Chapter 8 : Pluralist Theory of Sovereignty

Pluralist Theory of Sovereignty

The classical theory of sovereignty (from Jean Bodin to John Austin) is known as the monistic theory of sovereignty. It defined sovereignty in purely legal terms as absolute, perpetual, universal, inalienable, indivisible, and located in a single sovereign (person or body). The pluralist theory emerged to resolve the political dilemma created by the monistic theory: the monistic view implies unlimited political obligation and complete subordination of individuals to a government composed of fallible, imperfect human beings.

Genesis of the Pluralist Theory

Until the nineteenth century, the monistic character of sovereignty was universally admitted, coinciding with the organic theory of the state, which glorified the state as the fountain of all moral and social values and evolved a juristic personality of the state. The pluralist challenge arose from multiple intellectual and historical developments that questioned this absolute authority.

Factors Leading to the Pluralist Challenge:

• Marxist Critique: In the 19th century, socialists (especially Marx and Engels) demonstrated that state policy was exclusively determined by the economic interests of the dominant class.
• Capitalist Oppression: J.N. Figgis (Churches in the Modern State; 1913) argued that the absolute state was directly linked to the economic and industrial oppression caused by modern capitalism.
• Developments in Social Sciences:
• Modern Psychology: Exploded the myth of the "personality of the state" used to exalt its sovereignty.
• Modern Sociology: Demonstrated that law is a product of prevailing social conditions, not merely the command of a sovereign.
• First World War (1914–18): The state demanded ultimate sacrifices (lives) from citizens. 'Conscientious objectors' refused military service on moral grounds, arguing that war policies were made by fallible men whose follies caused untold suffering, thus questioning the state's logical entitlement to absolute authority.

Harold J. Laski's Analysis of the Pluralist Attack In A Grammar of Politics (1938), Harold J. Laski enumerated two primary factors prompting the pluralist attack on state sovereignty:

Key Terms

📌 Exam Tidbits

• Jean Bodin (1530–96) and John Austin (1790–1859) are identified as the enunciators of the classical/monistic theory of sovereignty.
• J.N. Figgis ( Churches in the Modern State , 1913)…