Modern State Sovereignty: Challenges and Evolution

The Evolution of State Sovereignty

Currently, all signs point toward overcoming the traditional concept of sovereignty, or at least moving away from the rigid fashion in which it was interpreted by theorists of the modern absolutist state. Today, sovereignty has acquired different profiles and faces numerous criticisms from various quarters. The absolute sense of state sovereignty is primarily questioned from three fields:

1. Fundamental Rights and Power Limits

The modern theory of fundamental rights, which has its origins in natural law, places a barrier before the state that serves to limit the exercise of power. While Jean Bodin was already obliged to respect natural law, today there are specific spheres of human conscience and personal or social activity upon which the state is not permitted to decide or act.

2. The Principle of Subsidiarity

The principle of subsidiarity, as conceived and defined by the Social Doctrine of the Church, also implies a limit to state power. It was Pope Pius XI in the encyclical Quadragesimo Anno (1931) who formally proclaimed this principle, though it had important antecedents in the works of Bishop Ketteler, Leo XIII, Althusius, and even Aristotle.

Pius XI stated that it would be a "serious damage and disturbance of right order to assign to a greater and higher association what lesser and subordinate organizations can do." Accordingly, the state must respect the scope of legitimate competition from smaller entities, such as families, municipalities, and regions.

3. The Internationalization of Power

Finally, the growing trend of the internationalization of power—manifested in the existence of supranational organizations like the UN and the European Union—has led to a reduction in the competence of national states, which remain very protective of their authority.

The Continued Relevance of Sovereignty

In view of these developments, it is clear that the traditional concept of sovereignty has undergone major changes. However, the term remains useful. Proof of this is the common agreement among scholars to continue using it. We cannot forget that sovereignty was first used to justify the historical birth of the state and remains indispensable as a criterion of hierarchical unity of authority:

• Internal Sovereignty: The state possesses the power to organize social life adequately.
• External Sovereignty: It serves as the operating shaft for understanding the international community.

The state remains a supreme and independent power—the two defining characteristics that have always accompanied the concept of sovereignty.