Sovereignty

I

Introduction

Sovereignty, in political science, the central attribute of the state as a form of political organization. Sovereignty and statehood have become so closely interlinked that a non-sovereign state tends to be regarded as only a quasi-state.

II

Sovereignty as Right and Power

Sovereignty does not signify merely a certain degree or quantity of power, as if the extent to which a state is sovereign can be measured simply by calculating its relative military and economic power. Sovereignty signifies simultaneously a right to act and a power to act. There are cases where the power of a state to act is so confined and limited that its sovereign right to act is rendered largely meaningless. Equally, there are times when the actual power of a state is so great that, although its sovereign right to use this power has not been formally acknowledged by others, it is tacitly recognized. These are extreme cases, however. Normally sovereignty means the possession of a right and power, and disputes about sovereignty are disputes about right and power.

Sovereignty manifests itself in different forms, and this largely accounts for the varying definitions that are given of it. Seen from one angle, the right and power of sovereignty is exercised over territory, and is akin to the right and power of possession or ownership of a potion of the Earth's surface. This ownership of territory includes in turn a right and power over all that exists, whether static or mobile, human or non-human, within the territory concerned, and extends to so-called territorial waters and airspace. Great Britain's claim to sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) is a claim of ownership of this kind. Argentina denies Great Britain's right, claiming a prior right of her own. Argentina has attempted to give her right substance by challenging Great Britain's power in the Falklands War, but without success.

III

Sovereignty as Self-Determination

Sovereignty can be defined more narrowly as the right and power to make the ultimate or final decision about the terms of existence of a whole territorially-based body politic. It denotes a central core of right and power which may be called the right and power of self-determination, that is, a right and power to determine for and by oneself—and not at the command of others—the fundamental issues relating to one's existence. Nationalists in the Canadian province of Quebec have claimed sovereignty for their province in this sense. When states are said to be by definition sovereign, the implication is that they are primary self-directed actors and not secondary or derivative agencies. No external body has the right to command or order a sovereign state to act in a given way about matters of fundamental concern to it.

Sovereignty is consequently often confused with independence, and the definition is accurate so long as it is not confused with total independence. This is because the right of sovereignty itself is based on recognition by other sovereigns, and hence on some kind of relationship with other states. The self-proclaimed republic in Northern Cyprus is a good example of a state that is not sovereign because it is not generally recognized as such.

Sovereignty relates to fundamentals. This is why it is sometimes equated with the right and power to wage war against external enemies or, internally, with the right and power to suspend the normal operation of the law in the face of some threat to peace or stability. In the normal operation of a constitutional regime sovereignty may sometimes seem invisible, and may be decried as non-existent. It shows itself typically in times of crisis and upheaval. In such times sovereign power may well extend in an all-encompassing way, but there is no necessary link between it and a totalitarian form of government.

IV

Indivisibility of Sovereignty

It is implicit in sovereignty, or the concept of an ultimate decider about fundamentals within the state, that it is one and indivisible; to have two sovereign deciders, side by side, within a state would be to have no overall sovereignty, and hence no overall state but at most a quasi-state or a confederation. The holder of sovereignty can, however, delegate, disperse, or even relinquish the right and power to decide about nonfundamentals, without ceasing to be sovereign. This delegation can be done either downwards to the local or regional level, or upwards to the international or supranational level. When the People's Republic of China acquired sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997 it formally recognized that Hong Kong should continue to possess a degree of autonomy; it now governs the former British colony as a Special Administrative Region. A state with a federal government may be defined as one in which the autonomous right and power of regions concerning nonfundamentals has received maximum acknowledgement.