Explain the significance of popular sovereignty in Enlightenment and revolutionary thought.

• A. It asserts that political authority derives from the people, guiding constitutionalism and reform
• B. It asserts that political authority derives from divine right
• C. It asserts that authority comes from the military
• D. It asserts authority from feudal obligation

Answer: (D)

Popular sovereignty means political authority comes from the people and rests on their consent. This idea, central to Enlightenment thinking, holds that governments exist to protect people’s natural rights and that rulers derive legitimacy only as long as they honor those rights and operate within clear, agreed-upon limits. Think of thinkers like Locke, who argued for the social contract, and Rousseau, who spoke of the general will guiding the sovereign power. Because authority comes from the governed, governments must be answerable, have constitutional limits, and rely on laws rather than force or tradition alone.

This perspective underpins the move toward constitutionalism and reform. It justifies creating formal structures—constitutions, representative institutions, checks and balances—that ensure rulers govern with the people’s consent. It also supplies a moral and political justification for revolutions or reform when rulers violate rights or suspend consent, since sovereignty is ultimately vested in the people.

In revolutionary contexts, popular sovereignty empowers claims that sovereignty resides in the nation or the governed rather than in a hereditary ruler or a distant authority. That’s why the American and French revolutions framed authority as derived from the people and the political community, rather than from divine right, military might, or old feudal obligations. Those other sources of authority—divine sanction, force, or feudal ties—do not align with the Enlightenment emphasis on reason, rights, and consent.