Popular sovereignty
From Wacklepedia - The Free Encyclopedia
Popular sovereignty is the doctrine that
sovereignty ultimately resides in the populace as a whole, rather than in a
monarch, an
aristocracy, or a
plutocracy. The concept of popular sovereignty provides one of the theoretical underpinnings of
democracy, whether that is
direct democracy,
representative democracy, or plebescitory democracy.
This doctrine stands at an opposite pole from the doctrine of the divine right of kings.