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Sovereignty

About: Sovereignty is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 25909 publications have been published within this topic receiving 410148 citations.


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Book
23 Mar 2005
TL;DR: Spruyt as mentioned in this paper argues that the domestic institutional structures of the central governments of the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands can explain the variations in territorial policy and why some governments have greater latitude to alter existing territorial arrangements whereas others are constrained in their room for maneuver.
Abstract: At the dawn of the twentieth century, imperial powers controlled most of the globe. Within a few decades after World War II, many of the great empires had dissolved, and more recently, multinational polities have similarly disbanded. This process of reallocating patterns of authority, from internal hierarchy to inter-state relations, proved far more contentious in some cases than in others. While some governments exited the colonial era without becoming embroiled in lengthy conflicts, others embarked on courses that drained their economies, compelled huge sacrifices, and caused domestic upheaval and revolution. What explains these variations in territorial policy? More specifically, why do some governments have greater latitude to alter existing territorial arrangements whereas others are constrained in their room for maneuver? In Ending Empire, Hendrik Spruyt argues that the answer lies in the domestic institutional structures of the central governments. Fragmented polities provide more opportunities for hard-liners to veto concessions to nationalist and secessionist demands, thus making violent conflict more likely. Spruyt examines these dynamics in the democratic colonial empires of Britain, France, and the Netherlands. He then turns to the authoritarian Portuguese empire and the break-up of the Soviet Union. Finally, the author submits that this theory, which speaks to the political dynamics of partition, can be applied to other contested territories, including those at the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

97 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the conflict and interaction between human rights and state sovereignty in asylum cases based on gender persecution and conclude that rights are instruments that facilitate political and social intervention and that the context in which rights are invoked is crucial to their potential effect.
Abstract: This article explores the conflict and interaction between human rights and state sovereignty in asylum cases based on gender persecution. International refugees theoretically can invoke their universal human rights to gain asylum from the oppressive or restrictive behavior of sovereign states. If however such claims are met by relativization of the content of protected rights in line with practices prevailing in different states the asylum system is undermined and individual protection diminished. In areas of gender persecution therefore state control of intimate behavior becomes legitimized. After an introductory section the essay considers modern international refugee protections in light of the post-World War II compromise between individual and state rights. The next section looks at the legacy of the cold war and the influence of foreign policy on the refugee system. This is followed by a consideration of the relevance of national sovereignty in terms of legal standards and ethical judgements. The essay continues by reviewing court decisions in which persecution was legitimated through asylum denials and discussing whether these cases represented a respect for sovereignty or a desire to restrict the numbers of refugees. During the next stage analyzed that precipitated by the Islamic threat to feminism the courts moved from denials of asylum to greater sensitivity in treatment of asylum-seekers who were expressing dissidence over gendered norms. The final discussion reviews decisions regarding the intimate types of violence over womens bodies represented by forced sterilizations in China and female genital mutilation in other settings. It is concluded that rights are instruments that facilitate political and social intervention and that the context in which rights are invoked is crucial to their potential effect.

96 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examines the double bind that faces American Indians in the Anglophone settler states: the need-based sovereignty and the legitimacy of American Indians' sovereignty and citizenship within settler society.
Abstract: This essay examines a double bind that faces indigenous peoples in the Anglophone settler states, the double bind of need-based sovereignty. This double bind works as follows: indigenous sovereigns, such as American Indian tribal nations, require economic resources to exercise sovereignty, and their revenues often derive from their governmental rights; however, once they exercise economic power, the legitimacy of indigenous sovereignty and citizenship is challenged within settler society. Through analysis of Florida Seminole gaming and the threatened severance of Seminoles’ governmental status by mid-1900s federal “termination” policy, I show how economy-linked limits to indigenous sovereignty and citizenship rest on debates over culture, over what it is that renders American Indians distinctive as individuals and as collectives. Today, as during termination debates, Seminoles and other American Indian peoples struggle to position their economic well-being not as an anomaly or an abandonment of indigenous ways but, rather, as the result of an ongoing commitment to collective self-governance. With the sounds of termination echoing in gaming debates, it is possible to identify the reemergence of need-based sovereignty as a key modality of settler colonialism in the United States.

96 citations

Book
22 Dec 2009
TL;DR: Goldberg-Hiller's "The Limits to Union" as mentioned in this paper provides a rich account of the complexities of recent political struggles over same-sex marriage and the reaction it has generated from established majorities animated by a 'new common sense' of exclusionary sovereign authority.
Abstract: Revised and updated to include the most current information on same-sex marriage, "The Limits to Union" documents a legal struggle at its moment of greatest historical importance ""The Limits to Union" is a superb book about the complexities of recent political struggles over same-sex marriage Goldberg-Hiller offers a sophisticated account of egalitarian rights advocacy and the reaction it has generated from established majorities animated by a 'new common sense' of exclusionary sovereign authority The author's analysis is multidimensional and nuanced, but the core argument is bold, important, and well-supported I recommend it very highly to everyone interested in understanding the character, possibilities, and constraints of civil rights amid our contemporary culture wars"-Michael McCann, author of "Rights at Work: Pay Equity Reform and the Politics of Legal Mobilization" "In this excellent book, Goldberg-Hiller uses Hawaii's experience to examine the interaction between courts and the political system Relying on briefs, legislative statements, and interviews with activists from both sides of the question, he views this familiar debate through the unfamiliar prism of gay marriage, which allows him to gauge the viability and the pliability of the American civil rights ideal, and how gay and lesbian issues fit (or don't fit) within that ideal"-Willian Heinzen, "New York Law Journal" "Goldberg-Hiller presents the history of the same-sex marriage question since it first sparked debate in Hawaii He follows the shifting debate through court cases, state propositions, and state and federal legislatures, considering questions about the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act and the concept of equal protection under the law for gays and lesbians This detailed treatment of the legal issues surrounding same-sex marriages is highly recommended"-R L Abbott, University of Evansville "[A] valuable contribution to the field, situating the gay marriage debate in broader contexts of theory, law and practice [S]ame-sex marriage is an important issuethat finds itself caught in the friction points of much larger debates over the nature of rights, the limits of sovereignty and the proper role of courts and law in a democratic society "The Limits to Union" should therefore be of interest even to those who do not think of themselves as interested in gay and lesbian rights issues"-Evan Gerstmann, Loyola Marymount University, Law and Politics Book Review

96 citations

Book
01 Jan 2010
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine exactly when and how these spaces contribute to global insecurity, and it incorporates the many spaces where state authority is contested-from tribal, sectarian, or clan-based governance in such places as Pakistani Waziristan, to areas ruled by persistent insurgencies, such as Colombia, to nonphysical spaces such as the internet and global finance.
Abstract: "Ungoverned spaces" are often cited as key threats to national and international security and are increasingly targeted by the international community for external interventions-both armed and otherwise. This book examines exactly when and how these spaces contribute to global insecurity, and it incorporates the many spaces where state authority is contested-from tribal, sectarian, or clan-based governance in such places as Pakistani Waziristan, to areas ruled by persistent insurgencies, such as Colombia, to nonphysical spaces, such as the internet and global finance. Within this multiplicity of contexts, the book addresses a range of security concerns, including weapons of mass destruction, migrants, dirty money, cyberdata, terrorists, drug lords, warlords, insurgents, radical Islamist groups, and human privacy and security. Ultimately, Ungoverned Spaces demonstrates that state-centric approaches to these concerns are unlikely to supplant the many sites of authority that provide governance in a world of softened sovereignty.

96 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
20241
20231,775
20223,691
2021802
20201,086
20191,042