Sovereignty
Sovereignty is supreme authority within a territory: the claim that the decisions of some body are final and not reviewable by any higher earthly power. Internal sovereignty concerns the relation between the sovereign and the people it rules; external sovereignty concerns recognition as an equal by other states, an arrangement conventionally dated to the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 though historians dispute how much changed then. Theorists disagree about where sovereignty resides: in a monarch, in a parliament, in a constitution, or in the people themselves.
Why it matters
Arguments about foreign intervention, secession, and the authority of supranational bodies all turn on who holds final say and over what.
Where it comes up
Read about Sovereignty on Wikipedia
Sources
- Sovereignty Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Sovereignty Wikipedia
