What is Sovereignty? Lessons from the UK. ALLISON, John et al. 2018 (Link)
1534 King Henry denounces the Pope's authority and establishes the Church of England.
Parliament
Territory and Population
1648 Peace of Westphalia
Clear borders in compact territories and populations
Respect for each other's independence
Colonialism
Is sovereignty a privilege or a responsibility?
"(...) sovereignty during this era was a privilege, as people in the colonies were not regarded worthy of ruling themselves." — ALLISON, John et al. 2018, p. 1.
Decolonisation / Anticolonial movements (self-determination)
The importance of external sovereignty (as opposed to the traditional internal sovereignty; e.g. the ability of a ruler to exercise control over a territory and a population); e.g. international recognition
📌 "What seems to matter more now is not whether an entity looks like a state, which many former colonies did not, but whether it is recognised as such." — ALLISON, John et al. 2018, p. 1.
"As a result, today, there is confusion, if not disagreement, about what is more important, internal or external sovereignty. Is, for example the largely recognised state of Palestine, with its fragmented and largely uncontrolled territory more of a state than Taiwan, which is recognised by a handful of states but it is one of the world’s leading economies?" — Id, 2018, p. 2
Failed States
"As a result, many former colonies were recognised as states despite being unable to govern and impose control on important chunks of territory within borders. The process of decolonisation sometimes resulted in so-called ‘failed’ states: states which, despite being recognised as independent, suffer internally from ineffective governments." — Id, 2018, pp. 1-2
An increasingly interdependent world
European capitals ➡ Brussels
Brexit: a Rebound of Sovereignty?
"Scepticism towards globalisation and the erosion of sovereignty was evident in campaign calls to curt migration and to repatriate powers from Brussels to Westminster. Indeed, sovereignty also seems important for the outcome of the referendum. Almost half of those who voted in favour of Brexit said it was because ‘decisions about the UK should be taken in the UK’ showing that the idea of Parliamentary Sovereignty, which ties to the Parliament’s law-making powers, was very relevant in the vote." — ALLISON, John et al., 2018, p. 3.
"These different understandings of sovereignty became all too obvious in the controversial court case of R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, which had one simple yet complex question at its heart: can the government act on the result of the 2016 referendum without consulting the Commons? In other words, who is sovereign, the people or the parliament?" — ALLISON et al., 2018, p. 3.