The Twilight of Sovereignty
Wriston, Walter B.
2007
Sovereign Acts
Whatever facet of sovereignty people discuss, in the end the central concept is that the actions of the sovereign are not subject to contradiction by any other power. Indeed the defines it as: "The supreme individual authority possessed by the state to enact and enforce its law with respect to all persons, property and events within its borders." | |
The development of sovereignty as a political theory has a long history dating back at least to Roman law, moving through the absolutism of Bodin in the 17th and 18th centuries, to Hobbes and then John Locke and Rousseau. While the ruler, in whatever era, could always find a political philosopher to validate his or her assertion of power, the information revolution has now given history a new reverse twist which stands conventional wisdom on its head. So great is the desire of some nations for the approval of the world that they call in outsiders to validate their own national elections. | |
This is an extraordinary development far removed from the assertion of absolute power in conducting a nation's internal affairs. Consider the Council of Freely Elected Heads of State who Noriega called in Panama to observe the election. Former President Jimmy Carter and some European counterparts told the world in no uncertain terms that the Panama election in 1989 was dishonest and in a sense paved the way for the American military action which followed. The same group was asked to witness the Nicaraguan elections in 1990 and gave their seal of approval which started that country along the road toward a fragile democratic government. In addition to monitoring elections, the whole field of human rights is rapidly becoming a world concern transcending national sovereignty. | |