The Preamble to the Constitution begins with this bold phrase: "We the people..." These words announce that in the United States, the people establish government and give it its power. The people are sovereign. Since the government receives its power from the people, it can govern only with their consent.
history of Popular sovereignty
Greece
Popular Sovereignty first appeared in ancient Greece. They introduced the idea of a citizen, a person with political rights. They also began rule by democracy, where the government is ruled by the people.
Greek philosophers
Plato and Aristotle emphasized that the best government is one in which the people vote on their governors ad that citizens had to be guarded against the illegitimacy of tyranny.
english bill of rights
The English Bill of Rights utilized Popular Sovereignty by giving certain rights to individuals. It destroyed the divine right of kings theory and created the natural rights theory, which states that all people are born with rights that cannot be taken by the government.
Enlightenment philosophers
Many of enlightenment thinkers believed in natural rights to life, liberty, and property, and that the government should get its power from the people. Rousseau for example, argued that only the people had the right to legislate and people were sovereign. He believed that in a perfect society, people both make and obey laws.
Common sense
A book that was written by Thomas Paine. In this work, Paine claimed that all authority of government officials should originate from the consent of the governed. He called for a republic where the people, not a monarch, were in control.
examples of popular sovereignty in the US
KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT
This act was passed by congress on May 30, 1854. It allowed people in the US territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not they would allow slavery within their borders. Hundreds of pro-slavery and anti-slavery supporters rushed into Kansas in order to settle the vote. A series of elections and an inability to agree led to violence, giving the territory the nickname of "Bleeding Kansas."
This is one of the early examples of popular sovereignty. They gave the people the ability to decide things for themselves. However, in this case it didn't turn out so well. |
26th amendment Another example of popular sovereignty can be found in the ratification of the 26th amendment to the Constitution. This amendment lowered the legal voting age from 21 to 18. It stemmed out of the fact that eighteen-year-olds were serving in the Vietnam war and the people figured that if a young man can fight for his country then he should be able to vote for who runs it. So it was voted upon by the people and people 18 and up were given the ability to vote.
This is just one of many examples of popular sovereignty found in the amendments. It shows the people making decisions as a governing body and changing the constitution. |