popular sovereignty

noun

1
: a doctrine in political theory that government is created by and subject to the will of the people
2
: a pre-Civil War doctrine asserting the right of the people living in a newly organized territory to decide by vote of their territorial legislature whether or not slavery would be permitted there

Examples of popular sovereignty in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The revolutions produced a set of political systems that balanced the privileges of property-owning elites, professional groups, and the church with broad popular sovereignty and individual rights—a balance that characterizes many political revolutions to this day. Loading... Andrew Moravcsik, Foreign Affairs, 24 Oct. 2023 The revolutions produced a set of political systems that balanced the privileges of property-owning elites, professional groups, and the church with broad popular sovereignty and individual rights—a balance that characterizes many political revolutions to this day. Maurizio Isabella, Foreign Affairs, 24 Oct. 2023 Each new nation-state meant a new claim of popular sovereignty, empowering the many to expropriate the property of the few. Stephen Wertheim, Foreign Affairs, 16 Apr. 2019 This is a huge tension in the early republic, because the revolution had been about liberty, popular sovereignty, representative government. Sophia Nguyen, Washington Post, 16 June 2023 See all Example Sentences for popular sovereignty 

Word History

First Known Use

1848, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of popular sovereignty was in 1848

Dictionary Entries Near popular sovereignty

Cite this Entry

“Popular sovereignty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/popular%20sovereignty. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on popular sovereignty

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!