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Popular Sovereignty, Doctrine of

THE DOCTRINE OFpopular sovereignty is a political term that implies that the power of the state rests with the people, who have supreme power. In the preamble to the U.S. Constitution, the doctrine is conveyed with the words: “We the people of the United States … do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

The doctrine is also conveyed in three of the seven articles in the Constitution. In Article 1, the representatives to Congress must be “elected by the people.” Article 5 allows for amendments to fundamental law by elected officials of the populace. The final Article grants the people the power to appoint their own representatives to the ratification conventions, which required nine of the original 12 states' approval.

Squatter Sovereignty

As it is not identified with the government, but rather with the entire commonwealth, popular sovereignty is fundamentally distinct from territorial sovereignty. A phrase coined by Stephen A. Douglas in 1854 for use by settlers of newly discovered territories, popular sovereignty, also known as squatter sovereignty, is mostly identified with the battle over American slavery. It held that whoever resided on a territory should have ultimate authority. It was applied as an alternative to issuing a federal mandate that would have outlawed slavery, allowing for the decision to be a locally accepted and enforced at the state level.

The Civil War was held off by the Compromise of 1850 and the enactment of the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854). Paradoxically, Douglas claimed that Scott v. Sanford (1857) protected popular sovereignty, although today it is considered to be the worst U.S. Supreme Court decision ever rendered.

Like any political concept or symbol, popular sovereignty has been manipulated for the benefit of private interests. Historically, it was used as a way of appeasing southern, pro-slavery states into not being forced to join the Union. But as a workable compromise, it is viewed largely as a failure because of the devastating violence that ensued in Bleeding Kansas. The idea worked against pro-slavery voters, hurt the reputation of Douglas, divided the Democratic Party, and ultimately helped Abraham Lincoln assume the presidency.

Theoretical Basis

The theoretical basis of the doctrine lies in the dignity and freedom of the individual to secure their fundamental rights. It is not synonymous with democracy, because it can be the founding of other more authoritarian forms of government. As a principle of government, it holds that the origin and power of government resides with the consent of the governed. Its basis is liberal and democratic. It is attached to the social contract theories of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and lean-Jacques Rousseau. It arose largely in response to the Divine Right of Kings doctrine, arguing that the right of the people to govern themselves was decreed by God. Rule is acted out by those who are viewed as having the knowledge needed to govern in the best interest of the people.

Popular sovereignty is one of the most important principles establishing protections against the corruption of those in political power, because any branch or agency derives its authority from the people. Only in a very small community is direct rule by all citizens a likely possibility. All other forms of popular government must rely upon representative systems, unless the demographics of the state are small enough to make direct political involvement possible. Government by the people operates according to majority rule in determining the outcome of elections or passing laws. Abraham Lincoln articulated it best in saying that “government for the people must be government of the people and by the people.”

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