sovereignty

Absolute authority within a given territory. The possession of sovereignty is taken to be the distinguishing feature of the state, as against other forms of community. The term has an internal aspect, in that it refers to the ultimate source of authority within a state, such as a parliament or monarch, and an external aspect, where it denotes the independence of the state from any outside authority.

Sovereignty denotes the relationship of authority which exists between the supreme (sovereign) legitimate power in a state and its inhabitants. The existence of such a relationship as a fact can be explained by invoking the political tradition of a country, into which all inhabitants, wittingly, or unwittingly, are to some extent introduced, and through which their attitudes to political authority are formed.

Various theories of sovereignty have been put forward to justify the exercise of such power. Among them those deriving from the social contract and the utilitarian (see utilitarianism ) positions are most important in modern discussions of the issue. In the 19th century when it was felt that the only limitations properly imposed on political power were those which were self-imposed, the assertion of a nation's sovereignty implied freedom from internal influence by other powers. Since World War II increasing international interdependence and the growth of the influence of multinational corporations on domestic economies has led to a drastic reduction in the sphere of autonomous sovereignty.