"Sovereign" redirects here. For other uses see Sovereign (disambiguation). This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (January 2011) The frontispiece of Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan depicting the Sovereign as a massive body wielding a sword and crozier and composed of many individual people.

Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme independent authority over a geographic area such as a territory.1 It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided. In theoretical terms the idea of "sovereignty" historically from Socrates to Thomas Hobbes has always necessitated a moral imperative on the entity exercising it.

The United Nations currently only requires that a sovereign state has an effective and independent government within a defined territory. According to current international law norms states are only required to have an effective and independent system of government pursuant to a community within a defined territory.2

For centuries past the idea that a state could be sovereign was always connected to its ability to guarantee the best interests of its own citizens. Thus if a state could not act in the best interests of its own citizens it could not be thought of as a sovereign state.3

The concept of sovereignty has been discussed debated and questioned throughout history from the time of the Romans through to the present day. It has changed in its definition concept and application throughout especially during the Age of Enlightenment. The current notion of state sovereignty is often traced back to the Peace of Westphalia (1648) which in relation to states codified the basic principles: territorial integrity border inviolability supremacy of the state (rather than the Church) a sovereign is the supreme lawmaking authority within its jurisdiction.citation needed Contents 1 History 1.1 Classical 1.2 Medieval 1.3 Reformation 1.4 Age of Enlightenment 2 Definition and types 2.1 Absoluteness 2.2 Exclusivity 2.3 De jure and de facto 2.4 Internal 2.5 External 2.6 Shared 2.7 Tribal 2.8 Nation-states 2.9 Federations 3 Acquisition 4 Justifications 5 Views on 6 Relation to rule of law 7 Sovereign as a title 8 See also 9 References 10 Further reading History

Different cultures and governments have understandably had different ideas about sovereignty.citation needed Classical

The Roman jurist Ulpian observed that:citation needed The imperium of the people is transferred to the Emperor The Emperor is not bound by the law The Emperor's word is law. Emperor is the law making and abiding force.

Ulpian was expressing the idea that the Emperor exercised a rather absolute form of sovereignty although he did not use the term expressly. Ulpian's statements were known in medieval Europe but sovereignty was not an important concept in medieval times. Medieval monarchs were not sovereign at least not strongly so because they were constrained by and shared power with their feudal aristocracy. Furthermore both were strongly constrained by custom.citation needed Medieval

Sovereignty existed during the Medieval Period as the de jure rights of nobility and royalty and in the de facto capability of individuals to make their own choices in life.citation needed

Around c. 1380-1400 the issue of feminine sovereignty was addressed in Geoffrey Chaucer's Middle English collection of Canterbury Tales specifically in The Wife of Bath's Tale.4 A later English Arthurian romance The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell (c. 1450)5 uses much of the same elements of the Wife of Bath's tale yet changes the setting to the court of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The story revolves around the knight Sir Gawain granting to Dame Ragnell his new bride what is purported to be wanted most by women: sovereignty. We desire most from men From men both rich and poor To have sovereignty without lies. For where we have sovereignty all is ours Though a knight be ever so fierce And ever win mastery. It is our desire to have master Over such a sir. Such is our purpose. The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell (c. 1450) 5 Reformation Sovereignty reemerged as a concept in the late 16th century a time when civil wars had created a craving for stronger central authority when monarchs had begun to gather power into their own hands at the expense of the nobility and the modern nation state was emerging. Jean Bodin partly in reaction to the chaos of the French wars of religion; and Thomas Hobbes partly in reaction to the English Civil War both presented theories of sovereignty calling for strong central authority in the form of absolute monarchy. In his 1576 treatise Les Six Livres de la Rpublique ("Six Books of the Republic") Bodin argued that it is inherent in the nature of the state that sovereignty must be:citation needed Absolute: On this point he said that the sovereign must not be hedged in with obligations and conditions must be able to legislate without his (or its) subjects' consent must not be bound by the laws of his predecessors and could not because it is illogical be bound by his own laws. Perpetual: Not temporarily delegated as to a strong leader in an emergency or to a state employee such as a magistrate. He held that sovereignty must be perpetual because anyone with the power to enforce a time limit on the governing power must be above the governing power which would be impossible if the governing power is absolute. Bodin rejected the notion of transference of sovereignty from people to sovereign; natural law and divine law confer upon the sovereign the right to rule. And the sovereign is not above divine law or natural law. He is above (ie. not bound by) only positive law that is laws made by humans. The fact that the sovereign must obey divine and natural law imposes ethical constraints on him. Bodin also held that the lois royales the fundamental laws of the French monarchy which regulated matters such as succession are natural laws and are binding on the French sovereign. How divine and natural law could in practice be enforced on the sovereign is a problematic feature of Bodin's philosophy: any person capable of enforcing them on him would be above him.citation needed Despite his commitment to absolutism Bodin held some moderate opinions on how government should in practice be carried out. He held that although the sovereign is not obliged to it is advisable for him as a practical expedient to convene a senate from whom he can obtain advice to delegate some power to magistrates for the practical administration of the law and to use the Estates as a means of communicating with the people.citation needed With his doctrine that sovereignty is conferred by divine law Bodin predefined the scope of the divine right of kings.citation needed Age of Enlightenment Hobbes in Leviathan (1651) introduced an early version of the social contract (or contractarian) theory arguing that to overcome the "nasty brutish and short" quality of life without the cooperation of other human beings people must join in a "commonwealth" and submit to a "Soveraigne sic Power" that is able to compel them to act in the common good. This expediency argument attracted many of the early proponents of sovereignty. Hobbes deduced from the definition of sovereignty that it must be:citation needed Absolute: because conditions could only be imposed on a sovereign if there were some outside arbitrator to determine when he had violated them in which case the sovereign would not be the final authority. Indivisible: The sovereign is the only final authority in his territory; he does not share final authority with any other entity. Hobbes held this to be true because otherwise there would be no way of resolving a disagreement between the multiple authorities. Hobbes' hypothesis that the ruler's sovereignty is contracted to him by the people in return for his maintaining their safety led him to conclude that if the ruler fails to do this the people are released from their obligation to obey him. Bodin's and Hobbes's theories would decisively shape the concept of sovereignty which we can find again in the social contract theories for example in Rousseau's (17121778) definition of popular sovereignty (with early antecedents in Francisco Surez's theory of the origin of power) which only differs in that he considers the people to be the legitimate sovereign. Likewise it is inalienable Rousseau condemned the distinction between the origin and the exercise of sovereignty a distinction upon which constitutional monarchy or representative democracy are founded. Niccol Machiavelli Thomas Hobbes John Locke and Montesquieu are also key figures in the unfolding of the concept of sovereignty. The second book of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Du Contrat Social ou Principes du droit politique (1762) deals with sovereignty and its rights. Sovereignty or the general will is inalienable for the will cannot be transmitted; it is indivisible since it is essentially general; it is infallible and always right determined and limited in its power by the common interest; it acts through laws. Law is the decision of the general will in regard to some object of common interest but though the general will is always right and desires only good its judgment is not always enlightened and consequently does not always see wherein the common good lies; hence the necessity of the legislator. But the legislator has of himself no authority; he is only a guide who drafts and proposes laws but the people alone (that is the sovereign or general will) has authority to make and impose them.citation needed Rousseau in his 1763 treatise Of the Social Contract6 argued "the growth of the State giving the trustees of public authority more and means to abuse their power the more the Government has to have force to contain the people the more force the Sovereign should have in turn in order to contain the Government" with the understanding that the Sovereign is "a collective being of wonder" (Book II Chapter I) resulting from "the general will" of the people and that "what any man whoever he may be orders on his own is not a law" (Book II Chapter VI) and furthermore predicated on the assumption that the people have an unbiased means by which to ascertain the general will. Thus the legal maxim "there is no law without a sovereign."citation needed The 1789 French Revolution shifted the possession of sovereignty from the sovereign ruler to the nation and its people. Carl Schmitt (18881985) defined sovereignty as "the power to decide the state of exception" in an attempt argues Giorgio Agamben to counter Walter Benjamin's theory of violence as radically disjoint from law. Georges Bataille's heterodox conception of sovereignty which may be said to be an "anti-sovereignty" also inspired many thinkers such as Jacques Derrida Agamben or Jean-Luc Nancy.citation needed Definition and types There exists perhaps no conception the meaning of which is more controversial than that of sovereignty. It is an indisputable fact that this conception from the moment when it was introduced into political science until the present day has never had a meaning which was universally agreed upon.   Lassa Oppenheim7 an authority on international law Absoluteness An important factor of sovereignty is its degree of absoluteness. A sovereign power has absolute sovereignty if it has the unlimited right to control everything and every kind of activity in its territory. This means that it is not restricted by a constitution by the laws of its predecessors or by custom and no areas of law or behavior are reserved as being outside its control. For example parents are not guaranteed the right to decide some matters in the upbringing of their children independently of the (absolutely) sovereign power municipalities are not guaranteed freedom from its interference in some local matters etc. Theorists have diverged over the necessity or desirability of absoluteness. Historically it is doubtful whether a sovereign power has ever claimed complete absoluteness let alone had the power to actually enforce it.citation needed Exclusivity The key element of sovereignty in the legalistic sense is that of exclusivity of jurisdiction. Specifically when a decision is made by a sovereign entity it cannot generally be overruled by a higher authority usually another state.citation needed De jure and de facto De jure or legal sovereignty is the theoretical right to exercise exclusive control over one's subjects. De facto or actual sovereignty is concerned with whether control in fact exists. It can be approached in two ways: Does the governing power have sufficient strength (police etc.) to compel its subjects to obey it (If so a type of de facto sovereignty called coercive sovereignty exists.) Are the subjects of the governing power in the habit of obeying it It is generally held that sovereignty requires not only the legal right to exercise power but the actual exercise of such power. That is "No de jure sovereignty without de facto sovereignty." In other words neither claiming/being proclaimed Sovereign nor merely exercising the power of a Sovereign is sufficient; sovereignty requires both elements.citation needed Internal Internal sovereignty is the relationship between a sovereign power and its own subjects. A central concern is legitimacy: by what right does a political body (or individual) exercise authority over its subjects Possible answers include: by the divine right of kings or by social contract (popular sovereignty).citation needed External See also: Constitutive theory of statehood and Declarative theory of statehood External sovereignty concerns the relationship between a sovereign power and other states. The United Kingdom uses the following criterion (as an example of typical criteria) when deciding under what conditions other states recognise a political entity as having sovereignty over some territory; "Sovereignty." A government which exercises de facto administrative control over a country and is not subordinate to any other government in that country is a foreign sovereign state.   (The Arantzazu Mendi 1939 A.C. 256) Strouds Judicial Dictionary External sovereignty is connected with questions of international law such as: when if ever is intervention by one country onto another's territory permissible Following the Thirty Years' War a European religious conflict that embroiled much of the continent the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 established the notion of territorial sovereignty as a norm of noninterference in the affairs of other nations so-called Westphalian sovereignty even though the actual treaty itself reaffirmed the multiple levels of sovereignty of the Holy Roman Empire. This resulted as a natural extension of the older principle of cuius regio eius religio (Whose realm his religion) leaving the Roman Catholic Church with little ability to interfere with the internal affairs of many European states. It is a myth however that the Treaties of Westphalia created a new European order of equal sovereign states.2 In international law sovereignty means that a government possesses full control over its own affairs within a territorial or geographical area or limit. Determining whether a specific entity is sovereign is not an exact science but often a matter of diplomatic dispute. There is usually an expectation that de jure and de facto sovereignty exist at the place and time of concern and rest in the same organization. Foreign governments recognize the sovereignty of a state over a territory or refuse to do so.citation needed For instance in theory both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China considered themselves sovereign governments over the whole territory of China (including Taiwan). Though some foreign governments recognize the Republic of China as the valid state most now recognize the People's Republic of China. However de facto the People's Republic of China has jurisdiction only over mainland China but not Taiwan while the Republic of China has jurisdiction only over Taiwan and some outlying islands but not mainland China. Since ambassadors are only exchanged between sovereign high parties the countries recognizing the People's Republic often entertain de facto but not de jure diplomatic relationships with the Republic by maintaining "offices of representation" such as the American Institute in Taiwan rather than embassies there.8 Sovereignty may be recognized even when the sovereign body possesses no territory or its territory is under partial or total occupation by another power. The Holy See was in this position between the annexation in 1870 of the Papal States by Italy and the signing of the Lateran Treaties in 1929 when it was recognised as sovereign by many (mostly Roman Catholic) states despite possessing no territory a situation resolved when the Lateran Treaties granted the Holy See sovereignty over the Vatican City. Another case sui generis though often contested is the Sovereign Military Order of Malta the third sovereign entity inside Italian territory (after San Marino and the Vatican City State) and the second inside the Italian capital (since in 1869 the Palazzo di Malta and the Villa Malta receive extraterritorial rights in this way becoming the only "sovereign" territorial possessions of the modern Order) which is the last existing heir to one of several once militarily significant crusader states of sovereign military orders. In 1607 its Grand masters were also made Reichsfrst (princes of the Holy Roman Empire) by the Holy Roman Emperor granting them seats in the Reichstag at the time the closest permanent equivalent to a UN-type general assembly; confirmed 1620). These sovereign rights never deposed only the territories were lost. 100 modern states still maintain full diplomatic relations with the order9 (now de facto "the most prestigious service club") and the UN awarded it observer status.10 The governments-in-exile of many European states (for instance Norway Netherlands or Czechoslovakia) during the Second World War were regarded as sovereign despite their territories being under foreign occupation; their governance resumed as soon as the occupation had ended. The government of Kuwait was in a similar situation vis--vis the Iraqi occupation of its country during 1990-1991.citation needed Commonly mistaken to be sovereign the International Committee of the Red Cross having been granted various degrees of special privileges and legal immunities in many countrieswhich that in cases like Switzerland are considerable11 which are describedby whom as amounting to de facto sovereignty is a private organisation governed by Swiss law.12 Shared Just like the office of Head of state (whether sovereignty is vested in it or not) can be vested jointly in several persons within a state the sovereign jurisdiction over a single political territory can be shared jointly by two or more consenting powers notably in the forms of a condominium or of (as still in Andorra) a co-principality.citation needed Tribal Main article: Tribal sovereignty Nation-states Nations claiming the right of self-determination often establish sovereign states for themselves thus creating nation-states. An aspiring nation-state must have sovereignty recognised by other nation-states in order to become one.citation needed Federations In federal systems of government sovereignty also refers to powers which a state government possesses independently of the national government. Whether state sovereignty is superior to the sovereignty of the national government or vice versa determines whether the country is considered a confederation or a federation (such as the United States). Controversy over states' rights contributed to the outbreak of the American Civil War. Eleven southern states in which slavery was legal declared their independence from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America. The position of the United States government was that this act was unconstitutional and that secession was not a right that the states possessed thus implying that the states were not sovereign entities.citation needed Acquisition Main article: Acquisition of sovereignty A number of methods of acquisition of sovereignty are presently or have historically been recognised by international law as lawful methods by which a state may acquire sovereignty over territory.citation needed Justifications There exist vastly differing views on the moral basis of sovereignty. A fundamental polarity is between theories that assert that sovereignty is vested directly in the sovereign by divine right or natural right and theories that assert it is vested in the people. In the latter case there is a further division into those that assert that the people transfer their sovereignty to the sovereign (Hobbes) and those that assert that the people retain their sovereignty (Rousseau).citation needed Democracy is based on the concept of popular sovereignty. Representative democracies permit (against Rousseau's thought) a transfer of the exercise of sovereignty from the people to the parliament or the government. Parliamentary sovereignty refers to a representative democracy where the Parliament is ultimately the source of sovereignty and not the executive power. The republican form of government acknowledges that the sovereign power is founded in the people individually not in the collective or whole body of free citizens as in a democratic form. Thus no majority can deprive a minority of their sovereign rights and powers. Absolute monarchies are typically based on belief in the divine right of kings or the equivalent Chinese concept of the Mandate of Heaven. Views on Realists view sovereignty as being untouchable and as guaranteed to legitimate nation-states.citation needed Rationalists see sovereignty similarly to Realists. However Rationalism states that the sovereignty of a nation-state may be violated in extreme circumstances such as human rights abuses.citation needed Internationalists believe that sovereignty is outdated and an unnecessary obstacle to achieving peace in line with their belief of a 'global community'. In the light of the abuse of power by sovereign states such as Hitler's Germany or Stalin's Soviet Union they argue that human beings are not necessarily protected by the state whose citizens they are and that the respect for state sovereignty on which the UN Charter is founded is an obstacle to humanitarian intervention.2 Anarchists and some libertarians deny the sovereignty of states and governments. Anarchists often argue for a specific individual kind of sovereignty such as the Anarch as a sovereign individual. Salvador Dal for instance talked of "anarcho-monarchist" (as usual for him tongue in cheek); Antonin Artaud of Heliogabalus: Or The Crowned Anarchist; Max Stirner of The Ego and Its Own; Georges Bataille and Jacques Derrida of a kind of "antisovereignty". Therefore anarchists join a classical conception of the individual as sovereign of himself which forms the basis of political consciousness. The unified consciousness is sovereignty over one's own body as Nietzsche demonstrated (see also Pierre Klossowski's book on Nietzsche and the Vicious Circle). See also self-ownership. Imperialists hold a view of sovereignty where power rightfully exists with those states that hold the greatest ability to impose the will of said state by force or threat of force over the populace or other states with weaker military or political will. They effectively deny the sovereignty of the individual in deference to either the 'good' of the whole or to divine right.citation needed Relation to rule of law Another topic is whether the law is held to be sovereign that is whether it is above political or other interference. Sovereign law constitutes a true state of law meaning the letter of the law (if constitutionally correct) is applicable and enforceable even when against the political will of the nation as long as not formally changed following the constitutional procedure. Strictly speaking any deviation from this principle constitutes a revolution or a coup d'tat regardless of the intentions.citation needed Sovereign as a title In some cases the title sovereign is not just a generic term but an actual (part of the) formal style of a Head of state.citation needed Thus from 22 June 1934 to 29 May 1953 (the title "Emperor of India" was dropped as of 15 August 1947 by retroactive proclamation dated 22 June 1948) the King of South Africa was styled in the Dominion of South Africa: "By the Grace of God of Great Britain Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas King Defender of the Faith Emperor of India and Sovereign in and over the Union of South Africa." Upon the accession of Elizabeth II to the Throne of South Africa in 1952 the title was changed to Queen of South Africa and Her other Realms and Territories Head of the Commonwealth parallel to the style used in almost all the other Commonwealth realms. The pope holds ex officio the title "Sovereign of the Vatican City State" in respect to Vatican City.citation needed The adjective form can also be used in a Monarch's full style as in pre-imperial Russia 16 January 1547 22 November 1721: Bozhiyeyu Milostiyu Velikiy/Velikaya Gosudar'/Gosudarynya Tsar'/Tsaritsa i Velikiy/Velikaya Knyaz'/Knyaginya N.N. vseya Rossiy Samodyerzhets "By the Grace of God Great Sovereign Tsar/Tsarina and Grand Prince/Princess N.N. of All Russia Autocrat" See also Philosophy portal Look up sovereignty in Wiktionary the free dictionary. Air sovereignty Basileus Electronic leviathan Neo-medievalism Plenary authority Souverainism Sovereigntist Suzerainty National sovereignty References  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann Charles ed (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.  "sovereignty (politics)". Britannica Online Encyclopedia. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/557065/sovereignty. Retrieved 5 August 2010.  a b c Article 4 of United Nations Charter Benedetto Conforti The Law and Practice of the United Nations 3rd ed. (Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2005) 25. Bateman C.G. (February 15 2011). Nicaea and Sovereignty: Constantine's Council of Nicaea as an Important Crossroad in the Development of European State Sovereignty. University of British Columbia. pp. 5491. http://ssrn.com/abstract1759006.  "Chaucer's tale of the Wife of Bath.". http://www.dhushara.com/book/renewal/bath.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-10.  a b "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell". http://www.lone-star.net/mall/literature/gawain.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-10.  Of the Social Contract Book II Chapter III. 1 Lassa Oppenheim International Law 66 (Sir Arnold D. McNair ed. 4th ed. 1928) Foreign Missions in the ROC (Taiwan) Bilateral diplomatic relations of SMOM United Nations General Assembly Resolution 265 session 48 Observer status for the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in the General Assembly By formal agreement between the Swiss government and the ICRC Switzerland grants full sanctity of all ICRC property in Switzerland including its headquarters and archive grants members and staff legal immunity exempts the ICRC from all taxes and fees guarantees the protected and duty-free transfer of goods services and money provides the ICRC with secure communication privileges at the same level as foreign embassies and simplifies Committee travel in and out of Switzerland. On the other hand Switzerland does not recognize ICRC issued passports. About the International Committee of the Red Cross Further reading Philpott Dan. "Sovereignty". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sovereignty/.  Thomson Janice E. (1996). Mercenaries pirates and sovereigns: state-building and extraterritorial violence in early modern Europe. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691025711. http://books.google.com/booksidEvylnkgJ9ycC.