WHAT IS SOVEREIGNTY, TYPES AND FEATURES OF SOVEREIGNTY

Sovereignty is a modern day feature which means the superior power the government/state has on every citizen or inhabitants of that particular city or country, when a state is sovereign, it is
totally free from opposition from other state or country to be precise, the supremacy of a state over its citizens which is derived from the monopoly of the legitimate use of force.

To enforce law in a particular state, there must be some certain sovereign body who might have attain there power through the people (in a democratic state) or use of force ( in a military regime), these body are said to be overall, best, qualify and all sufficient when it comes to administrational affairs, these body sees to the day to day running of business in the political affair of the country likewise they also make sure the law is still in tact and no-one has violate the tenet that made it up.

The word “sovereignty” is derived from the a Latin word “superamus” which means supremacy. As such sovereignty means the Supreme power or authority of a state.

The word sovereignty was first use by a French philosopher called Jean bodin and close supporter of the king of France in his book “republique” published in 1576. In the book Jean bodin argue the sovereignty is just a vital element of a state which the king or any head who serve as the legítimate holder has absolute supremacy on of which should not be shared with anyone. In other word the king or the ruler has only power subject to only the laws of God, of nature and of the nation.

TYPES OF SOVEREIGNTY

1. LEGAL SOVEREIGNTY : legal sovereignty is the existence of some legal institutions in the society, this are institutions which might have been created for administration and regulatory purpose, the likes of  legislature, executive and judiciary are all legal institutions created by the state to see to the affairs of it, for instance in a parliamentary system of government the legislature serves as the most sovereign institution because it is the body of law makers and they make laws and unmake laws. Though in a presidential system the most legal institutions cannot be well figure out because of it complex nature but at least it could still be linked to executive as it has power of prerogative of mercy which means might grant free to any crime committed , delegated legislations and also formulate policy, with all these functions you can see that the sovereignty of presidential system remains with the executive in presidential system.

2. POLITICAL SOVEREIGNTY : political sovereignty is one in which the Supreme power is vested in the hand of the electorate, this types of sovereignty mainly happens in time of election I.e the time you can choose your leader to see to the state administration.

In democracy the power of electorate is manifested in the following :

A. The responsibility to vote in the legislature I.e the law makers who will in turn help control some excess that the executive might like to commit

B. The right of individual to get himself elected

C.  The right to pour out once opinions in government activities.

D. The power of the people to concede to or withdraw obedience from the legal sovereign

Note and belief : the legitimacy of a state is derived by a leader from the general consent of the populace or the people.

3. DE FACTO SOVEREIGNTY :  a group of people who come into power through the use of coup de tat, revolution, invasion and can compel obedience through the use of force is what is totally know has de-facto sovereignty.

4. DE-JURE SOVEREIGNTY : DE-JURE sovereignty is the on which almost have an element of authority and legitimacy whereby the people recognize him/her as the their leader, it use the tenet of law rather than force alone. Thus, a de-facto sovereign of a state may, with time metamorphose into DE-JURE sovereignty.

5. EXTERNAL SOVEREIGNTY : External sovereignty refers to the freedom of a state from foreign control. External sovereignty to some is a myth in this era of globalization and neo-colonialism.

FEATURES OF SOVEREIGNTY

1. Absoluteness : the power of sovereign are legally unlimited. That is, in theory the legal sovereign can do what he feels is best even sometimes without the consent of is people, the people in turn belief in is judgment.

2. Comprehensive : the sovereign has power has power over every individual in a state except from some diplomat because they are diplomat with diplomatic immunity.

3. Permanence : as far a state will be state which means will be for life there is continuity of sovereignty, the government might change but state never change which means sovereignty sustain after all.

4.  Indivisibility : as emphasis by traditional, sovereignty cannot be divided. The sovereign might delegated some of its power to component unit but the Supreme power cannot be shared. The watchword/motto is ONE STATE; ONE SOVEREIGNTY.