The French Revolution and the Invention of the Plebiscite

Abstract

POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY AND THE PLEBISCITE The American Revolution achieved the first consistent – even if not yet unrestricted – application of the principle of popular sovereignty to the practice of a larger state. The French Revolution had the same significance in Europe, and already the restrictions were fewer. State power no longer proceeded from God, the ruler, or an aristocracy, but rather from the people, regardless of who in each case might be regarded as belonging to the people. But in this context, what does popular sovereignty mean? The question of the membership of individuals in a collective that considers itself as a unity, as a people, or is regarded as such by others and occupies a more or less contiguous geographical area, was decided not by a ruler or a group, but rather by majority decision by all (or at least a significant part) of those affected. This somewhat clumsy definition illustrates the difficulties. For example, do the people decide which territory it occupies as a state, or does the population of a territory that has been previously defined (and by whom?) according to certain criteria form the entity that becomes independent? Such and similar questions are, however, misleading. They give rise to the impression that the people would in fact decide in same way as the ruler or the ruling group supposedly decided in the time before popular sovereignty. In questions of international law, however, in reality neither the ruler nor the people decided. Both were only the agents of competing parties. In the end, the political affiliation of a collective or a people was decided in a power struggle between two parties or state entities, and not by the decision of a ruler, an aristocracy, or a people. In a situation where the two parties had conflicting interests, one side could only prevail fully if the opponent could not. Or both could achieve only a part of their respective demands. The introduction of popular sovereignty could do nothing to change this situation. That is obvious if the conflict is between two sovereign political entities, or states.