Muhammad Badrul Hasan

Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science
University of Dhaka
 Introduction
 Origin
 Definitions
 Characteristics
 Types
 Theory of Jean Austin
 Conclusion
 Sovereignty is main idea of modern political
science.
 It is the most important element of the state
 It is about the power of the state to make
laws and the ability to rule people effectively
 It is a legal concept
 The state is regarded as the supreme having
sovereignty or supreme legal power over all
individual and associations.
 The word sovereignty is derived from the Latin
word „superanus‟ which means supremacy or super
power
 Sovereignty means the supreme power of the state
to make laws and the ability to rule people
effectively
 Although the term “sovereignty” is modern, this
idea goes back to Aristotle who spoke of the
“supreme power”
 The modern terms sovereign and “sovereignty”
were first used by the French jurists in 15th
century
 Jean Bodin was the first writer who discussed the
nature and features of sovereignty in details
 Sovereignty came in the hands of Bodin to be
regarded as the constituent element of state
 Sovereignty means supreme power of
state
 Jean Bodin says-
“Sovereignty means the supreme power of
the state over its citizens and subjects
unrestrained by law”
 John Burgess says-
“original, absolute and ultimate power
over the individual subjects and all
associations of objects”
 Universality
 Permanence
 Absoluteness
 Inalienability
 Indivisibility
 Exclusiveness
 Unrestrained by law
 It makes a state independent and supreme
 It is internal supremacy and external
independence
 It is free to make its own foreign policy
decision without any external pressure
 It has the unrestrained power to make laws ,
issue commands and take decisions
 The sovereign has commanding power to
punish those who disobey its order and
decisions.
 Internal& external sovereignty
 Nominal & real sovereignty
 Legal & popular sovereignty
 De jure & De facto sovereignty
 Monistic & pluralistic sovereignty
 John Austin was an prominent English jurist
who is regarded as the greatest exponent of
the theory of legal sovereignty
 He explained this theory in his famous book
“Lecture on Jurisprudence” published in
1832
 His theory is also regarded as the “Monistic
theory of Sovereignty” as he regarded the
state as the only supreme authority.
 He defined sovereignty as-
“ If a determinate human superior, not in the habit of
obedience to a like superior, receives habitual
obedience from the bulk of a given society, that
determinate human superior is the sovereign in that
society and the society including the superior is a
political and independent society”.
 Every state has a determinate human superior
 The power of a determinate human superior is a
sovereignty
 The determinate human superior is the only law
maker of the state and his commands are laws.
 He has no rival of equal status in the state and
nor does he obey the orders of anyone.
 The bulk of people obey the commands of
determinate human superior as a matter of habit
 The sovereignty is absolute and unlimited
 The society which has determinate human
superior is a political and independent society
 Inconsistent with popular sovereignty
 It is against democratic norms and values
 It encourage dictatorship
 It ignores the other sources of law i.e. customs,
judicial decisions, religion etc.
 It ignores the power of public opinion
 It violates the people‟s fundamental rights
Prof. Laski says-
“The state is only one among the various forms of
associations and as compared with them, has no
superior claim to the individual obedience”
Thank You for Your
Attention!
Any Question?