what is sovereignty?

Question

what is the meaning of the word sovereighty

Answer 1

Sovereignty is Supremacy in rule or power; the dominion or rule of a lord, king, emperor, or the like; the power that, in the final analysis, determines the government of a state. “Jehovah himself has firmly established his throne in the very heavens; and over everything his own kingship has held domination.” (Psalms 103:19; 145:13.)

For example, he is called the “Sovereign Lord Jehovah.” (2 Samuel 7:22) That lofty title, which occurs hundreds of times in the Bible, tells us Jehovah’s position. He alone has the right to be Ruler.

Over 300 times in the Bible, Jehovah is called “Sovereign Lord.” A sovereign is one who possesses supreme authority. What gives Jehovah our Creator the right to this status? Revelation 4:11 answers: “You are worthy, Jehovah, even our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created.”

Answer 2

Black's Law Dictionary gives the following definition of sovereignty:
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The supreme, absolute, and uncontrollable power by which any independent state is governed; supreme political authority; the supreme will; paramount control of the constitution and frame of government and its administration; the self-sufficient source of political power, from which all specific political powers are derived; the international independence of a state, combined with the right and power of regulating its internal affairs without foreign dictation; also a political society, or state, which is sovereign and independent.

The power to do everything in a state without accountability, -- to make laws, to execute and to apply them, to impose and collect taxes and levy contributions, to make war or peace, to form treaties of alliance or of commerce with foreign nations, and the like.

Sovereignty in government is that public authority which directs or orders what is to be done by each member associated in relation to the end of the association. It is the supreme power by which any citizen is governed and is the person or body of persons in the state to whom there is politically no superior. The necessary existence of the state and that right and power which necessarily follow is "sovereignty." By "sovereignty" in its largest sense is meant supreme, absolute, uncontrollable power, the absolute right to govern. The word which by itself comes nearest to being the definition of "sovereignty" is will or volition as applied to political affairs.
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However, I would argue that in the realm of international politics and international law this definition is not complete. For example, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, the Iraqi government announced this as "annexation" of Kuwait. Of course, those citizens in Kuwait who disagreed with this policy were punished harshly. Importantly, the international community only regarded this as the military occupation of Kuwait, and not the annexation of Kuwait. However, we must note that the Iraqi army in Kuwait exercised "supreme, absolute, and uncontrollable power." Does that mean that Iraq had sovereignty over Kuwait? No.

What is missing in terms of defining "countries" under international law is that there has to be some official transfer of the "juridical person." In the situation of Kuwait, that would mean that there would have to be a peace treaty where the territorial sovereignty of Kuwait was transferred to Iraq. Since that never happened, and there was no international consensus to make that happen, so Iraq could not be considered to have sovereignty over Kuwait.

ROC/Taiwan is the other obvious example. Arguably, the Republic of China fully fufills the specifications of having "sovereignty" over the areas of Formosa and the Pescadores (aka Taiwan) according to Black's Law Dictionary. However, the ROC/Taiwan is not considered a sovereign nation. This is because there has never been any transfer of the "juridical person" of Taiwan to the ROC. In other words, there are no international legal documents which say that the territorial sovereignty of Taiwan belongs to the ROC. According to the post-war San Francisco Peace Treaty, Japan renounced all right, title, and claim to these areas, but the ROC was not the "receiving country." Today, as we know, the United States says: "Taiwan is not independent, it does not enjoy sovereignty as a nation."

In summary, when dealing with issues of military occupation, the definition of "sovereignty" in Black's Law Dictionary is still not good enough, and especially in terms of territorial cession issues.

Answer 3

It means to be independant. But in religous analysis, it means to be supreme. An idependant supreme entity. Even if you prescribe that for yourself. GOD is supposed to be sovereign. No partners at all. So basically, the sovereign(in religous terms) created the heavens, earth, mankind, animals, botany, water for us to be dependant upon, air to brethe, the univers, all of the known, all of the unknown, all of the seen, all of the unseen, and evrything in existance on a whole. Period. In islam, ALLAh has a name called malik. Which is defined in english as THE SOVEREIGN LORD. PEACE!

Answer 4

a : supreme power especially over a body politic

freedom from external control

supreme excellence or an example of it

Answer 5

All the power and control.