state sovereignty

(noun)

In American political discourse, the rights held by individual states as opposed to those held by the federal government as determined by the U.S. Constitution.

Related Terms

Examples of state sovereignty in the following topics:

  • The Sovereign States

    • The sovereignty of the states as opposed to the power of the federal government has been a longstanding issue in American politics.
    • Thus, no state may interfere with the federal government's operations as though its sovereignty were superior to that of the federal government; for example, states may not interfere with the federal government's near absolute discretion to sell its own real property even when that real property is located in one or another state.
    • Sometimes, the Supreme Court has even analogized the states to being foreign countries in relation to each other as a means to explain the American system of state sovereignty.
    • However, each state's sovereignty is limited by the U.S.
    • Compare the sovereignty of the states to the power of the federal government

  • National Identity

    • Similarly, the federal government, as an attribute of sovereignty, has the power to enforce those powers that are granted to it.
    • Sometimes, the Supreme Court has even compared the states to being foreign countries in relation to each other to explain the American system of state sovereignty.
    • Each state's sovereignty is limited by the U.S.
    • The Constitution is the supreme law of both the United States as a nation and each state individually.
    • As a result, although the federal government is recognized as sovereign and has supreme power over those matters within its control, the American constitutional system also recognizes the concept of "state sovereignty".

  • "We the People"

    • The phrase can be seen as affirming that the national government the Constitution created derives its sovereignty from the people.
    • Similarly, the federal government, as an attribute of sovereignty, has the power to enforce those powers granted to it.
    • Thus, no state may interfere with the federal government's operations as though its sovereignty were superior to that of the federal government.
    • Sometimes, as a means to explain the US system of state sovereignty, the Supreme Court has even analogized the states as being foreign countries in relation to each other.
    • However, each state's sovereignty is limited by the US Constitution, which is the supreme law of both the United States as a nation and each state.

  • Characteristics of the State

    • States differ in sovereignty, governance, geography, and interests.
    • States may be classified as sovereign if they are not dependent on, or subject to, any other power or state.
    • Other states are subject to external sovereignty or hegemony where ultimate sovereignty lies in another state.
    • Such states differ from sovereign states, in that they have transferred a portion of their sovereign powers to a federal government.
    • In the United States, the state is governed by a government headed by an elected president.

  • Democracy in the U.S.

    • The United States is a federal constitutional republic in which the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.
    • In the United States, suffrage is nearly universal for citizens 18 years of age and older.
    • The United States is a federal constitutional republic in which the President of the United States (the head of state and government), Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.
    • All states and the District of Columbia contribute to the electoral vote for president.
    • These two parties have won every United States presidential election since 1852, and have controlled the United States Congress since at least 1856.

  • Thinking Politically

    • Other states are subject to external sovereignty or hegemony where ultimate sovereignty lies in another state.
    • For example, when India was a colony of the British Empire, India did not have sovereignty of its internal affairs.
    • Similarly, the American Revolution brought an end to British sovereignty over its American colonies in the New World.
    • Other states are subject to external sovereignty or hegemony where ultimate sovereignty lies in another state.
    • For example, when India was a colony of the British Empire, India did not have sovereignty of its internal affairs.

  • "The People"

    • The United States is a union of states.
    • It has also been construed to mean something like "all under the sovereign jurisdiction and authority of the United States. " The phrase has been construed as affirming that the national government created by the Constitution derives its sovereignty from the people, as well as confirming that the government under the Constitution was intended to govern and protect "the people" directly as one society instead of governing only the states as political units.
    • The Court has also understood this language to mean that the sovereignty of the government under the U.S.
    • Thomas Hobbes was a theorist of "sovereignty" in early modern political thought.
    • Explain from whom or from where the national government derives its sovereignty under the Constitution

  • Popular Consent, Majority Rule, and Popular Sovereignty

    • Using thinking similar to that of English philosopher John Locke, the founders of the United States believed in a state built upon the consent of "free and equal" citizens; a state otherwise conceived would lack legitimacy and legal authority.
    • Popular sovereignty is thus a basic tenet of most democracies.
    • Thenceforth, American revolutionaries generally agreed and were committed to the principle that governments were legitimate only if they rested on popular sovereignty–that is, the sovereignty of the people.
    • John Locke was an English philosopher whose writings on the consent of the governed heavily influenced the founders of the United States
    • Explain the significance of popular sovereignty and the consent of the governed for liberal democracy

  • Monarchies and Liberal Democracies

    • Monarchies, in which sovereignty embodied in a single individual, eventually gave way to liberal democracies.
    • Currently, 44 sovereign nations in the world have monarchs acting as heads of state, 16 of which are Commonwealth realms that recognize Queen Elizabeth II of England as their head of state.
    • A monarchy is a form of government in which sovereignty is actually or nominally embodied in a single individual, the monarch.
    • A monarch that has few or no legal restraints in state and political matters is referred to as an absolute monarchy, a form of autocracy.
    • Currently, 44 sovereign nations in the world have monarchs acting as heads of state—16 of those are Commonwealth realms that recognize Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state.

  • [PF content: Popular Sovereignty]