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sovereignty
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Jean Bodin Thomas Hobbes Harold Joseph Laski North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
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Key People:
Thomas Hobbes
Jean Bodin
Harold Joseph Laski

sovereignty, in political theory, the ultimate overseer, or authority, in the decision-making process of the state and in the maintenance of order. The concept of sovereignty—one of the most controversial ideas in political science and international law—is closely related to the difficult concepts of state and government and of independence and democracy. Derived from the Latin superanus through the French souveraineté, the term was originally understood to mean the equivalent of supreme power. However, its application in practice often has departed from this traditional meaning. In 16th-century France Jean Bodin (1530–96) used the new concept of sovereignty to bolster the ...(100 of 1741 words)

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