1. The Changing
Nature of
Sovereignty

2. Symbols of Sovereignty

3. Where did it come from?
Originally the term sovereignty referred to the sovereign, or ruler who was the head of the “state” so it referred to a person. X
Indeed, through most of history the ruler was the law, and the US was one of the first states to set that aside firmly

4. Some Key Events in Creating “modern” Sovereignty
The rise of the “nation state” challenging the old Empires. The US was never a nation state; France is, and that led to a lot of historical conflicts within their revolution, leading eventually to its failure. The revolutions of 1848 generally failed, but were the “shape of things to come”
Created the need for institutions “above the state” to counter (a) national rivalries, (b) national versus global interests. So, we got the United Nations and the European Union. The main challenge for our age is globalization
Finished off the old multi-national empires like Austria-Hungary. Great outburst of “nation states” on the principles of Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points.
Introduced the role of the state “above” the individual—fascism did the same thing.
The Treaty of Westphalia, 1648
The American Revolution: 1776
The French Revolution, 1789
The Revolutions of 1848
World War 1,
The Russian Revolution of 1917
World War 2,
The formation of the EU 1957
The Origin of the Modern Secular State
The origins of the Liberal Democratic State (“We The People”)
Failed experiment in new type of state, but too many conflicting philosophies—a thinker’s revolution, not a practical man’s revolution.

5. Sovereignty is not an Absolute
The version of sovereignty we have today was not always there. Before that states came and went with marriages, wars etc
Then in 1648, as the nation state was beginning to emerge, a treaty: The Treaty of Westphalia, was signed establishing the “rules” for the new, secular states.
What were these rules?

6. Before the “Nation State?”
The Church was over everything, but there was an increasing struggle to co-opt the church (warrior popes), and eventually the break came with Protestantism and Martin Luther

7. Shifting Allegiances
Everything was subject to the approval, or sanction, of the Papacy and the Catholic Church.
Previously, you were as likely to belong to somebody as to some place, under feudalism. And marriages and wars constantly shifted boundaries. Much of France, for instance, was English.

8. This is Italy as late as A mass of small states pulled together or set apart by alliances. But the people would all call themselves “Italian,” because they shared a common language, culture and the history of Rome.