POLI 201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Bowling Alone, Jean Bodin, Jus Sanguinis
27 Jan 2017
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Document Summary
Human nature connects political power with height or size. The word sovereignty means something about power above and beyond, supreme or ultimate authority. Definition by jean bodin, 16th century french thinker: sovereignty is the absolute and perpetual power of a commonwealth. Sovereignty is the authority of an office above all other offices. In a country, sovereignty comes with a cluster of political powers, including: Power to enforce rules of conducting laws. Power of the executive functions of government (maintaining a military, raising revenue, minting money) Power to deal with sovereign powers from other countries. Power to exercise sovereign rights exclusively within the country. Before liberal revolutions of 18th century, sovereignty was usually exercised by one individual. After the glorious revolution in 1688 and the victory of the democrats, sovereignty passed from king to parliament. Parliamentary sovereignty remains the way we think about sovereign power in the uk, Proposed by french political theorist jean jacques rousseau.
