Sovereignty is the supreme authority of a political community within a territory and, externally, its independence from the authority of other states. It is a central concept in political philosophy and international law, usually associated with the state. Sovereignty concerns the ultimate right to govern, rather than simply the possession of military or economic power. Its meaning varies according to who holds authority, which matters fall within its scope, and how domestic and international rules constrain its exercise. (plato.stanford.edu)
Internal and external sovereignty
Internal sovereignty concerns the location of ultimate authority within a political community. Depending on the constitutional system or political theory, that authority may be attributed to a monarch, a representative institution, or the people collectively. It is distinct from government: officials may exercise public powers without themselves being the ultimate source of those powers. External sovereignty concerns a state's independence in its relations with other states, particularly the absence of subordination to another state's governing authority. These are complementary dimensions rather than mutually exclusive categories. (plato.stanford.edu)
Legal independence should also be distinguished from practical freedom of action. The Charter of the Organization of American States expressly distinguishes juridical equality from differences in power and states that a state's political existence does not depend on recognition by others. Thus, legal standing, diplomatic recognition, and practical influence are related but separate questions. Sovereignty does not imply that every state possesses equal resources or can act without external constraints. (oas.org)
Historical development
The modern European doctrine developed amid efforts to consolidate political authority and resolve religious and civil conflict. Jean Bodin gave sovereignty a systematic treatment in The Six Books of the Commonwealth (1576). He described it as supreme, perpetual power, distinguishing enduring sovereign authority from temporary or delegated office. Although his sovereign stood above ordinary positive law, Bodin recognized obligations under divine and natural law; his doctrine therefore should not be equated with unrestricted personal discretion. (plato.stanford.edu)
Thomas Hobbes, in Leviathan (1651), connected sovereign authority with a covenant establishing a common power capable of maintaining peace. His account treated a decisive sovereign authority as the remedy for conflict arising when no common authority exists. The sovereign could be an individual or an assembly, rather than necessarily a hereditary ruler. (plato.stanford.edu)
The Peace of Westphalia of 1648 is conventionally associated with the emergence of the European sovereign-state system. However, the treaties did not create that system from nothing or expressly establish a comprehensive doctrine of modern sovereignty. They formed part of a longer transformation of political authority, and older institutional arrangements continued afterward. (plato.stanford.edu)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau placed sovereignty in the collective people. In The Social Contract (1762), he identified it with the exercise of the general will and distinguished the sovereign community from the government administering its decisions. For Rousseau, sovereignty could not be alienated or reduced to the private will of a ruler. (plato.stanford.edu)
Constitutional forms
Popular sovereignty identifies the people as the ultimate source of political authority. It does not mean that all administrative decisions must be made directly by citizens: Rousseau himself distinguished the sovereign's legislative will from the government's executive functions. The distinction remains important when discussing the relationship between democracy, representation, and public authority. (plato.stanford.edu)
Parliamentary sovereignty concerns the supreme legislative authority of Parliament. In the orthodox United Kingdom account, Parliament can make or repeal any law, courts generally cannot invalidate its legislation, and one Parliament cannot prevent a later Parliament from changing its enactments. This describes an internal constitutional hierarchy, not exemption from international obligations. (parliament.uk)
Federalism complicates the idea that all authority must reside in a single institution. A federal constitution distributes powers between central and constituent governments, protecting each level's authority in specified areas. Such arrangements distinguish final authority over particular questions from comprehensive authority over every question. They also explain why “state sovereignty” can refer to constitutionally protected powers of constituent states, rather than their independence as international states. (plato.stanford.edu)
Sovereignty in international law
The United Nations Charter makes the sovereign equality of members a foundational principle of the United Nations. Article 2 also requires good-faith fulfillment of Charter obligations and peaceful settlement of disputes, and prohibits threats or force inconsistent with the Charter against a state's territorial integrity or political independence. Sovereignty therefore exists within a legal framework of reciprocal rights and duties. (un.org)
Article 2(7) protects matters essentially within domestic jurisdiction from UN intervention, while preserving enforcement measures under Chapter VII. The Charter also assigns responsibilities to the Security Council and recognizes self-defense under Article 51. Sovereignty consequently does not constitute a blanket exemption from collective-security rules or obligations concerning human rights. (un.org)
Territorial scope and shared powers
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea illustrates the distinction between sovereignty and narrower sovereign rights. Coastal-state sovereignty extends over the territorial sea, its seabed and subsoil, and the airspace above it, subject to international rules, including innocent passage. In the exclusive economic zone, the coastal state instead possesses specified resource-related rights and jurisdiction, while other states retain navigation and other recognized freedoms. (un.org)
International cooperation can also allocate decision-making powers without eliminating member states' legal identity. Under Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union, the European Union acts within competences conferred by member states through treaties; competences not conferred remain with those states. Discussions of “pooled” sovereignty therefore concern the allocation and joint exercise of powers, not a simple division between wholly sovereign and wholly powerless institutions. (eur-lex.europa.eu)