Popular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people's rule is the principle that the authority of a state and its government is created and sustained by the consent of its people, through their elected representatives (Rule by the People), who are the source of all political power. It is closely associated with social contract philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Popular sovereignty expresses a concept and does not necessarily reflect or describe a political reality. It is usually contrasted with the concept of parliamentary sovereignty, and with individual sovereignty. The people have the final say in government decisions. Benjamin Franklin expressed the concept when he wrote, "In free governments, the rulers are the servants and the people their superiors and sovereigns".
Americans founded their Revolution and government on popular sovereignty, but the term was also used in the 1850s to describe a highly controversial approach to slavery in the territories as propounded by senator Stephen A. Douglas. It meant that local residents of a territory would be the ones to decide if slavery would be permitted, and it led to bloody warfare in Bleeding Kansas as violent proponents and enemies of slavery flooded Kansas territory in order to decide the elections. An earlier development of popular sovereignty arose from philosopher Francisco Suarez and became the basis for Latin American independence. Popular sovereignty also can be described as the voice of the people.
Why is the idea of popular sovereignty so important in the American system of government?
Professor Kurt Lash explains this unique American concept and its ramifications. The will of the people manifests itself in a written Constitution which supercedes any government activity. The Constitution is designed to maintain the delicate balance between the national government and the state governments. The popular sovereignty of the people is thus preserved at both the local and national levels.
Professor Kurt T. Lash holds the E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Chair in Law at the University of Richmond School of Law. He is the Founder and Director of the Richmond Program on the American Constitution.
* * * * *
As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or publ...
published: 24 Oct 2019
Popular Sovereignty
published: 12 Nov 2018
Popular Sovereignty (Breakdown Short)
In this Breakdown Short, Coach Jones discusses the principle of Popular Sovereignty.
published: 24 Jul 2020
Cool Constitution Challenge - Popular Sovereignty
Are you prepared to take the Cool Constitution Challenge with Mr. Review? Challenge yourself and your friends to read the U.S. Constitution . . . and be glad to share what you have learned. Today Mr. Review helps us understand POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY.
published: 02 Aug 2016
5. Rousseau: Popular Sovereignty and General Will
Foundations of Modern Social Thought (SOCY 151)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau had a colorful early life. Orphaned at ten, he moved in with a woman ten years his senior at sixteen. Their probable love affair is the subject of Stendhal's book Le Rouge et la Noir. Rousseau was friends and sometimes enemies with many major figures in the French Enlightenment. Although he did not live to see the French Revolution, many of Rousseau's path-breaking and controversial ideas about universal suffrage, the general will, consent of the governed, and the need for a popularly elected legislature unquestionably shaped the Revolution. The general will, the idea that the interest of the collective must sometimes have precedence over individual will, is a complex idea in social and political thought; it has prove...
published: 05 Mar 2011
Popular Sovereignty Leads to Bleeding Kansas
The proposal that each territory decide for itself whether or not slavery should exist seemed like a fair solution to the slavery issue. But, it didn't turn out that way.
published: 01 May 2020
Popular Sovereignty and Constitutional Ratification, by Professor John Kaminski
Popular Sovereignty and Constitutional Ratification, by Professor John P. Kaminski, Director, Center for the Study of the American Constitution, University of Wisconsin-Madison. This short video highlights the importance of popular sovereignty in the ratification debates. The people themselves, through their elected delegates in specially-called conventions, voted up or down on the new Constitution. Professor John Kaminksi notes how the Antifederalists also used the principle of popular sovereignty to justify their call for constitutional amendments.
American History Videos are sponsored by the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation. These videos are offered to help teachers, students and the general public learn more about America's founding and the Constitution of the United State...
published: 09 Nov 2015
Popular Sovereignty and Higher Law: Ideas that Informed the American Founders, Part 11
In democracies, the sovereign people are the ultimate authority that grants all powers exercised by government. This is called popular sovereignty. Learn more about this critical term in today’s episode!
60-Second Civics, Episode 4424: September 6, 2021
Subscribe and take the Daily Civics Quiz at http://civiced.org/60-second-civics
The show’s theme song is “Complacent” by Cheryl B. Engelhardt. You can find Cheryl online at cbemusic.com.
Content Credits:
Visual 1 & 5 (March on Washington): The March on Washington gets underway. Photo: Warren K. Leffler. Prints and Photographs Division; Library of Congress: https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/06/protests-that-changed-america-the-march-on-washington/
Visual 2 (Protest in BW): The march in full progress, including a man in a wheelchair. Photo:...
published: 06 Sep 2021
Popular Sovereignty - Liam Learns
This video helps students understand the constitutional principle of popular sovereignty and how that concept operates within our government.
In the Liam Learns...7 Principles of the Constitution video series, we feature short videos on popular sovereignty, republicanism, federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, limited government and individual rights. Lesson plans for classroom implementation are also available.
Learn more here: https://texaslre.org/liam-learns/
For more information about LRE, please visit our website https://texaslre.org/
Follow Law Related Education on social media!
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/texaslre
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Texas_LRE
Why is the idea of popular sovereignty so important in the American system of government?
Professor Kurt Lash explains this unique American concept and its ram...
Why is the idea of popular sovereignty so important in the American system of government?
Professor Kurt Lash explains this unique American concept and its ramifications. The will of the people manifests itself in a written Constitution which supercedes any government activity. The Constitution is designed to maintain the delicate balance between the national government and the state governments. The popular sovereignty of the people is thus preserved at both the local and national levels.
Professor Kurt T. Lash holds the E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Chair in Law at the University of Richmond School of Law. He is the Founder and Director of the Richmond Program on the American Constitution.
* * * * *
As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.
Subscribe to the series’ playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWwcngsYgoUVuiVj2TkrPolK5t6jD4PKa
Why is the idea of popular sovereignty so important in the American system of government?
Professor Kurt Lash explains this unique American concept and its ramifications. The will of the people manifests itself in a written Constitution which supercedes any government activity. The Constitution is designed to maintain the delicate balance between the national government and the state governments. The popular sovereignty of the people is thus preserved at both the local and national levels.
Professor Kurt T. Lash holds the E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Chair in Law at the University of Richmond School of Law. He is the Founder and Director of the Richmond Program on the American Constitution.
* * * * *
As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.
Subscribe to the series’ playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWwcngsYgoUVuiVj2TkrPolK5t6jD4PKa
Are you prepared to take the Cool Constitution Challenge with Mr. Review? Challenge yourself and your friends to read the U.S. Constitution . . . and be glad t...
Are you prepared to take the Cool Constitution Challenge with Mr. Review? Challenge yourself and your friends to read the U.S. Constitution . . . and be glad to share what you have learned. Today Mr. Review helps us understand POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY.
Are you prepared to take the Cool Constitution Challenge with Mr. Review? Challenge yourself and your friends to read the U.S. Constitution . . . and be glad to share what you have learned. Today Mr. Review helps us understand POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY.
Foundations of Modern Social Thought (SOCY 151)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau had a colorful early life. Orphaned at ten, he moved in with a woman ten years his seni...
Foundations of Modern Social Thought (SOCY 151)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau had a colorful early life. Orphaned at ten, he moved in with a woman ten years his senior at sixteen. Their probable love affair is the subject of Stendhal's book Le Rouge et la Noir. Rousseau was friends and sometimes enemies with many major figures in the French Enlightenment. Although he did not live to see the French Revolution, many of Rousseau's path-breaking and controversial ideas about universal suffrage, the general will, consent of the governed, and the need for a popularly elected legislature unquestionably shaped the Revolution. The general will, the idea that the interest of the collective must sometimes have precedence over individual will, is a complex idea in social and political thought; it has proven both fruitful and dangerous. Rousseau's ideas have been respected and used by both liberals and repressive Communist and totalitarian leaders.
00:00 - Chapter 1. Rousseau in a Historical Context
15:10 - Chapter 2. Major Works and Lasting Legacy
26:06 - Chapter 3. "The Social Contract": Major Themes
31:22 - Chapter 4. Book I: Legitimate Rule, Diluted Justice, Popular Sovereignty
37:43 - Chapter 5. Book II: General Will, Law and the Lawgivers
Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses
This course was recorded in Fall 2009.
Foundations of Modern Social Thought (SOCY 151)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau had a colorful early life. Orphaned at ten, he moved in with a woman ten years his senior at sixteen. Their probable love affair is the subject of Stendhal's book Le Rouge et la Noir. Rousseau was friends and sometimes enemies with many major figures in the French Enlightenment. Although he did not live to see the French Revolution, many of Rousseau's path-breaking and controversial ideas about universal suffrage, the general will, consent of the governed, and the need for a popularly elected legislature unquestionably shaped the Revolution. The general will, the idea that the interest of the collective must sometimes have precedence over individual will, is a complex idea in social and political thought; it has proven both fruitful and dangerous. Rousseau's ideas have been respected and used by both liberals and repressive Communist and totalitarian leaders.
00:00 - Chapter 1. Rousseau in a Historical Context
15:10 - Chapter 2. Major Works and Lasting Legacy
26:06 - Chapter 3. "The Social Contract": Major Themes
31:22 - Chapter 4. Book I: Legitimate Rule, Diluted Justice, Popular Sovereignty
37:43 - Chapter 5. Book II: General Will, Law and the Lawgivers
Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses
This course was recorded in Fall 2009.
The proposal that each territory decide for itself whether or not slavery should exist seemed like a fair solution to the slavery issue. But, it didn't turn out...
The proposal that each territory decide for itself whether or not slavery should exist seemed like a fair solution to the slavery issue. But, it didn't turn out that way.
The proposal that each territory decide for itself whether or not slavery should exist seemed like a fair solution to the slavery issue. But, it didn't turn out that way.
Popular Sovereignty and Constitutional Ratification, by Professor John P. Kaminski, Director, Center for the Study of the American Constitution, University of W...
Popular Sovereignty and Constitutional Ratification, by Professor John P. Kaminski, Director, Center for the Study of the American Constitution, University of Wisconsin-Madison. This short video highlights the importance of popular sovereignty in the ratification debates. The people themselves, through their elected delegates in specially-called conventions, voted up or down on the new Constitution. Professor John Kaminksi notes how the Antifederalists also used the principle of popular sovereignty to justify their call for constitutional amendments.
American History Videos are sponsored by the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation. These videos are offered to help teachers, students and the general public learn more about America's founding and the Constitution of the United States. www.jamesmadison.gov.
Popular Sovereignty and Constitutional Ratification, by Professor John P. Kaminski, Director, Center for the Study of the American Constitution, University of Wisconsin-Madison. This short video highlights the importance of popular sovereignty in the ratification debates. The people themselves, through their elected delegates in specially-called conventions, voted up or down on the new Constitution. Professor John Kaminksi notes how the Antifederalists also used the principle of popular sovereignty to justify their call for constitutional amendments.
American History Videos are sponsored by the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation. These videos are offered to help teachers, students and the general public learn more about America's founding and the Constitution of the United States. www.jamesmadison.gov.
In democracies, the sovereign people are the ultimate authority that grants all powers exercised by government. This is called popular sovereignty. Learn more a...
In democracies, the sovereign people are the ultimate authority that grants all powers exercised by government. This is called popular sovereignty. Learn more about this critical term in today’s episode!
60-Second Civics, Episode 4424: September 6, 2021
Subscribe and take the Daily Civics Quiz at http://civiced.org/60-second-civics
The show’s theme song is “Complacent” by Cheryl B. Engelhardt. You can find Cheryl online at cbemusic.com.
Content Credits:
Visual 1 & 5 (March on Washington): The March on Washington gets underway. Photo: Warren K. Leffler. Prints and Photographs Division; Library of Congress: https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/06/protests-that-changed-america-the-march-on-washington/
Visual 2 (Protest in BW): The march in full progress, including a man in a wheelchair. Photo: Warren K. Leffler. Prints and Photographs Division; Library of Congress: https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/06/protests-that-changed-america-the-march-on-washington/
Visual 3 (Rolled Constitution): Bill Oxford, Getty Images Signature/Canva
Visual 4 (Lady Justice): audioundwerbun, Getty Images Pro/Canva
Visual 6 (Congress): Obama White House/Flickr:https://flic.kr/p/7z2sQu
Visual 7 (Amendment resolution): 15th Amendment, House.gov: https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Fifteenth-Amendment/Reconstruction/
Visual 8 (Constitution with gavel): Creativeye99, Getty Images Signature/Canva
In democracies, the sovereign people are the ultimate authority that grants all powers exercised by government. This is called popular sovereignty. Learn more about this critical term in today’s episode!
60-Second Civics, Episode 4424: September 6, 2021
Subscribe and take the Daily Civics Quiz at http://civiced.org/60-second-civics
The show’s theme song is “Complacent” by Cheryl B. Engelhardt. You can find Cheryl online at cbemusic.com.
Content Credits:
Visual 1 & 5 (March on Washington): The March on Washington gets underway. Photo: Warren K. Leffler. Prints and Photographs Division; Library of Congress: https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/06/protests-that-changed-america-the-march-on-washington/
Visual 2 (Protest in BW): The march in full progress, including a man in a wheelchair. Photo: Warren K. Leffler. Prints and Photographs Division; Library of Congress: https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/06/protests-that-changed-america-the-march-on-washington/
Visual 3 (Rolled Constitution): Bill Oxford, Getty Images Signature/Canva
Visual 4 (Lady Justice): audioundwerbun, Getty Images Pro/Canva
Visual 6 (Congress): Obama White House/Flickr:https://flic.kr/p/7z2sQu
Visual 7 (Amendment resolution): 15th Amendment, House.gov: https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Fifteenth-Amendment/Reconstruction/
Visual 8 (Constitution with gavel): Creativeye99, Getty Images Signature/Canva
This video helps students understand the constitutional principle of popular sovereignty and how that concept operates within our government.
In the Liam Learn...
This video helps students understand the constitutional principle of popular sovereignty and how that concept operates within our government.
In the Liam Learns...7 Principles of the Constitution video series, we feature short videos on popular sovereignty, republicanism, federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, limited government and individual rights. Lesson plans for classroom implementation are also available.
Learn more here: https://texaslre.org/liam-learns/
For more information about LRE, please visit our website https://texaslre.org/
Follow Law Related Education on social media!
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/texaslre
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Texas_LRE
This video helps students understand the constitutional principle of popular sovereignty and how that concept operates within our government.
In the Liam Learns...7 Principles of the Constitution video series, we feature short videos on popular sovereignty, republicanism, federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, limited government and individual rights. Lesson plans for classroom implementation are also available.
Learn more here: https://texaslre.org/liam-learns/
For more information about LRE, please visit our website https://texaslre.org/
Follow Law Related Education on social media!
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/texaslre
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Texas_LRE
Why is the idea of popular sovereignty so important in the American system of government?
Professor Kurt Lash explains this unique American concept and its ramifications. The will of the people manifests itself in a written Constitution which supercedes any government activity. The Constitution is designed to maintain the delicate balance between the national government and the state governments. The popular sovereignty of the people is thus preserved at both the local and national levels.
Professor Kurt T. Lash holds the E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Chair in Law at the University of Richmond School of Law. He is the Founder and Director of the Richmond Program on the American Constitution.
* * * * *
As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.
Subscribe to the series’ playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWwcngsYgoUVuiVj2TkrPolK5t6jD4PKa
Are you prepared to take the Cool Constitution Challenge with Mr. Review? Challenge yourself and your friends to read the U.S. Constitution . . . and be glad to share what you have learned. Today Mr. Review helps us understand POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY.
Foundations of Modern Social Thought (SOCY 151)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau had a colorful early life. Orphaned at ten, he moved in with a woman ten years his senior at sixteen. Their probable love affair is the subject of Stendhal's book Le Rouge et la Noir. Rousseau was friends and sometimes enemies with many major figures in the French Enlightenment. Although he did not live to see the French Revolution, many of Rousseau's path-breaking and controversial ideas about universal suffrage, the general will, consent of the governed, and the need for a popularly elected legislature unquestionably shaped the Revolution. The general will, the idea that the interest of the collective must sometimes have precedence over individual will, is a complex idea in social and political thought; it has proven both fruitful and dangerous. Rousseau's ideas have been respected and used by both liberals and repressive Communist and totalitarian leaders.
00:00 - Chapter 1. Rousseau in a Historical Context
15:10 - Chapter 2. Major Works and Lasting Legacy
26:06 - Chapter 3. "The Social Contract": Major Themes
31:22 - Chapter 4. Book I: Legitimate Rule, Diluted Justice, Popular Sovereignty
37:43 - Chapter 5. Book II: General Will, Law and the Lawgivers
Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses
This course was recorded in Fall 2009.
The proposal that each territory decide for itself whether or not slavery should exist seemed like a fair solution to the slavery issue. But, it didn't turn out that way.
Popular Sovereignty and Constitutional Ratification, by Professor John P. Kaminski, Director, Center for the Study of the American Constitution, University of Wisconsin-Madison. This short video highlights the importance of popular sovereignty in the ratification debates. The people themselves, through their elected delegates in specially-called conventions, voted up or down on the new Constitution. Professor John Kaminksi notes how the Antifederalists also used the principle of popular sovereignty to justify their call for constitutional amendments.
American History Videos are sponsored by the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation. These videos are offered to help teachers, students and the general public learn more about America's founding and the Constitution of the United States. www.jamesmadison.gov.
In democracies, the sovereign people are the ultimate authority that grants all powers exercised by government. This is called popular sovereignty. Learn more about this critical term in today’s episode!
60-Second Civics, Episode 4424: September 6, 2021
Subscribe and take the Daily Civics Quiz at http://civiced.org/60-second-civics
The show’s theme song is “Complacent” by Cheryl B. Engelhardt. You can find Cheryl online at cbemusic.com.
Content Credits:
Visual 1 & 5 (March on Washington): The March on Washington gets underway. Photo: Warren K. Leffler. Prints and Photographs Division; Library of Congress: https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/06/protests-that-changed-america-the-march-on-washington/
Visual 2 (Protest in BW): The march in full progress, including a man in a wheelchair. Photo: Warren K. Leffler. Prints and Photographs Division; Library of Congress: https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/06/protests-that-changed-america-the-march-on-washington/
Visual 3 (Rolled Constitution): Bill Oxford, Getty Images Signature/Canva
Visual 4 (Lady Justice): audioundwerbun, Getty Images Pro/Canva
Visual 6 (Congress): Obama White House/Flickr:https://flic.kr/p/7z2sQu
Visual 7 (Amendment resolution): 15th Amendment, House.gov: https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Fifteenth-Amendment/Reconstruction/
Visual 8 (Constitution with gavel): Creativeye99, Getty Images Signature/Canva
This video helps students understand the constitutional principle of popular sovereignty and how that concept operates within our government.
In the Liam Learns...7 Principles of the Constitution video series, we feature short videos on popular sovereignty, republicanism, federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, limited government and individual rights. Lesson plans for classroom implementation are also available.
Learn more here: https://texaslre.org/liam-learns/
For more information about LRE, please visit our website https://texaslre.org/
Follow Law Related Education on social media!
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/texaslre
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Texas_LRE
Popular sovereignty or the sovereignty of the people's rule is the principle that the authority of a state and its government is created and sustained by the consent of its people, through their elected representatives (Rule by the People), who are the source of all political power. It is closely associated with social contract philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Popular sovereignty expresses a concept and does not necessarily reflect or describe a political reality. It is usually contrasted with the concept of parliamentary sovereignty, and with individual sovereignty. The people have the final say in government decisions. Benjamin Franklin expressed the concept when he wrote, "In free governments, the rulers are the servants and the people their superiors and sovereigns".
Americans founded their Revolution and government on popular sovereignty, but the term was also used in the 1850s to describe a highly controversial approach to slavery in the territories as propounded by senator Stephen A. Douglas. It meant that local residents of a territory would be the ones to decide if slavery would be permitted, and it led to bloody warfare in Bleeding Kansas as violent proponents and enemies of slavery flooded Kansas territory in order to decide the elections. An earlier development of popular sovereignty arose from philosopher Francisco Suarez and became the basis for Latin American independence. Popular sovereignty also can be described as the voice of the people.
“Under the guise of judicial authority, such practices undermine popular sovereignty in a manner comparable to the outcomes of a military coup, subverting the electorate’s will and eroding democratic legitimacy,” he said.
While the AfD remains a polarizing force in German politics, its rising popularity reflects growing dissatisfaction with the status quo, particularly on issues of national sovereignty, immigration, and military intervention.
... and whether his international policies will be based on the promotion of genuine popular representation of the public will and established territorial sovereignty.
... and violated France’s “agricultural sovereignty.” The deal is likely to be rejected by France, Poland, Austria, and (probably) Italy. “Sovereignty” is not a word popular in Brussels at the moment.
When tyrannies and injustices reach unbearable levels, people rise with courage and resilience to reclaim their sovereignty. Tyrants and dynasties, no matter how fortified, crumble like sandcastles before the winds of popular revolutions ... Qamer Soomro.
The weight of the past ... They argued that the final word rests with the people, meaning that there is no issue of popular sovereignty. However, Alivizatos argues that this is only partially accurate ... The 1986 shift ... Checks and balances ... She adds ... .
“France… must now also consider that Chad has grown up, matured, and that Chad is a sovereign state that is very jealous of its sovereignty.” ... The fundamental word in the Sahel is sovereignty.
... championed what is popularly referred to as neoliberalism ... The struggles and sacrifices being made by the Palestinian peoples to defend their dignity and popular sovereignty is the example we embrace.
"The transfer of presidential power comes from the people, and such a process should abide by the Constitution and the principle of popular sovereignty," Woo said in an emergency press conference at ...
"The transfer of presidential power comes from the people, and such a process should abide by the Constitution and the principle of popular sovereignty," Woo said, adding "Impeachment is the only ...
"The transfer of presidential power comes from the people, and such a process should abide by the Constitution and the principle of popular sovereignty," Woo said, adding "Impeachment is the only ...
“The transfer of presidential power comes from the people, and such a process should abide by the Constitution and the principle of popular sovereignty,” Woo said in an emergency press ...
“The authorities concerned should get to the bottom of their occupation of the buildings of the election commission, an institution essential for popular sovereignty, including why and how it happened,” Roh said.
The term frozen conflict was popularized in the years after the fall of the Soviet Union to describe sovereignty disputes in republics such as Georgia and Moldova, where Russian-backed separatists fought with newly independent governments.