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Oct 24, 2023 · Learn the meaning of popular sovereignty, a doctrine in political theory that government is created by and subject to the will of the people. See examples, word history, and related entries from Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Popular sovereignty is the principle that the people are the source of political legitimacy and authority. Learn about its origins, history, variants, and related concepts from this comprehensive encyclopedia article.
Popular sovereignty was a political doctrine that allowed the people of federal territories to decide whether they would be free or slave states. It was applied in Utah, New Mexico, and Kansas, and caused the Bleeding Kansas conflict and the Dred Scott decision.
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Apr 17, 2023 · Popular sovereignty is a doctrine that government is created by and subject to the will of the people. Learn how it works in a democracy and see examples from history and current countries.
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- Hobbes: Human Life in A State of Nature
- Locke: The Social Contract Limiting Ruler's Powers
- Rousseau: Who Makes The Laws?
- Popular Sovereignty and The Us Government
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Thomas Hobbes wrote The Leviathan in 1651, during the English Civil War, and in it, he laid out the first basis of popular sovereignty. According to his theory, human beings were selfish and if left alone, in what he called a "state of nature," human life would be "nasty, brutish, and short." Therefore, to survive people give over their rights to a...
John Locke wrote Two Treatises on Government in 1689, in response to another paper (Robert Filmer's Patriarcha) which argued that kings have a "divine right" to rule. Locke said that the power of a king or government doesn't come from God, but comes from the people. People make a "social contract" with their government, trading away some of their r...
Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote The Social Contractin 1762. In this, he proposes that "Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains." These chains are not natural, says Rousseau, but they come about through the "right of the strongest," the unequal nature of power and control. According to Rousseau, people must willingly give legitimate authority t...
The idea of popular sovereignty was still evolving when the founding fathers were writing the US Constitution during the Constitutional Convention of 1787. In fact, popular sovereignty is one of six foundational principles on which the convention built the US Constitution. The other five principles are a limited government, the separation of powers...
Deneys-Tunney, Anne. "Rousseau shows us that there is a way to break the chains—from within." The Guardian, July 15, 2012.Douglass, Robin. "Fugitive Rousseau: Slavery, Primitivism, and Political Freedom." Contemporary Political Theory14.2 (2015): e220–e23.Habermas, Jurgen. "Popular sovereignty as procedure." Eds., Bohman, James, and William Rehg. Deliberative Democracy: Essays on Reason and Politics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997. 35–66.Hobbes, Thomas. "The Leviathan, or the Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill." London: Andrew Crooke, 1651. McMaster University Archive of the History of Economic Tho...Popular sovereignty is the idea that the people are the source of governmental power and authority. Learn how this principle evolved from Enlightenment philosophers and influenced the US Constitution and the debate over slavery.
Popular sovereignty is the idea that governments must follow the wishes of the people. Learn more about this political concept, its history and its contrast with monarchy, with examples and pronunciation.
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Popular sovereignty is the doctrine that the people are the ultimate source of political authority and that their will should be reflected in government. Learn about its origin, history, and usage in American politics and other contexts.
