CHAPTER TWO

SOVEREIGNTY

By: Habtam A.
2017 E.C
 History of sovereignty

 The concept is closely associated with the emergence of modern

state.
 However, its idea can be traced back to Aristotle, who spoke of the
'supreme power' of the state.
 The first systematic theory of sovereignty goes to Jean Bodin.
 The thinker who did the most to provide the term with its modern
meaning was the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588–
1679), who argued that in every true state some person or body of
persons must have the ultimate and absolute authority to declare
the law.
 Cont’d…
• The theories of the English philosopher John Locke (1632–
1704) and the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau
(1712–78).

• Both scholars argue that the state is based upon a formal or

informal compact of its citizens, a social contract through which
they entrust such powers to a government as may be necessary
for common protection.

• This led to the development of the doctrine of popular

sovereignty that found expression in the American Declaration
of Independence in 1776.
 Cont’d…
 Another twist was given to this concept by the
statement in the French constitution of 1791 that
“Sovereignty is one, indivisible and unalienable.
The Peace of Westphalia

 These treaties ended both the Thirty Years’ War

(1618–1648) in the Holy Roman Empire and the
Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648) between Spain and
the Dutch Republic.
 Cont’d…
The treaties did not restore peace throughout Europe,
but they did create a basis for national self-
determination.

The Holy Roman Empire in 1648

 After the Peace of Westphalia, each prince of a given
Imperial State would have the right to determine the
religion of his own state, the options being Catholicism,
Lutheranism, and Calvinism.
 Cont’d…

• Westphalian system: A global system based on the principle of

international law that each state has sovereignty over its territory

and domestic affairs.

What is sovereignty?
• Sovereignty is the supreme authority within a territory.

• In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body, or

institution that has the ultimate authority over other people in

order to establish a law or change an existing law.

 Cont’d…

• Sovereignty is a political concept that refers to

dominant power or supreme authority.
• In a monarchy, supreme power resides in the
"sovereign", or king.

• In modern democracies, sovereign power rests with

the people and is exercised through representative
bodies such as Congress or Parliament.
 Cont’d…
• Jean Bodin developed concept of internal sovereignty
(as supreme power of the sovereign over citizens and
subjects).
• Hugo Grotius (1583-1645), the Dutch writer,
developed the concept of external sovereignty.
• He propounded the theory of equality of the sovereign
states in their relations and independence of external
control or dominations.
 Characteristics or Attributes of Sovereignty

 Absoluteness

 Permanence

 All comprehensive and universality

 Inalienability

 Exclusiveness/superior

 Indivisibility
 Classification of Sovereignty

1) Titular and real sovereign: Titular means nominal or

ceremonial, such as the British Monarch. While the real
sovereign is the one who exercises real power such as the
absolute monarchs.
2) Legal sovereignty: one which has supreme power to enact
law.
3) Political Sovereign : belongs to voters/states supreme
authority.
4) Popular Sovereignty: people are the popular sovereign
 C o n t’d …

5. De Jure and De Facto Sovereign: de jure (legal) and de facto (actual) sovereign.
What is Nation?
 A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a common language,
history, ethnicity, or a common culture, and, in many cases, a shared territory.
Elements of Nation
1. Common Race
2. Common Religion: Example Pakistan
3. Common Language: Example Bangla Desh.
4. Common Culture
5. Geographical Factor: a common land, described as "motherland", or
"fatherland".
6. Common History
8. Economic Factors : Thirteen British colonies in the North America.
9. Political Factors: The British rule fostered Indian nationalism and led to
struggle for freedom.
10. Will to be a Nation: The disintegration of Pakistan (1971) and of the U.S.S.R.
(1991)
 Cont’d…

• Nationalism is the doctrine that asserts the nation as the basic

political unit in organizing society

• As a political model, the nation-state focuses two principles:

The principle of state sovereignty, first articulated in the Peace

of Westphalia (1648), which recognizes the right of states to

govern their territories without external interference

The principle of national sovereignty, which recognizes the

right of national communities to govern themselves.

• The national sovereignty implies that legitimate rule of a state

requires some sort of consent by the people.

 Cont’d…

Nation-state formation and war

 Three types of wars are more prevalent at approximately the time of the

foundation of nation-states:

(1) Wars of independence aiming to end foreign rule (e.g., the Algerian War of

Independence in 1954–62 and the Kosovo conflict in 1998–99);

(2) Civil wars within new nation-states arising from struggles over the states’ ethno-

nationalist character, sometimes resulting in secessionist efforts by ethnic minorities

(e.g., the 1963–67 uprising of the Somalia minority in Kenya

(3) Interstate wars declared by governments seeking to help oppressed co-nationals

in new neighbouring nation-states (e.g., the Greco-Turkish war of 1921–22) .

 Cont’d…

What is Power?

• In simple sense it is the capacity of the person/group/institution to

affect/change/modify the behaviour of other

person/group/institution.

• In this sense it is the capacity to influence the behaviour of others.

• Hence power is the capacity of one to impose its will over others

irrespective of the will of others.

• Power is not hierarchical, i.e. it can flow in any direction like it can

flow from superior to subordinate (downward) or junior to senior

(upward), or between the persons working at the same level.

 Cont’d…

Source of Power
•Expert: power derived from knowledge or skill.
•Referent: power derived from a sense of identification
others feel toward you.
•Reward: power derived from an ability to reward others.
•Coercive: power derived from fear of punishment by
others.
• Legitimate: power derived from a perceived inherent
right to influence.
 Cont’d…
Types of Power

• Ideological power: it involves power over ideas and beliefs, like

communism, fascism, nationalism.

• Collective power: it is exercised by one social group over another.

• Military power: it involves the use of physical coercion and over act.

• Political power: it is based up on the relationship to the legal structure,

party affiliation and bureaucracy.

• Economic power: it is basis of all power include, political and economic

power refers to the measurement of the ability to control the material

advantage.
 Cont’d…
 Types of power based on resources
 Money
 Military
 Social Status
 Numerical Strength
 Quality of Human Resource
 Cont’d…

 Types of power based on the capacity to use resources

 Leadership
 Decision making
 Negotiation/diplomatic
 Propaganda
 The Concepts of Authority
 The word authority is derived from the Latin words; auctor”
and ‘auctoritas’
 An auctor is an originator of promoter of some order,
pronouncement or whatever.
 Authority regulates behaviour mainly by speech and words,
not force.
 It also implies that someone has the right to receive
obedience.
 Authority is legitimate exercise of power.
 Authority is legal and formal right to a person, who can take
decisions, give orders and commands to others to perform a
particular task.
 It is hierarchical in nature; it flows downward, i.e. delegated
from superior to the subordinate.
 Cont’d…
 Authority refers to accepted power—that is, power that
people agree to follow according to specific
procedures.
Three types of authority are :
 Traditional authority
 Charismatic authority, and
 Legal-rational authority (Weber 1922).
 Traditional Authority

• According to Weber, the power of traditional

authority is accepted because that has traditionally
been the case; its legitimacy exists because it has
been accepted for a long time.
• Example: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth.
• In this type of authority, a ruler typically has no real
force to carry out their will.
 Charismatic Authority
• Followers accept the power of charismatic authority because
they are drawn to the leader’s personal qualities.
• The appeal of a charismatic leader can be extraordinary, and
can inspire followers to make unusual sacrifices or to
persevere in the midst of great hardship and persecution.
• Charismatic leaders usually emerge in times of crisis and offer
innovative or radical solutions.
• Despite the catastrophic consequences of events, Hitler’s rise
to power in the post-World War I economic depression of
Germany is an example.
 Rational-Legal Authority
• According to Weber, power made legitimate by laws, written
rules, and regulations is termed rational-legal authority.

• In this type of authority, power is vested in a particular

rationale, system, or ideology and not necessarily in the person

• With rational-legal authority, the power to influence does not

fall on individuals themselves, but instead falls on specific,
structured, bureaucratic offices, and individuals holding specific
positions have the authority to act in the name of such
positions.
 Key Differences Between Power and Authority
[Link] is defined as the ability or potential of an individual
to influence others and control their actions. Authority is the
legal and formal right to give orders and commands, and take
decisions.
[Link] is a personal trait, i.e. an acquired ability, whereas
authority is a formal right that vest in the hands of high
officials or management personnel.
[Link] major source of power is knowledge and expertise. On
the other hand, position and office determine the authority
of a person.
 Cont’d…
[Link] flows in any direction, i.e. it can be upward, downward,

crosswise or diagonal, lateral. As opposed to authority, that

flows only in one direction, i.e. downward (from superior to

subordinate).

[Link] power lies in person, in essence, a person acquires it, but

authority lies in the designation, i.e. whoever get the

designation, get the authority attached to it.

[Link] is legitimate whereas the power is not.

 What is legitimacy?

• Legitimacy in simple sense is derivative of legitimate

which means allowed by the law or rules or something
which is able to be defended with reasoning.

• In political sense it is the property that regime's procedures

for making and enforcing laws are acceptable to its
subjects.

• Legitimacy of a rule or decision implies that the members

of society treat that rule or decision as beneficial to society
as well as to themselves.
 Cont’d…

 This is called the “principle of legitimacy,” and

legitimacy is based on three things.
 First of all, the people who are asked to obey authority
have to feel like they have a voice—that if they speak
up, they will be heard.
 Second, the law has to be predictable.
 Third, the authority has to be fair.
 Cont’d…

 Legitimacy is important for all regimes.

 Legitimacy sustains political stability as it establishes the
reasonableness of a regime, or say provide reason for the regime to
exist.
 In political science, legitimacy is the right and acceptance of an
authority, usually a governing law or a regime.
 Whereas authority denotes a specific position in an established
government.
 Legitimacy is commonly defined in political science and sociology
as the belief that a rule, institution, or leader has the right to govern.
 Types of Legitimacy

 David Easton refers to three types of legitimacy;

ideological legitimacy, structural legitimacy, and
personal legitimacy.
 Ideological legitimacy is based on the moral convictions
about the validity of the regime and incumbents of
authority.
 When the source of legitimacy is the ideology
prevailing in the society, it is called ideological
legitimacy.
 Cont’d…

 Structural legitimacy is based on an independent belief

in the validity of the structure and norms and
incumbents of the authority.
 Personal legitimacy is based on the belief in the
validity of the incumbents of authority roles to the
authority roles themselves.
 The belief in the validity of authorities is based on their
personal qualities.
The End!