Sovereignty

Who decides? Who is the Sovereign? What is a good act? In quest of answers to these vitally important questions, Bertrand de Jouvenel examines successively the nature and history of authority, the political good, the sovereign, and liberty. His concern is with the prospects for individual liberty in democratic societies in which sovereignty purportedly resides in the whole people of the body politic. His objective is a definition and understanding of the canons of conduct for the public authority of a dynamic society. He writes for whoever would exercise the duties of a citizen. Sovereignty is the sequel to Jouvenel's widely acclaimed On Power, and was originally published in 1955. The Liberty Fund edition of Sovereignty includes a foreword that places Jouvenel's work in the context of his entire corpus.Bertrand de Jouvenel (1903-1987) was born in Paris, taught widely, and became a renowned observer of British and American institutions.Daniel J. Mahoney is Associate Professor of Politics at Assumption College.David DesRosier is development officer for the Manhattan Institute.