Popular sovereignty

Popular sovereignty is the principle that a government’s legitimate authority derives from the people. It grounds political power in popular consent rather than inherited status or divine right.

Social contract: A theory that political authority arises from an agreement, explicit or implicit, among people. It explains how consent can authorize government without treating rulers as naturally entitled to rule.
John Locke: An English philosopher whose political writings defended natural rights and government by consent. Locke made consent and the people’s right to resist central arguments against absolute rule.
Divine right of kings: The doctrine that a monarch’s authority is granted directly by God and is not answerable to earthly subjects. It grounds political legitimacy in divine appointment rather than the people’s consent.
Self-determination: The right of a people to determine its political status and pursue its own development. It extends the idea of collective political authority to peoples seeking autonomy or independence.
Consent of the governed: The principle that legitimate political authority depends on the agreement of those subject to it. It is the central justification for popular sovereignty’s claim that people authorize government.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau: A Genevan philosopher whose political theory located sovereignty in the people and the general will. Rousseau developed a powerful account of collective self-rule grounded in popular sovereignty.
Absolute monarchy: A system of government in which a monarch holds largely unrestricted political power. It concentrates authority in a ruler instead of deriving it from popular authorization.
Citizenship: The legal status of membership in a political community, with associated rights and duties. Popular sovereignty raises the question of who belongs to the people entitled to authorize rule.
Constitutionalism: The principle that government is limited by and accountable to a constitution. Constitutions channel popular authority while restricting what governments may do in its name.
American Revolution: The struggle from 1765 to 1783 in which thirteen British colonies won independence. Revolutionary declarations and constitutions presented political authority as resting on the people.

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