Legitimacy and Sovereignty

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Welcome to class! 

In today’s class, we will be talking about legitimacy and sovereignty. Enjoy the class!

Legitimacy and Sovereignty

This is a political concept which refers to the expectance and recognition by the citizens of a country to the rights they own.  A government is considered legitimate if it comes to power through constitutional means, elected governments are legitimate.

Factors that determine the legitimacy

1. Good and reliable leadership
2. Good government
3. Legitimate through periodic elections
4. Charisma of leaders
5. Customs and traditions
6. Foreign policy objectives
7. Wider scope of politics
8. Ideologies
9. Popular support
10. Open door administration

Sovereignty

Sovereignty means the supreme power and authority of the state over the citizen. The idea of sovereignty originated from Jean Odin [1530-1590] a French political thinker and philosopher.

Characteristics of sovereignty

1. Invisibility
2. Absoluteness
3. Permanence
4. Comprehensiveness
5. Independence of foreign control

Types of sovereignty

1. Legal sovereignty
2. Political or popular sovereignty
3. Defacto sovereignty
4. Dejure sovereignty
5. Internal sovereignty
6. External sovereignty

Location of sovereignty in a state

Sovereignty can be located in any of the following institutions:

1. Location in a federal state
2. Location in a unitary state
3. The electorate
4. In monarch
5. Location in the military regime

Limitations to the sovereignty of a state

• Internal limitation

1. The constitution
2. Public Opinion
3. Customs and traditions
4. Delegated legislation
5. Activities and pressure group
6. The electorate
7. Military
8. Religion and culture
9. Resources – Types of government in power

• External Limitations

1. International organization
2. External aid
3. Independence of state
4. Diplomatic immunity
5. Military agreement or fact
6. External trade
7. The dominance of powerful state
8. Geographical location
9. International laws and convention

 

In our next class, we will be talking about Democracy.  We hope you enjoyed the class.

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