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Sovereigntism,sovereignism orsouverainism (fromFrench:souverainisme,pronounced[suvʁɛnism]ⓘ) is the notion of having control over one's conditions of existence, whether at the level of the self, social group, region, nation or globe.[1] Typically used for describing the acquiring or preserving political independence of a nation or a region, a sovereigntist aims to "take back control" from perceived powerful forces,[2] either against internal subversive minority groups (ethnic, sexual or gender),[3] or from external global governance institutions,[4]federalism andsupranational unions. It generally leans instead towardisolationism, and can be associated with certainindependence movements, but has also been used to justify violating the independence of other nations.[5][6]
Sovereigntism has a cultural as well as political component and can take the form of hostility towards outsiders having different values or different countries or regions of origin.[7] Sovereigntist groups are associated with populism since they typically claim legitimacy for carrying out the sovereign will of the people.[8] While leftist sovereigntists tend to think of their national border as a defensive line against the corrosive effects of neo-liberal economics, right wing sovereigntists see it more as a filter protecting the sovereign people from undesired new members.[9]
Though there are wide differences in ideology and historical context between sovereigntist movements, those of the twenty first century can be thought of as belonging to three separate categories: conservative sovereigntism, archeo-sovereigntism, and neo-sovereigntism.[10] Conservative sovereignism embraces the nationalWestphalian model of sovereignty seeking to preserve the interstate order with norms promoting global economic order but halting further advances towards political integration. Some vestiges of colonialism remain, with old powers retaining what they see as historical special responsibilities to intervene in former possessions, such as in the case of Russia'sinvasion of Ukraine. Amongst rising powers, neo-sovereigntism is concerned with issues ofautonomism, especially against more privileged nations with concentrated power in transnational entities such as theUN Security Council orG7. It seeks to strengthen norms and agreements protecting the independence of each state, granting their equality, and restraining more powerful states from attempts to influence the behavior of other nations. Archeo-sovereigntism is the most radical, rejecting forces ofglobalization and restraints on states by transnational bodies, norms and agreements, calling for a return to a pre- World War II order when states were freer from such interference.[6] Examples in Europe include theNational Rally in France, theLega Nord in Italy, theDanish People's Party in Denmark, and theUKIP in the UK.
In a paper published in theEuropean Review of International Studies outlining these three major tendencies, researchers Alles and Badie summarised them thus:[11]
| Contemporary types of sovereigntism | Conception of sovereignty | Claim | Protest | Approach of globalisation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neo-sovereigntism | Self-affirmation | Equality | Hierarchy | Example |
| Archeo sovereigntism | Specificity | Identity | Globalisation | Antagonist |
| Conservative sovereigntism | Normative | Hierarchy | Emergence of challengers | Selective |
In Europe, sovereigntist populisms political movements divide (on the one hand) between those that seek to leave theEuropean Union completely (or oppose joining it) and (on the other), those who aim for a "Europe of the nations", a less integrated Europe respecting the individual characteristics and sovereignty of constituent states.[12] Supporters of these doctrines tend to regard themselves as Euro-realists opposed to the Euro-federalists and call for a more confederal version of aEuropean Union. (The European Union is not a federation but shares many characteristics of one.) Thus, sovereigntism in Europe is opposed to federalism and typically involvesnationalism, particularly in the United Kingdom (whichwithdrew from the EU in 2020) and in France where parties on the left and right margins lean strongly towards it.
After the2024 European Parliament election 3political groups of the European Parliament have been formed which contain sovereignist parties:
Parties with tendencies that could be described also as sovereigntist can be also found in Germany:
Parties with tendencies that could be described also as sovereigntists can also be found in Greece:
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Prime MinisterViktor Orbán and hisFidesz party, in power since 2010, have increasingly followed a sovereigntist policy against the European Union. On December 12, 2023, theHungarian National Assembly adopted the Sovereignty Protection Act, which creates a new government agency, called the Sovereignty Protection Office, to be established by February 1, 2024. It will have broad powers to investigate alleged attacks on Hungarian sovereignty, including the activities of civic organizations supported from abroad.[citation needed]
Three sovereigntist parties surpassed the 5% electoral threshold to enter theParliament of Romania in the2024 Romanian parliamentary election: theAlliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR),S.O.S. Romania and theParty of Young People (POT).[19]
Since 2006,Vladimir Putin has espoused the current Russian sovereigntist view of a political, economic, and cultural battle between sovereign peoples of Russia on one side, and on the other- transnational institutions with their neoliberal and cosmopolitan ideologies undermining Russia's sovereignty and cultural existence. InPutinism, the "national wealth" of the multiethnic Russian peoples (its morality, values, memory of its forefathers and its culture) both defines and is protected by its sovereignty. Putin advisorVladislav Surkov articulated the threat to "sovereign democracy" posed by international organizations serving the interest ofNATO, theOSCE, and theunipolar world order controlled by the United States. According to the ideology of Putinism, Georgian and Ukrainian sovereignty could not be respected since it had already been lost due to theircolor revolutions, seen as a collapse of borders protecting them from being engulfed culturally, economically and politically by Europe and the West.[20] As a cultural and political protector against threatening Western powers, the idea of a sovereign union of multiple peoples under Russia's leadership has been employed as a legitimation theory for imperial expansion. This usage predates the Soviet Union, tracing back toPan-Slavism's origins in the 16th century, later becoming integrated withRussian nationalism,imperialism andOrthodox messianism in the 19th century.[21][22][23]
In the Parliament of Catalonia, parties explicitly supporting independence from Spain areTogether for Catalonia (JxCat), heir of the formerDemocratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC);Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), andPopular Unity Candidacy (CUP).[24]
Parties with policies that could be described as sovereigntist can be also found in United Kingdom; notably byReform UK and the Johnson-ledConservative Party (UK) (with respect to the European Union throughhard Brexit), theScottish National Party andPlaid Cymru (Party of Wales), andSinn Féin in Northern Ireland.[25][26][27][28][29]
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In the Canadian province ofQuebec,souverainisme or sovereigntism refers to theQuebec sovereignty movement, which argues for Quebec to separate from Canada and become an independent country. Many leaders in the movement, notablyRené Lévesque, have preferred the terms "sovereignty" and "sovereigntist" over other common names such asseparatist orindependentist, although this terminology may be objected to by opponents.
Coupled with its history ofisolationism and sense ofAmerican exceptionalism, US sovereigntism is largely a conservative perspective, celebrating both American self-definition and liberty to engage inunilateral action.[31] Sovereigntism in foreign policy is charactized by opposition to multilateral regimes relating to climate change, war crimes, arms control and international declaration of human rights.[32]
The dominant US sovereigntist perspective is currently that ofTrumpism[33][34] and has three dimensions:[35]
A more extreme conservative view of popular sovereignty involves a radical unwinding of centralized government and an expansion of regional sovereignty, where freedoms are controlled at the local level, not adjudicated at the federal level. From the perspective of theTea Party and continuing among followers of Trumpism, thepopulist concept of the sovereign people refers exclusively to a specifically defined community that "invites people of different backgrounds to unite under a common 'American' sense of self". Similar to the perspective of Putinism, those individuals who maintain a separate minorityidentity are not only excluded, but are regarded as a threat to the majority's sovereignty, especially when they seek legal redress for violation of their human rights as defined by constitutional and international norms.[36]
