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popular sovereignty

noun

Definition of popular sovereignty

  1. 1 :  a doctrine in political theory that government is created by and subject to the will of the people

  2. 2 :  a pre-Civil War doctrine asserting the right of the people living in a newly organized territory to decide by vote of their territorial legislature whether or not slavery would be permitted there

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1848

First Known Use of popular sovereignty

1848

Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, socialism

Learn More about popular sovereignty

  1. Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about popular sovereignty

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