The Very Idea of Popular Sovereignty: “We the People” Reconsidered

Summary

The sovereignty of the people, it is widely said, is the foundation of modern democracy. The truth of this claim depends on the plausibility of attributing sovereignty to “the people” in the first place, and I shall express skepticism about this possibility. I shall suggest as well that the notion of popular sovereignty is complex, and that appeals to the notion may be best understood as expressing several different ideas and ideals. This essay distinguishes many of these and suggests that greater clarity at least would be obtained by focusing directly on these notions and ideals and eschewing that of sovereignty. My claim, however, will not merely be that the notion is multifaceted and complex. I shall argue as well that the doctrine that the people are, or ought to be, sovereign is misleading in potentially dangerous ways, and is conducive to a misunderstanding of the nature of politics, governance, and social order. It would be well to do without the doctrine, but it may be equally important to understand its errors. Our understandings and justifications of democracy, certainly, should dispense with popular sovereignty.

SOVEREIGNTY

I shall start with an explication of the notion of sovereignty. The analysis I offer is complex and cannot be fully defended here. While I would contend that this account captures the essential elements of modern notions of sovereignty, it may appear to beg the question against popular sovereignty. For it will be hard to see how the people could be sovereign on my analysis.