorate or with public opinion. The legal sovereign cannot act against
the will of political sovereign.
• The legal sovereign is organized unlike political sovereign.
• Popular Sovereignty

• A form of political sovereignty.

• When the sovereignty resides in the people of the state, it is called as
popular sovereignty.
• People as the source of all authority of the state.
• Rousseau - chief exponent of popular sovereignty
People surrendered their rights voluntarily to the “general will.
To Rousseau, General will is the absolute, unlimited and inalienable
sovereignty. It represents the will of all people taken together.
• The doctrine of ‘popular sovereignty’ regards the people, in their corporate
capacity, as the embodiment of reason.
• People as the supreme authority. It is people who decide right or wrong.
• Will of the people should not be ignored - popular sovereignty is the basis
of modern democratic system.
▪ Rousseau commended popular sovereignty for two reasons –
➢ Sovereignty should be founded on the will of the people.
➢ Sovereignty should be exercised for the common good.
❑Challenges to Sovereignty

✓ Internal & external challenge.

o Advent of Neo-Colonialism [Domination and cohesion of larger

powers]
✓ Neo-Colonialism refers to the strategy of a colonial power which does
not maintain its political domination in a foreign territory, but
continues its economic exploitation by using it as a source of cheap
labour and raw materials as well as a big market for its industrial
products.
✓ Third world countries – chief source of raw materials and labour-
intensive products for the developed world.
✓ International trade continuously operates to the disadvantage of the
developing countries.
• Developed countries invest their capital in the developing countries
through multinational Corporations (MNCs).
o Emergence of power blocs

o The process of ‘Globalization’

• Primacy of economic issues

✓ The World Economy : Internationalization of Production,

distribution, exchange and trade. [interlinkages among the economies
of various nations]

✓ International Organization
• With the formation of various international and multinational
organizations , world politics has undergone many changes in the
decision-making process. For example, the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) imposes a number of conditions on borrowing to third
world countries.

✓ International law