The concept of "sovereignty" in the modern sense originates in the 19th century. The term is inextricably linked with such concepts as “state”, “country”. It was in the 19th century that the medieval meaning of “sovereign” extended to the entire state, forming the concept of “independence”, while nations stood out in parallel. Read more about what sovereignty, the concept and types of sovereignty - later in the article. Let's start with the definition.
Definition
Before disassembling the types of state sovereignty, we will analyze the concept in more detail. The term comes from the French souverainete, which means "supreme power". This is one of the fundamental features of the state, which gives the right to implement the internal and foreign policies of the state without the intervention of foreign agents (governments, public organizations, etc.).
Sovereignty and international law
It is a mistake to believe that sovereignty means an absolute right to control within the country. All democracies are subject to international law. This means that there are regulations adopted outside the borders of a certain country, but having authority over it.
Let's take our state as an example. The highest judicial instance in Russia is the Supreme and Constitutional Courts. There is a European Court of Human Rights. It is located in Strasbourg, France. It examines cases based on the Human Rights Convention. This is an international legal act that has been ratified by most independent countries. If in Strasbourg it is indicated that any pending legal case in Russia was conducted in violation of the Convention, our courts will be required to cancel the verdicts adopted.
This does not mean that Russia does not have sovereignty. Our country has voluntarily signed and ratified international agreements allowing the International Courts to reverse the decisions of the Russian ones. We can at any time unilaterally withdraw from the contract and ignore the decision of Strasbourg. Voluntary submission is a manifestation of foreign policy. Now more about the types of sovereignty. Further about this.
Types of Sovereignty
So, each independent state has the right to an independent domestic and foreign policy. The following types of sovereignty are distinguished:
State sovereignty: the formation of the concept
The concept of "state sovereignty" developed at the end of the Middle Ages. It was used to separate state power from the church. In the West, the church was an independent institution of power. Unlike the state, it had no territorial borders and was a supranational formation. With the development of centralized power, the need arose for the territorial isolation of one monarch from another. Hence the concept of state sovereignty, as opposed to the church.
The essence of state sovereignty
State power is at the top of the hierarchy. All subsystems and social institutions obey it. Imagine for a short time that state sovereignty was abolished. The era of anarchy will come. Higher regulatory and regulatory institutions cannot exist. A single country will be divided into local principalities, clans that will start a constant war with each other. Spheres such as education, healthcare, security will not be able to function. Without a unified management system, standards, laws, society cannot exist in our usual sense.
The negative consequences of the lack of state sovereignty
History knows many examples when there was no single center of power. These are the so-called periods of dual power. A similar case in our history was in 1917, from the abdication of Nicholas II to the Great October Socialist Revolution, when Lenin's supporters individually took power into their own hands. The experiment is illustrated by the fact that there was a world war. Chaos in the army, failure to fulfill orders, sabotage of rear workers, food crises are only a small part of the problems provoked by anarchy. Two different power systems ultimately led to a bloody civil war, which in its victims was not inferior to the world.
The lack of state sovereignty, the inability of the government to uphold it negatively affects the whole society. It happened, but a similar experiment, unfortunately, our history knows. After the collapse of the USSR, a course was taken towards liberalization and, as a result, the destruction of state sovereignty within the country. Power, as conceived by the reformers, was supposed to represent the interests of society outside the country. Inside it, however, there should be no manifestations of statehood in all spheres of society.
This led to catastrophic consequences: the “invisible hand of the market” did not regulate economic relations, there was a famine, the army lost its combat effectiveness, law enforcement agencies were unable to fight crime, there were no uniform educational standards. This is only a small fraction of the problems that fell to the lot of our country in the early 90s of the last century.
Types of State Sovereignty
State sovereignty has two types:
- Interior. The state has the exclusive right to pass laws and legally use force.
- External. The state can independently conduct foreign policy on behalf of the whole society. International treaties signed on behalf of state authorities are required to comply with all citizens.
Popular sovereignty
We continue to talk about the types of sovereignty. In addition to the state, political scientists distinguish folk. The meaning is that the people, that is, the population permanently residing inside the country, are the subject of power. The most important political decisions depend on people .
The concept of "people's sovereignty" is closely linked to the concept of democracy. The people, people determine the fate and character of their state. Types of sovereignty are not officially registered. The RF Constitution does not mention this. However, the country's Basic Law, in Part 1 of Article 3, says that the bearer of sovereignty and source of power in our country is the multinational people of the Russian Federation.
It is no accident that the “multinational people” is mentioned in the Constitution. This means that we do not have a dominant nation that owns popular sovereignty. Yes, the majority of Russians in Russia. They are a nation-forming nation. This is emphasized by the first persons of the country. However, this does not mean that the Russians are exceptional in exercising popular sovereignty.
The people exercise their right to make decisions through various democratic instruments:
- referenda;
- elections;
- pickets, promotions;
- petitions;
- public organizations, political parties, etc.
It is difficult to organize referenda on each occasion. The utopia of the anarchist Nestor Makhno - to collect peasant gatherings every time - in the conditions of large territories and a huge population is not feasible. To do this, in democratic countries, the sovereignty of the people is carried out through representatives. Our citizens call them "servants of the people."
These include under the Constitution of the Russian Federation:
- President of the Russian Federation.
- Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
- Parliaments of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
- Representative bodies of local self-government.
- Jurors in the courts.
National sovereignty is the right of residents to decide the most important issues in the state.
National sovereignty
We finish the topic "Types of sovereignty" national. This concept means the manifestation in reality of the sovereignty of the nation. Each nation has the right to determine its fate, to solve various issues related to national-state associations, etc.
National sovereignty is manifested in the preservation of identity, language, culture. It also includes the right of a nation to self-determination, enshrined in many international legal acts, up to the separation of one national territory from another.
A striking example of the manifestation of national sovereignty is the separation of Kosovo from Serbia. Kosovo is traditionally a territory of Serbs. However, for many centuries ethnic Albanians settled here. Kosovo Albanians became a sovereign nation, which considered the territory of Kosovo as their homeland. They took advantage of national sovereignty and declared their independence.
The right of the nation to self-determination was laid down in the first Constitution of the USSR. Lenin himself insisted on this, since there were opponents led by Stalin. National republics were given the right to freely withdraw from the Union. Republics within the Russian Federation cannot leave the country under the Constitution, but they also have national sovereignty. It manifests itself in politics within the national republics. The only limitation is that local laws should not contradict federal laws.
So, we have examined what state sovereignty is. The concept, its types were briefly reviewed. To summarize.
Summary
The independence of Russia, that is, the free right to pursue domestic and foreign policy, is called the "sovereignty of the Russian Federation." Its types are as follows: state, national, national. There is no clear distinction between them. These are separate subsystems of a single whole, which forms the country's independence.