Read complete books and articles on: Sovereignty of Nations

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.

See C. E. Merriam, History of the Theory of Sovereignty since Rousseau (1900, repr. 1968); H. J. Laski, Studies in the Problem of Sovereignty (1917, repr. 1968); B. de Jouvenel, Sovereignty (tr. 1957); J. L. Brierly, The Law of Nations (6th ed. 1963); F. H. Hinsley, Sovereignty (1966); A. James, Sovereign Statehood (1986).

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14 of the Best Books and Articles on: Sovereignty of Nations

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Re-Examining Sovereignty: From Classical Theory to the Global Age » Read Now
by Hideaki Shinoda. 228 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

This complete documentary history of the idea of sovereignty uses a diachronic perspective to illuminate the characteristic feature of modern sovereignty: the anthropomorphism of nations.
2.

Land Rights, Ethno-Nationality and Sovereignty in History » Read Now
by Stanley L. Engerman, Jacob Metzer. 404 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This work is relevant to many fields including institutional economics, political science, anthropology, sociology and social psychology.
3.

Law, Power, and the Sovereign State: The Evolution and Application of the Concept of Sovereignty » Read Now
by Michael Ross Fowler, Julie Marie Bunck. 202 pgs.

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...the United Nations Security...violation of its sovereignty by foreigners...various other nations lacking sovereignty are keenly aware of the benefits...Egyptian...
4.

Problematic Sovereignty: Contested Rules and Political Possibilities » Read Now
by Stephen D. Krasner. 367 pgs.

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Some of the most pressing issues in the contemporary international order revolve around a frequently invoked but highly contested concept: sovereignty. To what extent does the concept of sovereignty -- as it plays out in institutional arrangements, rules, and principles -- inhibit the solution of...
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Some of the most pressing issues in the contemporary international order revolve around a frequently invoked but highly contested concept: sovereignty. To what extent does the concept of sovereignty -- as it plays out in institutional arrangements, rules, and principles -- inhibit the solution of these issues? Can the rules of sovereignty be bent? Can they be ignored? Do they represent an insurmountable barrier to stable solutions or can alternative arrangements be created? Problematic Sovereignty attempts to answer these and other fundamental questions by taking account of the multiple, sometimes contradictory, components of the concept of sovereignty in cases ranging from the struggle for sovereignty between China and Taiwan to the compromised sovereignty of Bosnia under the Dayton Accord. Countering the common view of sovereignty that treats it as one coherent set of principles, the chapters of Problematic Sovereignty illustrate cases where the disaggregation of sovereignty has enabled political actors to create entities that are semiautonomous, semi-independent, and/or semilegal in order to solve specific problems stemming from competing claims to authority.
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5.

The Greening of Sovereignty in World Politics » Read Now
by Karen T. Litfin. 344 pgs.

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This is the first book to connect two important subfields in international relations: global environmental politics and the study of sovereignty--the state's exclusive authority within its territorial boundaries. The authors argue that the relationship between environmental practices and sovereignty...
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This is the first book to connect two important subfields in international relations: global environmental politics and the study of sovereignty--the state's exclusive authority within its territorial boundaries. The authors argue that the relationship between environmental practices and sovereignty is by no means straightforward and in fact elucidates some of the core issues and challenges in world politics today. Although a number of international relations scholars have assumed that transnational environmental organizations and institutions are eroding sovereignty, this book makes the case that ecological integrity and state sovereignty are not necessarily in opposition. It shows that the norms of sovereignty are now shifting in the face of attempts to cope with ecological destruction, but that this "greening" of sovereignty is an uneven, variegated, and highly contested process. By establishing that sovereignty is a socially constructed institution that varies according to time and place, with multiple meanings and changing practices, The Greening of Sovereignty in World Politics illuminates the complexity of the relationship between sovereignty and environmental matters and casts both in a new light. Contributors: Daniel Deudney, Margaret Scully Granzeier, Joseph Henri Jupille, Sheldon Kamieniecki, Thom Kuehls, Ronnie D. Lipschutz, Karen T. Litfin, Marian A. L. Miller, Ronald B. Mitchell, Paul Wapner, Veronica Ward, Franke Wilmer.
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6.

Human Rights and State Sovereignty » Read Now
by Richard Falk. 252 pgs.

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...is it an abuse of sovereignty to shield an individual...infringing on the sovereignty of foreign societies...in the United Nations, has deprived the United States of global...
7.

The Problem of Sovereignty in the Later Middle Ages: The Papal Monarchy with Augustinus Triumphus and the Publicists » Read Now
by Michael Wilks. 619 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

...SERIES VOL. IX THE PROBLEM OF SOVEREIGNTY IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES -ii- THE PROBLEM OF SOVEREIGNTY IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES...578 PREFACE THE problem of sovereignty is a...
8.

Questioning Sovereignty: Law, State, and Nation in the European Commonwealth » Read Now
by Neil MacCormick. 214 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

This is a book about the transformation of sovereignty in the United Kingdom and the European Union, about the transition from 'sovereign states' to 'post-sovereign states', about devolution and nationalism and the future of the British union. It applies the institutional theory of law to a general...
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This is a book about the transformation of sovereignty in the United Kingdom and the European Union, about the transition from 'sovereign states' to 'post-sovereign states', about devolution and nationalism and the future of the British union. It applies the institutional theory of law to a general inquiry into the relations of law and state, and to the question of the character of a Rechtsstaat or state under the rule of law. This clears the ground for a historical/analytical review of the United Kingdom as union state, and of the Benthamite or Diceyan view of its constitution, grounded in the idea of sovereignty. Can that sovereignty survive diffusion of power within the British state? Or can it survive the development of the European Union and the supremacy in it of European Community law? Was there a revolution in 1972, when Parliament enacted the European Communities Act, or later, when the House of Lords held that subsequent Acts of Parliament should be 'disapplied' when they conflict with Community law? The potential for conflict between member state constitutions and European legal order is no less in other member states - Germany, France, Ireland and the others. Indeed the issue is perhaps whether in the long run constitutional conflicts are inevitable. This leads on into a consideration of pluralistic as against monistic accounts of legal order viewed as a whole, and finally to a review of the concept of sovereignty, and of the possibility that there really could be a new order of post-sovereign states within a non-sovereign confederal union in Europe. If so, what becomes of democracy, and how can the democratic deficit in Europe be redeemed? The existing constitution of the 'European Commonwealth' is reviewed critically as an example of a mixed constitution and an argument is proposed about the value or values attaching to democracy and to subsidiarity in this vast commonwealth. Connected to subsidiarity is the issue of contemporary politics of identity all over Europe and beyond. MacCormick puts forward a carefully argued case for a moderate and liberal form of nationalism that sets universal but non-absolute principles of self-determination. The case is finally pressed home in relation to the relations of Scotland to the other countries of the British Isles, and an argument put for the idea of mutual independence within a Council of the Isles and the European Union.
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9.

Revolutions in Sovereignty: How Ideas Shaped Modern International Relations » Read Now
by Daniel Philpott. 339 pgs.

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How did the world come to be organized into sovereign states? Daniel Philpott argues that two historical revolutions in ideas are responsible. First, the Protestant Reformation ended medieval Christendom and brought a system of sovereign states in Europe, culminating at the Peace of Westphalia in...
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How did the world come to be organized into sovereign states? Daniel Philpott argues that two historical revolutions in ideas are responsible. First, the Protestant Reformation ended medieval Christendom and brought a system of sovereign states in Europe, culminating at the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Second, ideas of equality and colonial nationalism brought a sweeping end to colonial empires around 1960, spreading the sovereign states system to the rest of the globe. In both cases, revolutions in ideas about legitimate political authority profoundly altered the "constitution" that establishes basic authority in the international system.Ideas exercised influence first by shaping popular identities, then by exercising social power upon the elites who could bring about new international constitutions. Swaths of early modern Europeans, for instance, arrived at Protestant beliefs, then fought against the temporal powers of the Church on behalf of the sovereignty of secular princes, who could overthrow the formidable remains of a unified medieval Christendom. In the second revolution, colonial nationalists, domestic opponents of empire, and rival superpowers pressured European cabinets to relinquish their colonies in the name of equality and nationalism, resulting in a global system of sovereign states. Bringing new theoretical and historical depth to the study of international relations, Philpott demonstrates that while shifts in military, economic, and other forms of material power cannot be overlooked, only ideas can explain how the world came to be organized into a system of sovereign states.
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10.

The Sovereignty Dispute over the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands » Read Now
by Lowell S. Gustafson. 276 pgs.

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The complex question of the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands remains far from resolved, even after the military and political events that took place from April to June 1982. The first scholarly work of its kind, this broad and dispassionate study of the causes of the South Atlantic war between...
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The complex question of the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands remains far from resolved, even after the military and political events that took place from April to June 1982. The first scholarly work of its kind, this broad and dispassionate study of the causes of the South Atlantic war between Britain and Argentina addresses the larger issues raised by the Falkland crisis and untangles a web of events and attitudes that stretch back over the past century. The book begins with a close evaluation of the two pivotal arguments: Argentina's stance that international law supports their historical right to the islands, and Britain's position that the length of their occupation of the Falklands, together with the principles of self-determination, legalized their de facto control. Gustafson then discusses how potential off-shore oil reserves, diplomacy, domestic politics, and the use of force entered into the sovereignty dispute; analyzes the effects of war on international relations; and considers possible future approaches to handling the dispute.
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11.

Sovereignty: Organized Hypocrisy » Read Now
by Stephen D. Krasner. 263 pgs.

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The acceptance of human rights and minority rights, the increasing role of international financial institutions, and globalization have led many observers to question the continued viability of the sovereign state. Here a leading expert challenges this conclusion. Stephen Krasner contends that...
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The acceptance of human rights and minority rights, the increasing role of international financial institutions, and globalization have led many observers to question the continued viability of the sovereign state. Here a leading expert challenges this conclusion. Stephen Krasner contends that states have never been as sovereign as some have supposed. Throughout history, rulers have been motivated by a desire to stay in power, not by some abstract adherence to international principles. Organized hypocrisy -- the presence of longstanding norms that are frequently violated -- has been an enduring attribute of international relations
Political leaders have usually but not always honored international legal sovereignty, the principle that international recognition should be accorded only to juridically independent sovereign states, while treating Westphalian sovereignty, the principle that states have the right to exclude external authority from their own territory, in a much more provisional way. In some instances violations of the principles of sovereignty have been coercive, as in the imposition of minority rights on newly created st
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12.

De Facto States: The Quest for Sovereignty » Read Now
by Tozun Bahcheli, Barry Bartmann, Henry Srebrnik. 274 pgs.

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This volume provides a comprehensive theoretical and empirical examination of a new and very significant development in the international politics of fragmentation.
13.

British Views of the American Revolution: A Conflict Over Rights of Sovereignty, in Early American Literature » Read Now
by Peter J. Stanlis. 11 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...are independent nations. Thus, on a simple...chartered legal rights of British sovereignty, twenty-seven months...He observed that "sovereignty was not in its nature an...
14.

Sovereignty: An Introduction and Brief History, in Journal of International Affairs » Read Now
by Daniel Philpott. 16 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...Today sovereignty is again...the spirit of "the end...the United Nations endorse the...a United Nations. It is to...external aspect of sovereignty that modern...three...