Summary
POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY means that government is created by and is subject to the will of the people who hold all political authority, and that each sovereign nation is politically independent from all other nations.
Government, like any inanimate object, is not living and, therefore, cannot act on its own. The source of governmental power is the people. The Declaration of Independence affirms this fact with the words, “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” “We the people” instituted the United States government and collectively retain all political authority. We possess inherent and inalienable rights independent of government and, therefore, choose which rights to retain for ourselves and which to relinquish, in whole or in part, to the state. Rather than tell the people what they must do, government must obey the will of the people, as determined through democratic processes.
Through the American Revolution, we gained our independence from Great Britain and remain independent as a sovereign people and nation. Other than abiding by the terms of treaties and agreements entered into with other nations, we remain legally independent – with no duty to subject ourselves to the laws or will of any other nation or international organization. As Americans, we should do all we can to remain sovereign and independent.
Quotes from the Brethren
Dallin H. Oaks–
“Along with many other religious people, we affirm that God is the ultimate source of power and that, under Him, it is the people’s inherent right to decide their form of government.” (Dallin H. Oaks, “Religious Freedom,” Oct. 13, 2009)
Dallin H. Oaks–
“Perhaps the most important of the great fundamentals of the inspired Constitution is the principle of popular sovereignty: The people are the source of government power. Along with many religious people, Latter-day Saints affirm that God gave the power to the people, and the people consented to a constitution that delegated certain powers to the government. Sovereignty is not inherent in a state or nation just because it has the power that comes from force of arms. Sovereignty does not come from the divine right of a king, who grants his subjects such power as he pleases or is forced to concede, as in Magna Charta. The sovereign power is in the people.” (Dallin H. Oaks, “The Divinely Inspired Constitution,” Ensign, Feb. 1992, 68 )
Ezra Taft Benson–
Sovereignty lies in the people themselves. Every governmental system has a sovereign, one or several who possess all the executive, legislative, and judicial powers. That sovereign may be an individual, a group, or the people themselves. (Ezra Taft Benson, “The Constitution—A Glorious Standard,” Ensign, Sept. 1987)
Ezra Taft Benson–
The Founding Fathers believed in common law, which holds that true sovereignty rests with the people. Believing this to be in accord with truth, they inserted this imperative in the Declaration of Independence: “To secure these rights life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” (“The Constitution–A Heavenly Banner,” Benson, Ezra Taft, September 16, 1986)
Quotes from the Founders
Fifty Six Founders–
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,–That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. (Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776)
James Madison–
The great desideratum in Government is, so to modify the sovereignty as that it may be sufficiently neutral between different parts of the Society to controul one part from invading the rights of another, and at the same time sufficiently controuled itself, from setting up an interest adverse to that of the entire Society. (James Madison, Letter to Thomas Jefferson, Oct. 24, 1787)
Alexander Hamilton–
The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE. The streams of national power ought to flow from that pure, original fountain of all legitimate authority. (Hamilton, Alexander Federalist No. 22, December 14, 1787)
James Madison–
The passions, therefore, not the reason, of the public would sit in judgment. But it is the reason, alone, of the public, that ought to control and regulate the government. The passions ought to be controlled and regulated by the government. (Madison, James Federalist No. 49, February 5, 1788)
Thomas Jefferson–
I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power. (Jefferson, Thomas letter to William Charles Jarvis, September 28, 1820)
Thomas Jefferson–
The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves in all cases to which they think themselves competent, or they may act by representatives, freely and equally chosen; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed; that they are entitled to freedom of person, freedom of religion, freedom of property, and freedom of the press. (Jefferson, Thomas letter to John Cartwright, 1824)
Speeches and Other Resources
- Dallin H. Oaks, “The Divinely Inspired Constitution,” Ensign, Feb. 1992
- Ezra T. Benson, “The Constitution–A Heavenly Banner,” Sep. 1986
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