📘 POLITICAL THEORY – SOVEREIGNTY
Meaning • Evolution • Thinkers • Types • Indian Context • Global Debate
1️⃣ WHAT IS SOVEREIGNTY?
Sovereignty means supreme authority within a territory.
It implies ultimate power that is final and binding.
2️⃣ JEAN BODIN – CLASSICAL THEORY
- Sovereignty is absolute and indivisible.
- It cannot be shared.
- Located in the monarch.
This theory supported absolute monarchy.
3️⃣ THOMAS HOBBES
People surrender rights to Leviathan for security.
- Sovereignty must be absolute.
- No right to revolt.
4️⃣ JOHN LOCKE
- Sovereignty lies with the people.
- Government is limited.
- Right to revolt exists.
Foundation of liberal democracy.
5️⃣ ROUSSEAU
Sovereignty belongs to the General Will.
- Inalienable
- Indivisible
- Popular in nature
6️⃣ LEGAL vs POLITICAL SOVEREIGNTY
- Legal Sovereignty → Parliament (law-making authority)
- Political Sovereignty → People (ultimate source)
In India, people are sovereign.
7️⃣ INTERNAL vs EXTERNAL SOVEREIGNTY
- Internal → Supreme power within territory
- External → Independence from foreign control
8️⃣ PLURALIST CRITIQUE
Laski and Duguit argued sovereignty is not absolute.
Power is distributed among social institutions.
9️⃣ GLOBALIZATION CHALLENGE
- International law
- WTO, UN
- Human rights regimes
Sovereignty today is shared and limited.
🔟 SOVEREIGNTY IN INDIA
"We, the People of India" – Preamble
- Popular Sovereignty
- Parliamentary Sovereignty limited by Constitution
- Judicial Review
📝 UPSC MAINS QUESTIONS
- Trace the evolution of the concept of sovereignty.
- Is sovereignty still relevant in the age of globalization?
- Compare Hobbes and Rousseau on sovereignty.
- Discuss sovereignty in the Indian constitutional framework.
📌 QUICK REVISION MAP
- Bodin → Absolute
- Hobbes → Security-based sovereignty
- Locke → Limited sovereignty
- Rousseau → Popular sovereignty
- Pluralists → Distributed power
- Globalization → Shared sovereignty
Without Sovereignty, there is no State. Without People, there is no Sovereignty.
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