History Of The Theory Of Sovereignty Since Rousseau

Excerpt from History of the Theory of Sovereignty Since Rousseau The beginnings of the theory of sovereignty are found in Aristotle's Politics, and the classic body of the Roman Law. In the Politics there is a recognition of the fact that there must be a supreme power existing in the state, and that this power may be in the hands of one, or a few, or of many.' In Chapter II, of Book III, appears a justification of the rule of the many, fairly expressed in the statement that the principle that the multitude ought to be supreme rather than the few best is capable of a satisfactory explanation, and though not free from difficulty, yet seems to contain an element of truth. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This innovative research monograph on sovereignty argues that the historical examination of the concept and the conceptual analysis of sovereignty are interdependent. The book engages with and makes a significant contribution to the literatures on sovereignty from the history of political thought and political theory. It offers a clear survey and evaluation of interlinked debates within these literatures, and provides lively and scholarly interpretations of thinkers including Bodin, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Foucault and Schmitt. This book will be of interest to historians of political thought, political theorists, political philosophers, IR theorists, and legal theorists.