The Meaning of sovereignty

Introduction

Sovereignty is a concept that has been present In political theory since Jean Bodin, a French theorist, began his study of law and history In the sixteenth century and from this study devised the theory of absolute sovereignty.' This thesis will discuss the history of sovereignty as a concept over time as well as the prominent position sovereignty held in American political theory from approximately 1775 through 1791. Sovereignty was a concept frequently spoken of prior to and during the Revolutionary War, throughout the debates at the Convention and continuing through the ratification process of the Constitution by the individual state legislatures. The concepts of sovereignty alluded to are absolute sovereignty, popular sovereignty, Individual sovereignty, state sovereignty and national sovereignty.

Thesis statement: Sovereignty is fundamentally tied with questions of power and authority.

Discussion

The most common origin story currently in circulation about sovereignty begins with the 16th century French jurist and political philosopher Jean Bodin. As Deloria (pp.25 - 31)argues, “Concerned with promoting peace by validating the power of the French king against rival claimants, Bodin championed the idea that a state's ruler had absolute authority within his own realm, subject only to the divinely inspired laws of nature” (85). Central to this story of sovereignty is the idea of an absolute authority within a territory. However Murphy's story never strays far from its own Eurocentric origin. Murphy continues his story about sovereignty by following it through its European trajectory, bringing in other populations only when they encounter the European nation-state system. Furthermore, many of the definitions of sovereignty insist on the importance of statehood.

As Coulthard (pp.23-25)says, “Clans and kinship groups in pre-history, semi-nomadic peoples today or even settled tribes with a very simple form of social organization, have all constituted what we would now call society, ...