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BA I Semester Political Science, PSC: 01 Political Theory, , Assistant Lecturer. Chanmiki War, Kiang Nangbah Government College, , UNIT - 3, JOHN AUSTIN THEORY OF SOVEREIGNTY OR MONISTIC THEORY OF SOVEREIGNTY, , Q. Critically examined the John Austin theory of Sovereignty/ Discuss the monistic or Legal theory, of Sovereignty, Ans : John Austin was an English Jurist in the 19th century. He propounded the legal theory of, sovereignty or monistic theory of sovereignty in his famous book "Lectures on Jurisprudence". This theory, of sovereignty is based on his concept of law, which according to him is a command given by a superior to, the inferior., Thus according to Austin :, 1) Sovereignty is an integral part of every state. In every independent political community there exists, a Supreme authority exercised by one person or a group of persons who wields absolute power., 2) In every state there is a determinate human superior who receives continuous and regular obedience, from the majority of the people. The sovereign may not be obeyed by all but this does not diminish, or impair his sovereignty. What is needed is obedience by a bulk or a large majority of people., 3) Sovereign always resides in the determinate human superior or in a body of persons. It does not, reside in the vast number of electorates since they cannot formulate their will in the form of law. The, determinate human superior is the ultimate source of power., 4) A society without sovereignty cannot be called a state. In other words without sovereignty there can, be no state., 5) The determinate human superior is the only law-maker. His commands are laws and without him the, state can have no laws. He does not obey any other authority. He has no rival of equal status in the, state. He exerts his supreme will over all persons and associations living in the state. He is not, subjected to the control of anyone., 6) Lastly, the sovereign power is absolute, indivisible and cannot be shared between two or more person., To divide sovereignty is to destroy it., , Criticism, Austin definition and views of sovereignty are criticised by many political thinkers on various grounds., These can be mentioned as below :, 1) It is not possible to discover a determinate human superior. Sovereignty cannot be located in one or, a few who cannot be discovered. Even Ranjit Singh the ruler of Punjab was subjected to the, customary laws and therefore, he could not be called the determinate human superior. The British, Monarch also cannot be sovereign, as he has no real power., 2) This theory is against popular sovereignty. In democracy Supreme power resides in the people., 3) Austin ignores the power of public opinion and political sovereignty or general will which is regarded, as the basic of democratic state. He takes into account only the legal sovereignty.

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BA I Semester Political Science, PSC: 01 Political Theory, , Assistant Lecturer. Chanmiki War, Kiang Nangbah Government College, , 4) Law is not only the command of the sovereign. There are many religious and customary laws. So it, is wrong to say that all laws are made by the sovereign., 5) Austin is wrong in saying that people obeyed law because of fear of punishment. However people, obey it for their own interest., 6) The preposition that sovereignty is indivisible cannot be accepted. The critics point out that in every, state the functions of government are exercised and divided among the three organs of the, government., 7) Lastly, the critics do not agree that sovereignty is unlimited in its power. Internally the authority of, the state is limited by various social, political and moral considerations. Externally the power of the, state is limited by the existence of international laws and customs., Inspite of these criticisms we may say that the Austin theory has its own significance. His theory is, acceptable from the legal point of view. His explanation about the legal nature of sovereignty is clear and, logical.